In former times the art of carving jet was largely practised at this town. The characteristic form was the signaculum or image of Saint James; that is, a more or less uncouth representation of the apostle in full pilgrim's dress. The height of these images, which are now dispersed all over Europe, varies between four and seven inches. They are fully described in Drury Fortnum's monographs, On a signaculum of Saint James of Compostela, and Notes on other signacula of Saint James of Compostela, as well as in Villa-amil y Castro's La azabachería compostelana. These objects were sold in quantities to the pilgrims visiting Santiago, who nevertheless were often cheated by the substitution of black glass for jet.[59]

Specimens of this work are in the British and Cluny Museums, and in the Archæological Museum at Madrid. An interesting jet figure of the apostle on horseback belonged to the late Count of Valencia de Don Juan. Jet processional crosses (twelfth and thirteenth century), studded with enamel, and which were used at funerals, are preserved in the cathedrals of Oviedo and Orense. Rings, rosaries, and amulets were also carved from this material.

As to Spanish processional crosses generally (the use of which was undoubtedly borrowed from the standard borne at the head of pagan armies), I may say that they are commonly fitted with a handle, called the cruz baja or “lower cross,” though sometimes this handle is dispensed with, as, for instance, at the funerals of infants. According to Villa-amil y Castro, the typical shape of the Spanish processional cross has always been that denominated the immissa, consisting of four arms terminating in straight edges. The same authority says that within this broader definition the primitive form was the Greek cross, that is, having four arms of equal length. Another early form was the “Oviedo” cross (see Vol. I., Plate [II].), with the four arms in the shape of trapezia, united at the centre by a disc. Of this latter shape are, or were, the crosses of Guarrazar and those which were presented by Alfonso the Second and Alfonso the Third to the cathedrals of Oviedo and Santiago.

A later form was the potenzada cross, which had a cross-piece fixed at the extremity of each arm. As time advanced, this T-shaped termination to the arms assumed such decorative and capricious forms as the trefoil and the fleur-de-lis. Early in the history of the Spanish church the processional cross consisted often of a wooden core, covered with more or less profusely ornamented silver plates, and having, between the handle and the upper part, an enamelled bulb or nœud. The image of Christ, converting the cross into the crucifix, was not attached until a later period, because, as Villa-amil y Castro has remarked, the primitive Christians considered the essential glory of their faith, rather than, as yet, the perils and the pains to which they were exposed by clinging to that faith. The cross was thus the symbol of the Christian's glory; the crucifix, of his suffering.[60]

APPENDIX C

DESCRIPTION OF THE CUSTODIAS OF SEVILLE AND CORDOVA

The custodia of Seville cathedral is described by its author, Juan de Arfe, in the following terms:—

The shape is circular, with projecting friezes and bases. The custodia is four yards high, and is divided into four orders of symmetrical proportions, the second order being smaller by two-fifths than the first, the third smaller by the same fraction than the second, and the fourth than the third. Each order rests upon four-and-twenty columns, twelve of which are of a larger size, and wrought in relief. The other and the smaller twelve are striated, and serve as imposts to the arches. All these orders are of open work, containing twelve vistas (prospects) apiece. Six are of full dimensions, and the other six spring from half-way up the larger ones, as is shown in the appended design, which I will not explain further, as the proportion and harmony can be judged of from the plan (see Vol. I., Plate [xvii].).