Part 5

Here, in the odour of piety, surrounded by friars and monks, Philip II. lived the life of renunciation and of calm meditation. This tabernacle in the wilderness is a symbol of the mind of Spain in the days of her power, the manifestation of her profound faith, and a tribute to the seriousness and quietism which were the ideals of one of the most remarkable and complex of her rulers. We feel that the very stones of the building reveal the nature of Philip, the king who would be saint, the ambitious patriot who longed for power and vivid life, and yet realised that the placid existence in the cloister is more excellent than the fevered life of courts.

V

THE LIBRARY

The impress of the intellect of Philip II. is no less manifest in the great storehouse of books in the Escorial than in the Church and in the Monastery. It accords with the character of the founder that he should desire to possess a vast collection of the world’s choicest volumes of theology and philosophy, for, like Solomon, Philip esteemed wisdom as highly as the supremacy of rulership and the possession of great riches. His ambition as a student and an art collector was as keen as his craving for sovereignty and might. We have seen how he had applied himself in his youth to the study of literature and of languages, and the respect which he yielded to the sciences, arts, and letters.

The civilised world was searched; the libraries of all nations were overhauled to stock the Library of the Escorial with great books and precious manuscripts. Greece, Arabia, and Palestine contributed to the Bibliotheca of the kingly scholar, and the collection of volumes was at one time the finest in Europe. Philip himself took the greatest interest in the Library. He worked at the catalogue and annotated the list of volumes. The original collection was greatly augmented from time to time by the purchases made on the king’s behalf by agents, who travelled in various countries, by the seizure of volumes belonging to heretics, and by works presented by loyal and wealthy subjects. Castillo was one of Philip’s book-hunters; the catalogue of Arabic books and documents was prepared by the learned Father Sigüenza.

A suitable repository for the books was erected at the Escorial under the supervision of Philip. The vaulted ceiling was painted by Vicente Carducci, an Italian artist of great distinction, who may be ranked as the chief of the Italian designers employed to embellish the Escorial. Carducci’s mural paintings in the Library are perhaps the finest of all the fresco works in the building. He was assisted by Tibaldi of Bologna, an artist of meagre talent, who represented Philosophy, Grammar, Arithmetic, Astronomy, and other sciences and certain of the arts, upon his portion of the ceiling.

The Library is well lighted by windows. Even the shelves display the taste of the founder, for they are beautifully carved by Flecha. The tables are of marble and jasper, and the floor is paved with marble. Between the rows of shelves are some portraits of Spanish sovereigns, and among them is Carreño’s picture of Charles II. at the age of fourteen. Pantoja painted the Emperor Charles V. and the portraits of Philip II. and Philip III. The pictures represent the subjects in life-size.

Juan de Herrera, the famous architect of the Escorial, is presented on one of the canvases by an anonymous artist. Isabella of Portugal, wife of Charles V., is portrayed here, together with another portrait of Charles V. in boyhood, which hangs in the same room. The bust of Cicero in the Library was said to have been unearthed at Herculaneum.

Upon the entrance to the Library are the words of anathema uttered by the Pope upon any one who should dare to purloin books from the collection. There have been, however, many losses. The French plundered the Library, which, long before the invasion, was devastated by the fire of 1671, and from time to time the hand of the pilferer has been laid upon many of the volumes.

From a nucleus of four thousand volumes, collected by Philip II. and placed in the Escorial, the Library grew in the number of its books, and in the costly manuscripts in Arabic and other Eastern tongues. At one period this was the most notable and valuable collection of Arab works in the whole of Europe. The gift of Don Diego de Mendoza’s private library further enriched the collection. Mendoza was Philip’s ambassador to Italy, and a man of wide culture and with a love of books. When the king inherited this splendid library, he satisfied all his ambassador’s creditors.

Mendoza’s volumes were presented in 1576. They were bound in an unusual manner, one cover being red and the other black, and sometimes the leaf edges are decorated in two colours. Among other donors to the Library were Augustin, Archbishop of Tarragona, an eminent writer, Ponce de Léon, and Geronimo de Zurita, a historian. The Balearic Islands contributed about three hundred volumes, some of them being the writings of the remarkable Raymond Lully. From the Inquisition the Library received about one hundred and forty books. Authors of repute frequently presented their manuscripts to the great collection at the Escorial.

In 1583 a Moorish interpreter, in the employment of Philip, was commissioned to buy all the Arab books that he could discover in Granada and Cordova. This bibliographer, Alonso de Castillo, appears to have devoted great labour to the extension of the Library and catalogue-making. About seventy manuscripts in Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic, were presented by Father Montano, who seems to have acted as librarian, though the first to hold that office was Father Juan de San Geronimo.

