Part 1

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AN ARCHITECT'S NOTE-BOOK IN SPAIN

_PRINCIPALLY ILLUSTRATING THE_ DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF THAT COUNTRY.

BY

M. DIGBY WYATT, M.A.

SLADE PROFESSOR OF FINE ART IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, &C.

WITH ONE HUNDRED OF THE AUTHOR'S SKETCHES, REPRODUCED BY THE AUTOTYPE MECHANICAL PROCESS.

LONDON: AUTOTYPE FINE ART COMPANY (LIMITED), _36, RATHBONE PLACE._

TO

OWEN JONES, ESQ.

KNIGHT OF THE ORDERS OF SAINTS MAURICE AND LAZARUS OF ITALY, AND OF LEOPOLD OF BELGIUM, MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SAINT FERDINAND OF SPAIN, &C., &C., &C.

_My dear Owen,

_The last book I wrote I dedicated to my brother by blood; the present I dedicate to you--my brother in Art. Let it be a record of the value I set upon all you have taught me, and upon your true friendship._

_Ever yours,_

M. DIGBY WYATT.

37, Tavistock Place, W.C.

October, 1872.

PREFACE.

Before quitting England for a first visit to Spain in the Autumn of 1869, I made up my mind both to see and draw as much of the Architectural remains of that country as the time and means at my disposal would permit; and further determined so to draw as to admit of the publication of my sketches and portions of my notes on the objects represented, in the precise form in which they might be made. I was influenced in that determination by the consciousness that almost from day to day the glorious past was being trampled out in Spain; and that whatever issue, prosperous or otherwise, the fortunes of that much distracted country might take in the future, the minor monuments of Art at least which adorned its soil, would rapidly disappear. Their disappearance would result naturally from what is called "progress" if Spain should revive; while their perishing through neglect and wilful damage, or peculation, would inevitably follow, if the ever smouldering embers of domestic revolution should burst afresh into flame. Such has been the invariable action of those fires which in all history have melted away the most refined evidences of man's intelligence, leaving behind only scanty, and often all but shapeless, relics of the richest and ripest genius.

It is difficult to realise the rapidity with which, almost under one's eyes, the Spain of history and romance "is casting its skin." Travelling even with so recent and so excellent a handbook as O'Shea's of 1869, I noted the following wanton acts of Vandalism and destruction, committed upon monuments of the greatest archæological and artistic interest since he wrote. At Seville, the Church of San Miguel, one of the oldest and finest in the city, was senselessly demolished by the populace as a sort of auto-da-fé, and by way of commemoration of the revolution of September, 1867. In exactly the same way the fine Byzantine churches of San Juan at Lerida, and of San Miguel at Barcelona, have been "improved off the face of the earth." Church plate, Custodias and Virils of the D'Arfés, Becerrias, and other Art workmen, have vanished from the treasuries of all the great ecclesiastical structures; whether sold, melted down, or only hidden, "quien sabe?" The beautiful Moorish decorations of the Alcazar at Segovia had been all but entirely destroyed by fire, attributed to the careless cigar-lighting of the Cadets to whom the structure had been abandoned. The finest old mansion in Barcelona, the Casa de Gralla, probably the masterpiece of Damian Forment, and dating from the commencement of the fourteenth century, has been pulled down by the Duke of Medina Celi to form a new street. The beautiful wooden ceiling of the Casa del Infantado at Guadalaxara, the finest of its kind in Spain, in the absence of its owner, who I was told lives in Russia, is coming down in large pieces, and once fallen, I scarcely think it will be in the power of living workmen to make it good again. The exquisite Moorish Palace of the Generalife at Granada, second only to the Alhambra and the Alcazar at Seville, is never visited by its proprietor, and is now one mass of white-wash, a victim of the zeal for cleanliness of a Sanitary "Administrador." In short to visit a Spanish city now, by the light shed upon its ancient glories by the industrious Ponz, is simply to have forced upon one's attention the most striking evidence of the "vanity of human things," and man's inherent tendency to destroy.

