The tapestries which belong to the cathedral of Zaragoza number some sixty or seventy pieces, including a series (fifteenth century) representing The Life of Saint John the Baptist, from designs by Lucas of Holland. Good tapestries were also the property of Valencia cathedral, but have been dispersed and sold in recent years. The convent of the Descalzas Reales at Madrid possesses a set from designs by Rubens. Ten pieces of this series formerly belonged to the Count-Duke of Olivares, who sent them to his town of Loeches; four passing subsequently to the Duke of Westminster's collection. The small though valuable collection formed by the late Count of Valencia de Don Juan (Plate [xxv].), passed at this nobleman's death to his daughter, Señora de Osma, who has presented part of it to the Archæological Museum at Madrid. Another collector resident in Spain, Mons. Mersmann, of Granada, possesses a series of fine Brussels cloths representing scenes from Don Quixote, by Van den Hecke.

Footnotes:

[42] “A côté de l'Italie, il faut citer l'Espagne, tributaire comme elle des ateliers flamands. Les résidences royales regorgeaient de ces précieux tissus, qui aujourd'hui encore, à Madrid ou à l'Escurial, se chiffrent par centaines. Parmi les présents que le roi de Castille envoya à Tamerlan († 1405), on remarquait des tapisseries dont les portraits étaient faits avec tant de délicatesse, dit un chroniqueur persan, que si on voulait leur comparer les ouvrages merveilleux autrefois exécutés par le peintre Mani sur la toile d'Artène, Mani serait couvert de honte et ses ouvrages paraîtraient difformes.”—Müntz, La Tapisserie, p. 172.

[43] A Portuguese word meaning a strip of silk upon the back of a chasuble.

[44] Manuel G. Simancas, Artistas Castellanos del Siglo XIII (Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones for January, 1905.)

[45] At about the same time that this petition was presented by Gutierrez, another tapestry-maker named Pedro de Espinosa, a native of Iniesta, was living at Cordova. On February 2nd, 1560, he married Leonor de Burgos, and received as dowry from his bride the sum of thirty-five thousand maravedis. (Ramírez de Arellano, Artistas Exhumados, published in the Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones.)

[46] “Reposteros,” says Riaño, “is the ancient name given to the hangings which are placed outside the balconies on state occasions in Spain. Several splendid examples of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries may still be seen at the houses of Spanish grandees, of which those belonging to the Conde de Oñate and Marques de Alcañices at Madrid are the most remarkable for their artistic design.”

It is surprising that Riaño should insert so incomplete a definition of this word, whose primitive and proper meaning, according to the Dictionary of the Spanish Academy, is “a square piece of cloth with the arms of a prince or Señor, which serves for covering baggage carried by beasts of burden, and also for hanging in antechambers.” See also Vol. II., p. [16] (note) of the present work.

[47] The royal contract with the elder Van der Goten, dated July 30th, 1720, was the result of secret negotiations, and largely brought about by the influence of Philip's minister, Cardinal Alberoni.

[48] “On Saturday, May 27th, passing through the gate of Saint Barbara, I visited the tapestry manufactory, which resembles, and equals in beauty, the Gobelins, whence it originally came. I found a Frenchman at the head of it, who was civil and communicative. This fabric was brought into Spain, and established here under the direction of John de Van Dergoten, from Antwerp, in the year 1720. They now employ fourscore hands, and work only on the king's account, and for his palaces, making and repairing all the tapestry and carpets which are wanted at any of the Sitios, or royal residences.”—Townsend, in 1786.