“This masterpiece of art is made of gold, and polished and unpolished silver. The weight is 532 marks…. Unfortunately, it lacks its original purity of style, having been restored in the year 1735, when it is probable that certain details were added which now disfigure it.”
APPENDIX D
THE IMPERIAL CROWN OF THE VIRGEN DEL SAGRARIO, TOLEDO
This was the most elaborate and costly crown that had ever been produced in Spain for decorating an image of the Virgin. The following is a sketch of it:—
Before it was enlarged to the imperial shape, this crown was executed by a silversmith named Fernando de Carrión, who finished it in the year 1556, and was paid for his labour 760,000 maravedis. It then consisted of a gold diadem adorned with rows of pearls, emeralds, rubies, and enamelled devices of various colours, in the style of the Renaissance.
The superstructure, which converts it into what is known as an imperial crown, was added by Alejo de Montoya, another silversmith of Toledo, who began it in 1574, and completed it twelve years later. The addition consisted of a number of gold statuettes of angels, covered with enamel, measuring in height from two inches to two and a half, distributed in pairs, and supporting decorative devices attached to the body of the crown. From behind these angels sprang gold bands thickly studded with precious stones, and terminating towards their union at the apex of the crown in seated allegorical figures grouped about a globe surmounted by a cross. This globe consisted of a single emerald, clear, perfect both in colour and in shape, and measuring an inch and a half in diameter. The inside of the hoop was covered with enamels representing emblems of the Virgin, disposed in a series of medallions, and the dimensions of the entire crown were eleven inches high by nine across the widest part.
The crown was examined and reported upon by two goldsmiths of Madrid, who declared it to contain the following precious stones:—