One of the most painful sensations the lover of the Art of the Past cannot but experience in Spain, is the feeling of its dissonance from, and irreconcileability with, the wants and economical necessities of to-day. The truth is that at the present moment, amongst the many difficult problems which surround and beset the ruling powers, one of the most puzzling is to find fitting uses for the many vast structures which have fallen into the hands of the Government. Churches in number and size out of all proportion to the wants of the population, monasteries entirely without monks, convents with scarcely any nuns, Jesuit seminaries without Jesuits, exchanges without merchants, colleges without students, tribunals of the Holy Inquisition with, thank God! no Inquisitors, and palaces without princes, are really "drugs in the market;" too beautiful to destroy, too costly to properly maintain, and for the original purposes for which they were planned and constructed at incredible outlay they stand now almost useless. For the most part, the grand architectural monuments of the country are now like Dickens' "used-up giants" kept only "to wait upon the dwarfs." Among a few instances of such, may be noticed the magnificent foundation of the noblest Spanish ecclesiastic, Ximenez. His College at Alcala de Heñares (see etext transcriber note) is turned into a young ladies' boarding-school; the splendid Convent of the Knights of Santiago at Leon, the masterpiece of Juan de Badajoz, dedicated to Saint Mark, and one of the finest buildings in Spain, is now in charge of a solitary policeman and his wife, awaiting its possible conversion into an agricultural college; the grand Palace of the Dukes of Alva at Seville is let out in numerous small tenements and enriched with unlimited whitewash; the Colegiata of San Gregorio at Valladolid, another of the magnificent foundations of Cardinal Ximenez, and the old cathedral at Lerida, the richest Byzantine monument in Spain, are now both barracks;--the vast exchanges of Seville and Saragossa are tenantless and generally shut up; the beautiful "Casa de los Abades" at Seville is converted into a boy's school and lodging-house for numerous poor tenants, the Casa del Infante at Saragossa, containing the most richly sculptured Renaissance Patio in Spain, is chiefly occupied as a livery stable-keeper's establishment; Cardinal Mendoza's famous Hospital of the Holy Cross at Toledo is now an Infantry College; the great monastery of the Cartuja near Seville, with one of the finest Mudejar wooden ceilings in the country, is turned into Pickman's china factory; the "Taller del Moro" a model Moorish house with its beautiful decorations, at Toledo, is now only a carpenter's workshop and storehouse; the celebrated establishment of El Cristo de la Victoria at Malaga, with all its glorious associations with the "Reyes Cattolicos," is occupied as a military hospital; and so on '_ad infinitum_.'

Every record the pen and pencil of any accurate observer can preserve at this juncture of the fading glories of the past in Spain is, as it were, snatching a brand from the inevitable fire which has already consumed inestimable treasures upon its soil. It was to give a stamp of truth and authenticity to the few such records I might be enabled to make, that I determined to complete them in the actual presence as it were of the object illustrated, and to admit of no intervention between my own hand, and the eye of any student willing to honour my work with his attention. My sketches might no doubt have gained in beauty by being transcribed on stone or wood by some artist more skilful than I am, but as any such alteration would detract from their simple veracity, I preferred to make them at once upon the spot with anastatic ink, in order that they might be printed just as they were executed. Working with such ink in the open air is difficult, and the result capricious, I have therefore to ask for some indulgence, and to express a hope that any shortcomings in the drawings may be overlooked in the obvious interest of the subjects pourtrayed. Could I but have known, on leaving England, that my sketches could have been so successfully transferred to collodion, and printed therefrom by the beautiful Autotype mechanical process, as they have been since my return, I might have spared myself much extra trouble and anxiety, and have probably attained a much better result with less effort. In order to retain as much "local colour" as possible, I have preferred, even in the binding of this volume, to take its ornament in fac-simile from a beautiful little Mudejar casket of which I am the fortunate possessor, rather than to trust to my own powers to design something specially characteristic.

I have further to ask corresponding indulgence for any literary insufficiencies my text may present. Although for some years a not inattentive student of Spanish art and literature, I could not, and cannot but feel that my acquaintance with the country was, and is insufficient for writing worthy notes even upon its architectural monuments, after the excellent works which have been already written by such of my countrymen as Ford, Street, Stirling, and O'Shea. At the same time, considering that to publish my sketches altogether without explanatory letter-press would greatly detract from their interest and consequent usefulness, I have brought into their present shape the scanty notes made upon the spot, more or less directly illustrative of the subjects upon which my pencil found occupation.

It will be obvious, it is hoped, that in the selection of subjects for illustration, an endeavour has been made to avoid in any wise trenching upon or clashing with those already fully treated in the admirable work on Spanish Ecclesiastical Architecture by Mr. G. E. Street. Whilst he has turned from, I have turned towards, the Plateresque and later styles of Spain, and whilst he has sought specially for what might be useful to church-builders, my aim has been rather to collect hints for house-builders. Thanks to him, and others like him, we have now been left with more to learn in the latter direction than in the former.

