iLli.i.ii \^ \A ->o 'he la«t H"' tn- Sf UTHERN BRANCH UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LIBRARY, ossible, I tliiiik', to doubt that they were the work of the same men (3). VALENCIA CATHEDRAL NORTH TRANSKPT AND CIMHORIO 6 GOTHIC ARC?IITECTURE IN SPAIN i~ I have found no evidence as to the date of the next portion of the fabric^ which is the more to be regretted as it is altogether very important and interesting in its character. It includes the whole facade of the north transept, a noble lantern at the Crossing, and a small pulpit, and the whole of this is a good example of probably the latter half of the fourteenth century. The north transept elevation is extremely rich in detail. The great doorway in the centre of the lowest stage — de los Aposieles — has figures under canopies in its jambs, and corresponding figures on either side beyond the jambs. The arch is moulded, and sculptured with four rows of figures and canopies, divided by orders of mouldings. The tympanum of the door is adorned with sculptures of the Blessed Virgin with our Lord and angels. Over the arch is a gabled canopy, the spandrels of which are filled with tracery and figures. Above, and set back rather from the face of the doorway, is a rose window, the very rich traceries of which are arranged in intersecting equilateral triangles; over it is a crocketed pediment, with tracery in the spandrels and on either side, and flanked by pinnacles. Every portion of the wall is panelled or carved. This front affords an admirable example of that class of middle-pointed work which was common in Germany and France at the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth centuries. The style prevailed for some time, and it was probably about the middle of the fourteenth century that this building was executed. The pulpit is placed against the north-east pier of the Crossing ; it has evidently been taken to pieces and reconstructed, and it is not certain, I think, that it was originally a pulpit. Many of the members of the base and capital of its stem, and the angles of the octagonal upper stage, are modern, and of bronze: the rest is mainly of marble. The stem is slender, and the upper part is pierced with richly-moulded geometrical traceries, behind which the panels are filled in with boards, gilt and diapered with extremely good effect. A curious feature in this pulpit is that there is now no entrance to it, and if it is ever used for preaching, the preacher must get into it by climbing over the sides ! The lantern or Cimborio, though in some respects similar to, is no doubt later than the transept; it is one of the finest examples of its class in Spain. Mr. Ford says that it was built in a.d. 1404, but I have been unable to find his authority for the statement,' and though he may be right, 1 should have been inclined to date Madoz gives the same date. — Dice. Geo. Esp. Historico.. VALENCIA CATHEDRAL it somewhat curlier. It is an octagon of two rather similar stages in height above the roof. Crocketed pinnacles are arranged at each angle^, and large six-light windows with very rich and varied geometrical tracery fill the whole of each of the sides. The lower windows have crocketed labels^ and the upper crocketed canopies, and the string-courses are enriched with foliage. From the very transparent character of this lantern, it is clear that it was never intended to be carried higher. It is a lantern and nothing more, and really very noble, in spite of its somewhat too ornate and frittered character.^ The portion of the work next in date to this seems to have been the tower. This, like the lantern, is octagonal in plan, and it is placed at the north-west corner of the aisle, against which one of its angles is set. A more Gothic contempt for regularity it would be impossible to imagine, yet the effect is certainly good. The circumference of this steeple is said to be equal to its height, but I had not an opportunity of testing this. Each side is 20 ft. 8 in. from angle to angle of the but- tresses, so that the height, if the statement is true, would be about 165 feet. It is of four stages in height; the three lower stages quite plain, and the belfry rather rich, with a window in each face, panel- ling all over the wall above, and crocketed pediments over the win- dows. The buttresses or pilasters — for they are of similar projection throughout their height — are finished at the top with crocketed pinnacles. The parapet has been destroyed, and there is a modern structure on the roof at the top. The evidence as t(j the age of this work is ample. It is called " El Micalete " or " Miguelete," its bells having been first hung on the feast of S. Michael. 