Philip III. increased the Library by the addition of confiscated books seized from Don Ramuz del Prado; and in the reign of the same monarch, the collection of three thousand volumes belonging to the Emperor of Morocco was acquired.

Anticipating the rule of our biggest public library, the British Museum, it was decreed that a copy of every book issued in Spain should be presented to the Escorial. Besides volumes of philosophy, history, theology, science, and poetry, there was a collection of church music in the Library, some of which was composed by the monks, del Valle, Torrijos, and Cordova. Many of the compositions of the renowned choir-master, Antonio Soler, are in the Library.

Among the many valuable manuscripts in the Escorial collection are the Gospels, illuminated in gold on vellum. The Missal is bound in red leather and wood, with silver clasps. Bound up with these manuscripts are the ‘Epistles of San Geronimo,’ which are still in splendid preservation. Philip II. and many other collectors presented several breviaries and illuminated manuscripts to the Library. The relics are mostly well preserved, and in some cases the bindings are remarkably new in appearance. Some of the manuscripts are in Persian, others are in the Chinese and Arabic languages.

Several of the Latin manuscripts are exceedingly interesting, and date from A.D. 976 and the eleventh century. The Bibles, which number nineteen, are of the fourteenth century, and beautifully bound in parchment. One of the choicest treasures of the Library is the Apocalypse of St. John, richly illustrated. The Greek manuscripts contain several works of the early Fathers, which have never been printed. Another valuable object is the ancient copy of the Koran, most exquisitely written and ornamented.

The great ‘Chronicle’ of Alfonso is to be seen here, as well as the king’s treatises on ‘Hunting,’ ‘Chess,’ and ‘Draughts,’ which contain illustrations and diagrams. A number of old Castilian Bibles, dating from the early part of the fifteenth century, are of especial interest. ‘The Census of Spain,’ contributed by Philip II., is also preserved in sundry volumes.

Among the sketches are works by El Mudo, Tibaldi, and Urbini. A large number of fine engravings and drawings by Michael Angelo, Titian, Raphael, and Albert Dürer form part of the collection of prints in the Library.

The Reading-Room contains over fifty pictures, mostly portraits of little value in the artistic sense. An inkstand which belonged to Father Sigüenza is shown here. The most notable treasure is a portrait by the vigorous Zurbarán, perhaps the most distinctively Spanish painter of the realistic school. According to Lord Leighton, Francisco de Zurbarán represented ‘all Spain’ in his art.

Among the portraits of illustrious persons are those of Quevedo, Father Sigüenza, Torquemada, Francisco Ximenes, Luis de Gongora, and Cardinal Mendoza.

VI

THE UNIVERSITY

An important part of the great building of the Escorial was the Colegio, designed by Philip as an institution for the instruction of monks and preachers. We have seen how from his earliest manhood the king valued culture and esteemed the arts, and the University of the Escorial was his tribute to learning, just as the Monastery and the Church bore testimony of his zeal for the Faith of Rome.

The Colegio is approached from the King’s Court by steps through a vestibule. Beneath the tower is an apartment known as the Hall of Secrets, on account of its construction permitting whispers to be heard from one side of the chamber to the other. There is a spacious Refectory to the College, containing a pulpit. The arched cloister or promenade was used for dramatic displays, and it has an upper gallery with balconies and railings. Upon the ceiling are paintings by Francisco Llamas, a minor artist.

In the Chapel of the College, a building over 60 feet in length and about 30 in width, there is a handsome altar by Lorenzo Berni, carved and gilded with considerable taste. In front of the altar is a carved seat of pine and walnut, and there are seats for the students along the walls.

The Seminary is attached to the University, and resembles the Colegio in its structure. It was used by an Order of the devout who practised severe restraints, and applied themselves to diligent study. Evidence of their austerity is shown in the absence of windows. This part of the Escorial contains an infirmary, an oratory, a refectory, and cells.

Passing along the Invalids’ Gallery we reach the Compana, in which there are various offices and a marble bath. The Dispensary was formerly in this part of the Escorial. There is a viaduct from the court of the Compana, beneath which runs another road. Around the smaller patios in this portion of the pile are the bakeries, storehouses, stables, and various workshops.

To supply the Escorial with water for its seventy-six fountains, its baths, and taps, several ingenious conduits were constructed before the first stone of the edifice was laid. This water supply is excellent, and there is scarcely an apartment in the Escorial which is without pure water from the mountain springs.