The following was my line of tour, and as it comprises most of what is, I believe, best worth seeing in Spain in the way of Art, with the notable exceptions of Santiago, Oviedo, Murcia, Cuenca, Placencia, Alicante and Valencia, which want of time did not permit me to include, I do not hesitate to commend it to those, desirous, as I was, of seeing as much as possible of what was excellent or curious within a short space of time. It was as follows, from London via Paris, Bordeaux, and Bayonne to Spain, beginning with Burgos, then successively visiting Valladolid (rail), Venta de Baños (rail), Leon (rail), Zamora and Salamanca, (by "diligence" from Leon) Avila (by "diligence" from Salamanca) Escorial (rail), Madrid (rail), Segovia (by "diligence" from Madrid and back), Alcala de Heñares (by rail from Madrid and back), Toledo (by rail from Madrid and back), Cordoba (rail), Sevilla (rail), Cadiz (by the Guadalquivir steamer), Gibraltar (by steamer), Malaga (by steamer), Granada (rail and "diligence,") Andujar ("diligence,") Madrid (rail), a second time, Guadalajara (rail), Saragossa (rail), Lerida (rail), Barcelona (rail), and Gerona (rail), thence to the frontier by "diligence," and home by rail, viâ Perpignan, Carcassonne, Toulouse and Paris.

To preserve some sort of order, I have arranged my sketches as they were executed in point of time, and thrown my notes into a corresponding sequence.

To assert that Spain can teach the lessons to the architect which may be gained from Italy, or even from France would, I think, be to claim too much for her, but on the other hand, it should be remembered, that it is a mine which has been very much less exhausted. To the interest and grandeur of its Northern Gothic buildings, Mr. Street has done a justice long denied to them; while Girault de Prangey, and above all Owen Jones, have helped us to a right appreciation of the works of those masterly artificers, the Moors, who seem to have possessed an intuitive love for the beautiful in structure.

It is with no small pleasure that I have laboured to direct attention to other monuments, than those they have so satisfactorily illustrated, of a land from travelling in which I have derived great delight, and much instruction.

If asked what predominant sensation Spanish Architecture had produced in my mind, I think I should be inclined to say, that of the manifestation of an entire indifference to expense. No one appears to have counted the cost of the work upon which he engaged. Whether it was a mediæval architect entering upon the vast construction of Cathedrals, such as Seville, Toledo or Leon, a Renaissance architect dashing upon the immense laying out of buildings such as the Cathedrals of Salamanca or Granada, or an Herrera plunging into such stone quarries as the Escorial or the Cathedral at Valladolid, not a shadow of doubt ever seems to have crossed the mind of the beginners, that some one would complete what they began.

Such peculiarities of national character are apt to beget proverbs, and we accordingly find the grave ponderosity, and at the same time power, of the Spaniard in the undertakings of his palmy days, thus characterised in comparison with those of the other peoples of Europe.

"In their undertakings," says "Der curieuse Antiquarius durch Europam,"[1] the natives of different European countries are assumed by old legends to proceed thus:--

"Der Frantzose wie ein Adler, Der Deutsche wie ein Bär, Der Italianer wie ein Fuchs, Der Spanier wie ein Elephant, Der Engelländer wie ein Löw."[2]

To some, and but few, Spanish architects was it given to see ended what they commenced, and even such favourites of fortune generally suffered from a curtailment of their too ambitious designs.

I could not but feel, in looking at the works of Herrera, and indeed at those of several other men, such as Diego de Siloe, Gil de Ontañon, Henrique de Egas, Alonso Covarrubbias, and Juan de Badajoz, that there exists for architecture a just mean between their frequent extravagance, and the sordid and shabby spirit in which we from time to time approach the question of expenditure upon "public works." The economy which consists in sobriety and simplicity of parts, especially in structures destined to subserve ordinary uses, is as much to be admired, as the economy which aims at the combination of magnificence with "cheese-paring" is to be deprecated and despised.

CONTENTS

PLATE I. BURGOS.

The Arco de Santa Maria

PLATE II. BURGOS.

Casa de Miranda

PLATE III. VALLADOLID.

College of San Gregorio

PLATE IV. VALLADOLID.

Patio de San Gregorio

PLATE V. VALLADOLID.

Patio de San Gregorio

PLATE VI. VALLADOLID.

Small Patio, Colegio de San Gregorio

PLATE VII. VALLADOLID.

La Casa del Infantado

PLATE VIII. VALLADOLID.

Church of San Isidro

PLATE IX. LEON.

Convent of San Marcos

PLATE X. LEON.

Cloister of the Convent of San Marcos

PLATE XI. LEON.

Exterior of the Casa de Los Gusmanes

PLATE XII. LEON.

Patio of the Casa de Los Gusmanes

PLATE XIII. LEON.

Detail from a House in the Calle de La Tesoriera

PLATE XIV. SALAMANCA.