'The illustration wliirh I ;,'i\c ol this lantern is b()rrowtcl Ironi Mr. l-'crgussun's Handhmjk nj Archilcdurc. The MicALiiTE 8 GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN SPAIN Some documents referring to it are given by Cean Bermudez,' and are as follows: — I. A deed executed in Valencia before Jayme Rovira, notary, on the 2oth June, 1380, by which it appears that Michael Palomar, citizen, Bernardo Boix and Bartolome Valent, master masons, estimated what they considered necessary for the fabric of the tower or campanile at 853 scudi. II. From the MS. diary of the chaplain of King D. Alonso V. of Aragon, it appears that on the ist January, a.d. 1381, there was a solemn procession of the bishop, clergy, and regidors of the city to the church, to lay the first stone of the Micalete.^ III. By a deed made in Valencia, May i8th, a.d. 1414, before Jayme Pastor, notary or clerk of the chapter, it is settled that iPedro Balaguer, an " able architect," shall receive 50 florins from the fabric fund of the new campanile or Micalete, " in payment of his expenses on the journey which he made to Lerida, Narbonne, and other cities, in order to see and examine their towers and campaniles, so as to imitate from them the most elegant and fit form for the cathedral of Valencia." IV. By another deed, made before the same Jayme Pastor, September i8th, a.d. 1424, it is agreed that Martin Llobet, stone- cutter, agrees to do the work which is wanting and ought to be done in the Micalete, to wit, to finish the last course with its gurgoyles, to make the " barbacano," and bench round about, for the sum of 2000 florins of common money of Aragon,^ the administration of the fabric finding the wheels, ropes, baskets, etc. An inscription on the tower itself, referred to by Mr. Ford (but which I did not see), states that it was raised between A.D. 1381 and A.D. 1418, by Juan Franck, and it is said to have been intended to be 350 feet high.^ It is evident, therefore, that several architects were employed upon the work, and I know few facts in the history of medisc\'al art more interesting than the account we have here of the pay- ment of an architect whilst he travelled to find some good work 1 Noticias de los Arquitectos, etc., i. 256. ^ Viage Lit. a las Iglesias de Espana, i. 31. ' L'an 1238, lorsque Jaques I. Roi d'Arragon assiegoit Valence, qui etait au pouvoir des Mores, il declara que les premiers qui Feniporteroient auroient I'honneur de donner les poids, les mesures, et la inonnaye de leur ville a ceux de Valence; la dessus ceux de Lerida s'y jetterent les premiers, et prirent la ville. C'est pourquoi, lorsqu'on repeupla Valence, ils y envoyerent une colonic, leurs mesures, et leur monnaye, dont on s'y sert encore aujourd'hui; et la ville de Valence reconnoit celle de Lerida pour sa mere. — Les Delices de I'Espagne, iv. 613. Leyden, a.d. 1715. * Ponz, Viage de Espaha, iv. 21, 22. VALENCIA CATHEDRAL 0 to copy for the city of Valencia. The steeple of Lerida cathedral will be mentioned in its place, and it is sufficient now to say that it is also octagonal, of great height, and dates from the commencement of the fourteenth century. I know nothing at Narbonne which could have been suggestive to Pedro Balaguer, but the city was Spanish in those days, and is probably only mentioned as one of the most important places to which he went. When the Micalete was built the nave of the church seems to have been still unfinished, the choir and transepts and part of the nave only having been built. In 1459, under the direction of an architect named Valdomar, a native of Valencia, the work was continued, and the church was joined to the tower. The authority for this statement is a MS. in the library of the con- vent of San Domingo, Valencia, which says: " In the year of our Lord 1459, on Mondaj', the loth of September, they com- menced digging to make the doorway and arcade of the cathe- dral ; Master Valdomar was the master of the works, a native of the said city of Valencia." ^ Of Valdomar's work in this part of the church nothing remains, the whole has been altered in the most cruel way, and the most contemptible work erected in its place. Valdomar appears to have died whilst his work was in progress, and to have been succeeded by Pedro Compte, who concluded the work in 1482. The manuscript already quoted from the library of San Domingo is the authority for this state- ment, and describes Pedro Compte as " Molt sabut en Tart de la pedra." - On the south side of the nave there is a Chapter-house, which is said by Ponz ^ to be the work of Pedro Compte, and to have been built at the cost of Bishop D. Vidal Blanes, in a.d. 1358. If this statement is correct, it follows that there were two archi- tects