("In the name of God, clement and merciful, blessing")—this part of the inscription is missing—"and prosperity and happiness for Riyadh ben Aflah, captain of the superior guard. It was made in the year 359" [A.D. 969].
The style of the objects which we have hitherto described is undoubtedly Oriental, and we must seek in Persia the origin of this industry. There is, however, every probability that these seven ivory boxes were made in Spain by Spanish Arabs, or artists who had settled there from the East. On all these carvings the names of Spanish historical persons appear, and it is hardly possible that they were ordered in remote countries, especially as some of these objects are small and comparatively unimportant. It must also be borne in mind that we find in contemporary authors many details on the luxury and magnificence of this period of the Spanish Arabs, and the great height which the arts and industries had reached at that time.
The ivory carvings which I have described present all the characteristics of the Oriental school, which was copied by European Christian sculptors during the 11th and 12th centuries. We find in Christian productions of this period, too constantly to require any further comment, the same geometrical traceries, flowers, leaves, animals, and birds. The subjects represented on monuments of Christian art have been erroneously interpreted by modern ecclesiologists who have endeavoured to demonstrate the symbolism of these figures in a purely Christian sense with only the unsatisfactory result of checking and leading astray art students of the Middle Ages. It is of the utmost importance to go to the primitive sources from which this art is derived in order to illustrate this important theory. The Oriental school of sculpture was soon transmitted, either through the influence of the Spanish Arabs, or by other means, to Christian artists. As an interesting example of this may be mentioned the shrine which King Dn. Sancho ordered to be made, A.D. 1033, in which to deposit the bones of San Millan, still preserved in San Millan de la Cogulla, in the province of La Rioja, Spain. This fine shrine is 4 feet 6 inches long, by 2 feet 3½ inches high. It is of wood, and covered with gold plates and inlaid stones and crystals. Between this metal work are placed 22 plaques of ivory carved with subjects representing passages from the life of the saint, and single figures of the princes, monks, and benefactors who helped to defray the expense of this work of art. Among them there are two small figures with the names of Apparitio Scholastico, Ramirus Rex. These have been generally supposed to be the artists' names. A sculptor is also represented carving a shield, and near him is one of his workmen. Underneath these figures ran formerly an inscription, of which the first part only remains, containing the name of the artist—"(Magis) tro et Rodolpho filio."
Two other interesting specimens remain of Spanish Moresque art of the 11th century. One is a casket at the South Kensington Museum, No. 10, 66, which Mr. Maskell describes as "richly carved in deep relief with foliage and animals in scrolls interlacing one another, and forming larger and smaller circles. The top and each side is a single plaque of ivory; the sloping lid at the front and back has two panels. On the two are two animals, like does; a large bird stands on the back of each, attacking it with his beak. The sloping sides have, in the large circles, men on horseback, and animals fighting. The intermediate spaces are completely filled with foliage, and smaller beasts. Similar subjects are repeated in the circles on the panels forming the lower sides of the casket, and among them are two groups of men and women sitting; one blowing a horn, another playing on a guitar, another holding a cup in one hand and a flower in the other." There is no inscription on this casket, but in one of the medallions on the lid there is a bust which is carried on the back of a horse, and which is probably a representation of the prince for whom the casket was made.
The other example of this period is that known as the cross of Don Fernando, at the Archæological Museum at Madrid. This cross is 20½ inches by 14. On the front is a figure in high relief of Our Lord with the inscription: IHE. NAZARENVS REX IVDEORVM. In the upper part is represented the figure of Our Lord at the moment of his Resurrection, and in the lower a symbolical figure of Adam; both these figures are in high relief. Underneath may be read in two lines,—
FERDINANDVS REX.
SANCIA REGINA.
At the back of the cross appears in the centre the Lamb of God: in the four corners the emblems of the Evangelists. Besides these purely Christian symbols, the ground work is covered with foliage, circles interlacing each other, figures of animals of different kinds, and men struggling with wild beasts. The whole of the ornamentation corresponds to the style of decoration of the moresque objects which I have already described. King Ferdinand I. died A.D. 1065, his wife Sancha A.D. 1071; and documents exist proving that in 1063 they gave this interesting work of art with other artistic objects to the Church of San Isidoro of Leon, where it remained until 1870, when it was given up by the authorities of the church to the Museum at Madrid. The following woodcut represents the back of the cross:—