Exterior of the Casa de Las Conchas

PLATE XV. SALAMANCA.

Patio of the Casa de Las Conchas

PLATE XVI. SALAMANCA.

Staircase of the Casa de Las Conchas

PLATE XVII. SALAMANCA.

Window from the Casa de Las Conchas

PLATE XVIII. SALAMANCA.

Window in the Patio of the Casa de Las Conchas

PLATE XIX. SALAMANCA.

External Window of the Casa de Las Conchas

PLATE XX. SALAMANCA.

Exterior of the Casa Monterey

PLATE XXI. SALAMANCA.

Renaissance House opposite San Benito

PLATE XXII. SALAMANCA.

Renaissance House in the Calle del Aguila

PLATE XXIII. AVILA.

Entrance Gateway of the Casa Polentina

PLATE XXIV. AVILA.

The Patio of the Casa Polentina

PLATE XXV. AVILA.

Iron Pulpit in the Cathedral

PLATE XXVI. AVILA.

Iron Pulpit in the Cathedral

PLATE XXVII. ESCORIAL.

General view of the Escorial

PLATE XXVIII. SEGOVIA.

Gateway in the City Walls

PLATE XXIX. SEGOVIA.

Archway in the Hall of the Kings

PLATE XXX. SEGOVIA.

Detail from the Alcazar

PLATE XXXI. SEGOVIA.

Exterior View of the Monastery of El Parral

PLATE XXXII. ALCALA-DE-HENARES.

Exterior of the Colegio de San Ildefonso

PLATE XXXIII. ALCALA-DE-HENARES.

Window of the Arzobispado

PLATE XXXIV. ALCALA-DE-HENARES.

Detail from the Arzobispado

PLATE XXXV. TOLEDO.

View of the Remains of a Moorish Fortress on the River

PLATE XXXVI. TOLEDO.

Bridge of Alcantara

PLATE XXXVII. TOLEDO.

Bridge of San Martin

PLATE XXXVIII. TOLEDO.

Moorish Gateway by the Bridge of Alcantara

PLATE XXXIX. TOLEDO.

Entrance Archway of the Zocodover

PLATE XL. TOLEDO.

Interior of the "Taller del Moro."

PLATE XLI. TOLEDO.

Tower of the Church of La Magdalena

PLATE XLII. TOLEDO.

Moorish Tower of San Pedro Martire

PLATE XLIII. TOLEDO.

Tower of the Church of Sant' Iago de La Vega

PLATE XLIV. TOLEDO.

External View of the Hospital of the Holy Cross

PLATE XLV. TOLEDO.

Cortile of the Hospital of the Holy Cross

PLATE XLVI. TOLEDO.

Doorway from the Hospital of the Holy Cross

PLATE XLVII. TOLEDO.

Entrance Gateway to the Alcazar

PLATE XLVIII. TOLEDO.

Patio of the Hospital of Cardinal Tavera

PLATE XLIX. CORDOBA.

Exterior of the Casa Cabello

PLATE L. SEVILLE.

Church of La Feria

PLATE LI. SEVILLE.

Church of San Marcos

PLATE LII. SEVILLE.

Remains of Mudejar House near La Feria

PLATE LIII. SEVILLE.

Mudejar Window in the Fonda de Madrid

PLATE LIV. SEVILLE.

View in the Upper Story of one of the Patios of the Casa de Pilatus

PLATE LV. SEVILLE.

Detail from a Doorway in the Upper Floor of one of the Patios of the House of Pilate

PLATE LVI. SEVILLE.

One of the Arches of the Patio of the Casa Alba

PLATE LVII. SEVILLE.

Detail from the Patio of the Casa Alba

PLATE LVIII. SEVILLE.

Arches from the Casa de Los Abades

PLATE LIX. SEVILLE.

View in the Patio of the Casa de Los Abades

PLATE LX. SEVILLE.

A Peep into an Ordinary Patio

PLATE LXI. CADIZ.

Internal View of the Cathedral

PLATE LXII. MALAGA.

The Fountain of the Alameda

PLATE LXIII. MALAGA.

Renaissance House in the Calle Sant' Augustin

PLATE LXIV. MALAGA.

Old Window of the Ospedale de Santo Tomé

PLATE LXV. MALAGA.

Knocker of the Monastery of Sant' Jago

PLATE LXVI. GRANADA.

Remains of the Alhambra as seen from the Albaycin

PLATE LXVII. GRANADA.

Entrance to the Bosqué del Alhambra

PLATE LXVIII. GRANADA.

Puerta de Justicia

PLATE LXIX. GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA.

Sala de Embajadores

PLATE LXX. GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA.