of this name, the second having erected the Lonja de la Sedia. to which I shall have presently to refer, in a.d. 1482. The tracery of the windows, and the details generally of the Chapter- house, is so geometrical and good, that it is probaljle that the date given by Ponz may be depended upon. It is a scjuure room nearly sixty feet in diameter, and groined in stone. The \ault is similar to those which I first saw at Burgos, having arches ' \'aldomar also built the chaprl " de los Reyes," in the convent of San Uonjingo, commenced i8th June 1439, and completed 24th June 1476 This convent is now desecrated, and I did not see it, but it is said still to contain a good Gothic clf)ister. ^ Pedro Compte is mentioned as liaving been invited by the Archbishop of Zaragoza to a conference with four other arcliitects as to the rebuilding of the Cimborio of his cathedral, %vl)icli had fallen down in 1520. ^ I'iage dc Esp. iv. 29, 30. 10 GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN SPAIN thrown across the angles to bring it to an octagon, and the tri- angular compartments in the angles having their vaults below the main vault. It is lighted by smalL windows very high up in the walls on the cardinal sides, and these are circular and spherical triangles in outline, filled with geometrical tracery. On the south side is a very elaborate arcaded reredos and altar, and on the west a pulpit corbelled out from the wall. The design and detail of the whole are extremely fine, and I regret that I was able to make but a very hurried examination of it, and no sketches; meeting here, almost for the first time in Spain, with a sacristan who refused to allow me to do more than look, the fact being that it was his time for dinner and siesta ! (4) In the old sacristy to the east of this room are still preserved two embroidered altar frontals, said to have been brought from our own old S. Paul's by two merchants, Andres and Pedro de Medina, just about the time of the Reformation.^ They are therefore of especial interest to an Englishman. They are very large works, strained on frames, and were, I believe, hangings rather than altar frontals, as they are evidently continuations one of the other. The field is of gold, diapered, and upon this a succession of subjects is embroidered. On one cloth are (beginning at the left) (i) our Lord bearing his Cross; (2) being nailed to the Cross; (3) crucified, with the thieves on either side; (4) descending from the Cross; (5) entombed. The next cloth has (i) the descent into Hell; (2) the Maries going to the sepulchre; (3) the Maries at the tomb, the angel, and (4) the Resurrection. The effect of the whole work is like that of a brilliant German painting, and the figures are full of action and spirit, and have a great deal of expression in their faces. The diapered ground is made with gold thread, laid down in vertical lines, and then diapered with diagonal lines of fine bullion stitched down over it to form the diaper. The gold is generally manufactured in a double twist, and borders and edgings are all done with a very bold twisted gold cord. The faces are all wrought in silk, and some of the dresses are of silk, lined all over with gold. The old border at the edge exists on one only of the frontals. The size of each is 3 ft. i in. by 10 ft. 2 in., and the date, as nearly as I can judge, must be about a.d. 1450. There is also preserved here a missal which once belonged to \A'est- minster Abbey. 1 Spain boasts other like treasures, e.g. a figure still preserved at Mon- donedo, and which is still called " la Ynglesa," because brought from S. Paul's. — See Ponz, Viage de Espaiia, iv. 43. VALENCIA GATES 11 I could find no other cliurch of any interest. There are several which have some old remains, but they are j^^enerally so damaged and decayed, that it is impossible to make anything of them. One I saw desecrated and occupied by the miHtary, and was unable to enter; and there is another in a street leading out of the Calle de Caballeros. which has a verv fine round-arched door- I'll RTA uii Skkkanos, Valencia wiiy, with three shafts in ihe jambs, and good thirteenth- century mouldings in the arch, and which is evidently of the same age as the soutii door of the cathedral. The capitals have each two wyverns fighting, and the abaci are well carved. The church, however, was desecrated, and no one knew how I could gain admission to it (5). The walls and gates are of more interest. They are lofty, and generally well preserved. The two finest gates are tlie Puerta de Serranos, and that del Cuarte. The former, said by 12 GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN SPAIN Ford ^ to have been built in a.d. 1349, is a noble erection. Two