Stucco Detail from the Hall of the Ambassadors

PLATE LXXI. GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA.

Detail of Glass Inlay from the Hall of the Ambassadors

PLATE LXXII. GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA.

Mosaic from the Hall of the Ambassadors

PLATE LXXIII. GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA.

Niche in La Sala de Las dos Hermanas

PLATE LXXIV. GRANADA.--THE ALHAMBRA.

Stucco Detail from the Sala del Tribunal

PLATE LXXV. GRANADA.

View of the Cathedral from the back of the High Altar

PLATE LXXVI. GRANADA.

The Reja of the Reyes Catolicos

PLATE LXXVII. GRANADA.

View of the Arzobispado

PLATE LXXVIII. GUADALAXARA.

Palacio de Los Duques del Infantado

PLATE LXXIX. GUADALAXARA.

Doorway of the Monastery of San Miguel

PLATE LXXX. GUADALAXARA.

Casa del Duqué de Ribas

PLATE LXXXI. GUADALAXARA.

Door Handle from the Calle del Barrio Nuevo

PLATE LXXXII. SARAGOSSA.

View of the Patio of the Palacio de La Infanta

PLATE LXXXIII. SARAGOSSA.

Detail of the Arcading of the First Floor of the Casa de La Infanta

PLATE LXXXIV. SARAGOSSA.

Exterior of the Exchange

PLATE LXXXV. SARAGOSSA.

Patio of the Casa de Comercio

PLATE LXXXVI. SARAGOSSA.

Patio of the House of the Marquis of Monistol

PLATE LXXXVII. SARAGOSSA.

Bronze Renaissance Knocker of a House in the Plazuela Aduana

PLATE LXXXVIII. LERIDA.

Tower of the Church of San Lorenzo

PLATE LXXXIX. BARCELONA.

Old House in the Calle de Santa Lucia

PLATE XC. BARCELONA.

Patio of the Casa de la Diputacion

PLATE XCI. BARCELONA.

Detail from the Casa de la Diputacion

PLATE XCII. BARCELONA.

Window from the Casa de la Diputacion

PLATE XCIII. BARCELONA.

Doorway in the Town Hall

PLATE XCIV. BARCELONA.

Knocker of an old House in the Calle Santa Lucia

PLATE XCV. BARCELONA.

Knocker to an old House in the Calle Santa Lucia

PLATE XCVI. BARCELONA.

Courtyard of an old House in the Calle de Moncara

PLATE XCVII. BARCELONA.

Staircase of an old House in the Calle de Moncara

PLATE XCVIII. GERONA.

Old House near the Estrella de Oro

PLATE XCIX. GERONA.

Upper Part of an old House and Spire of the Church of San Feliu

PLATE C. GERONA.

Old Walls near the Monastery of San Pedro

FOOTNOTES

ETEXT TRANSCRIBER NOTE

PLATE 1

BURGOS

THE ARCO DE SANTA MARIA

MDW 1869

PLATE I.

_BURGOS._

THE ARCO DE SANTA MARIA.

IT is sad to notice how few traces beyond its magnificent Cathedral are left in this, the capital of old Castile, of those "Castellanos rancios y viejos," who once so splendidly represented the pride and power of Spanish chivalry. Of the sixteen golden castles the city bears upon its stately arms how insignificant are the relics? The remains of its walls and bastions attest the many centuries during which it held its own against all comers, Christian or Infidel. Of these walls, our sketch represents a portion in which there is little doubt the Renaissance frontispiece and archway replaced an older and sterner portal, better suited probably for defence than decoration. The legend runs that this façade was executed by the citizens, who had been exhibiting proclivities of far too Communistic a character to be agreeable to so high-handed a sovereign as Charles V., in order to propitiate that potentate, and to commemorate a visit, on his part at least, of a conciliatory character. It would seem, however, that in spite of the loyalty which induced the Burgalese to assign the post of honour (always under the invocation of the "Virgen sin pecado concebida)" to the statue of the King, they took good care to give him for companions Nuño Rasura, and Lain Calvo, whom they had themselves elected in the tenth century to rule over them, and protect their Communal rights. The maintenance of these had been somewhat interfered with by the King of Leon, Fruela II., who had invited the chief citizens to a banquet, and then quietly removed them out of his royal way by summarily putting them all to death. Amongst other statues which adorn this gateway are to be found those of Don Diego Parcelos, the founder of the city in 884, of the Cid--the pride of Spain and especially of Burgos, in which city he was born, and where his bones still rest--and of Fernan Gonzalez who redeemed the district from the yoke of the Kings of Leon, to whom it had been tributary, and who constituted himself and his family its protectors, under the style and title of Condes de Castilla.