grand polygonal towers flank the entrance archway, which is recessed in the centre. Above this the wall is covered with tracery panelling, and then a great projecting gallery or platform, supported on enormous corbels, is carried all round the three exposed sides of the gateway. The towers are carried up a considerable height above this gallery, and it is probable that there was originally a wooden construction over it, of the kind which M. Viollet le Due, in his treatise on military architecture, has shown to have been commonly adopted in fortifications of this age. The Puerta del Cuarte is of the same description, and has two circular flanking towers, but is less imposing, and is said to have been built in a.d. 1444. Both gateways are completel)' open at the back, enormous open arches, one above the other, rendering them useless for attack against the city; and the cor- belled-out passages at the top are not continued across the back (6). The domestic remains here are of some importance. One feature of rather frequent occurrence is the window of two or three lights, divided by detached shafts. The earlier examples have simple trefoil heads, and sculptured capitals to the columns. In the later examples there are mouldings round the cusped head, and the abaci and capitals are carved; but it is a very curious fact that whenever I saw any old towns on the coast of the Mediterranean, there I always saw some specimens of this later kind of window, with detail and carving so identical in character that I was almost driven to the conclusion that they were all executed in the same place, and sent about the country to be fixed ! Nevertheless, they are always very pretty, so that one ought not to grumble if thev do occur a little too often. The shafts are generally of marble, and often coupled one behind the other. The Arabs had a name for this class of windows, and as we have not, and want one, it may be as well to mention it. They are called ajimez, literally windows by which the sun enters. The Arabs seem to have supplied many of the architectural terms in use in Spain, and probably we owe them in this case not only the name, but the design also. Among other Arab words still in common use, I may mention Alcazar, Alcala, Tapia, and many more are given in vocabularies. One of the earliest of these ajimez windows is in a house on tlie east side of the cathedral; and a fine example of later date ' Handhuok of Spain, i. 367. > w 14 GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE IN SPAIN AjiMEZ Window, X'alencia is in an old house in the Calle de Caballeros^ the internal court and staircase of which are also picturesque, though hardly mediaeval. All the houses here seem to be built on the same plan, with the stables and offices on the ground floor, arranged round an internal court, an open stone staircase to the first floor, and the living - rooms above. The fronts towards the streets are usually rather gloomy and forbidding- looking, but the courts are always picturesque. The finest domestic build- ing in the city is the Casa Lonja, or Exchange, which was commenced on the 7th November, 1482, the year in which the works at the cathedral were completed by Pedro Compte. There is no doubt, I believe, that he was the architect ; and on March 19th, 1498, he was appointed perpetual Alcaide of the Lonja, with a salary of thirty pounds (" libras ") a year. He was also Maestro Mayor of the city, and was employed in several works of engineering on the rivers and streams of the district.' The main front of the Lonja is still very nearly as he left it, a fine specimen of late Spanish pointed work. The detail is of the same kind as, but simpler than, the contemporary works at Valladolid and Burgos, and there is a less determined display of heraldic achievements; though the great doorway, and the window on either side of it which open into the great hall, and which are so curiously grouped together by means of lal^els and string-courses, have some coats-of-arms and supporters rather irregularly placed in their side panels. The great parapet of the end, and the singu- lar finish of the battlements, are very worthy of note, and give great richness to the whole building. The principal doorway leads into a fine groined hall, 130 feet long by 75 feet wide, divided into a quasi-nave and aisles of five bays by eight columns, sculptured and spirally twisted. The portion of the building to the left of the centre is divided into three chambers in height, the upper and lower rooms being low, the central room loft}' and well proportioned. The lower rooms have plain square windows : the next stage, windows of much loftier proportions, and with ' Cean Bcrmiulcz, Arqiia. y Agiios!