VII

THE PALACE

The apartments occupied by Philip II. were in the north-east corner of the edifice, and they are entered by the north façade. This was the retreat of the moody monarch, and it accords with his love of seclusion and the simplicity of his desires, though the additions of succeeding sovereigns have rendered the Palace more luxurious and richer in decoration and art treasures. Philip’s own apartment, where he died, is more like the cell of a hermit than the chamber of a king. There is a tiled floor to the room, an absence of ornamentation, and an atmosphere of severe gloom.

Here are some relics of the king--his bookcase, writing-table, a few chairs, and the stools upon which he laid his foot when attacked by the gout. From this chamber Philip could peep into the Church during the celebration of services and hear the voices of the friars at their devotions. By opening a panel, the king was able to look upon the High Altar and to catch the odour of the incense.

The fine staircase of the Palace was the work of Ventura Rodriguez, and it was built in the reign of Carlos IV. In the Lower Gallery there are pictures of historical interest, some of them being the original works painted for the founder of the Escorial. They are chiefly battlepieces; and one is a copy of the fresco in the Hall of Battles. Among the pictures are the ‘Siege of Grave,’ the ‘Siege of Calais,’ the ‘Christian Fleet attacking the Turks,’ ‘Battle at Amiens,’ and the ‘Fleet entering the Port of Messina.’

The most important tapestries of the Escorial are in the Palace. They were designed by the gifted Goya and by Maëlla, one of the lesser painters of the eighteenth century. Goya’s designs are typically Spanish, and deserve the closest attention. The tapestries were mostly made in Madrid, though those from designs by Teniers were woven in Holland, and a few are of French and Italian manufacture. The tapestry works are of exceptional design and are scarcely excelled by any in Europe. Goya’s success as a designer of tapestry cartoons gained him election to the Académia de San Fernando, and Charles IV. appointed him _pintor de cámara del Rey_, or Court artist.

In the Apartments of the Prince there are some noteworthy pictures of the Italian School, and an old Dutch tapestry adorns the wall of one room. But finer paintings are in the Apartments of the Princess, where Alonso Cano’s genius is shown in the Virgin and the Infant Christ. Pantoja’s portrait of Philip II., painted on wood, is here. The Head of Christ by Guido Reni is in the bedroom; and another sleeping apartment is decorated with a tapestry from the designs of a Flemish artist. The drawing-room contains a tapestry of Spanish design, and there are tapestries in the nurse-room and play-room.

The chief picture in the workroom is one of San Antonio by the powerful Ribera. Three portraits by Mengs hang here: one of Charles III. in mail, and the others of Maria Josephine, daughter of Charles, and Maria Luisa, wife of Leopold of Austria, the Archduke.

In the Reception Hall there is a portrait of the Duque de Olivares, said to be by Velazquez, but the authenticity is dubious.

The picture of Pope Innocent X. is a copy of Velazquez’s portrait. Among the other portraits in this hall are Isabel, wife of Philip II. There are a few landscape paintings, and one or two works of minor painters of the Italian school.

The corridor of the Hall of the Caryatides is supposed to represent the handle of the gridiron upon which the patron saint of the Escorial was martyred for his faith. This is an almost square apartment, designed in the Doric style. There are two fountains in marble, with figures of Caryatides pouring water into the basins.

The Hall of Battles is adorned with a number of fresco-paintings representing various combats. The battle of Higueruela, which was fought against the Moors by Don John in 1431, was painted by two Italians, Granelo and Fabricio, from an old battlepiece which was found at Segovia. Philip II. was much interested in this picture, and he ordered the two artists to reproduce it in a huge mural painting. The work was divided into eight sections, depicting various scenes in the great encounter with the infidels, and the king was well satisfied with the fresco. There are two pictures of Philip’s battleships in action at either end of the ‘Battle of Higueruela.’ Other martial subjects are treated. They are: ‘A Review by Philip II.,’ the ‘Battle of Lisbon under the Duke of Alba,’ the ‘Capture of Noyon,’ the ‘Firing of a City,’ the ‘Departure from St. Quintin,’ the ‘Capture of a Fort,’ the ‘Attack on St. Quintin,’ the ‘Spanish Troops under Philibert,’ ‘A Battle,’ and ‘Before the Siege of St. Quintin.’

The ceiling of the Hall of Battles is adorned with quaint pictures.

The Apartments of the Queen are daintily decorated with tapestries, some by Spanish and others by Dutch designers, while the hangings are of amber silk. In the Oratory of the Queen there is an altar with a painting of the ‘Virgin and the Infant Jesus.’ The painter was Juan de Juanes, sometimes called Vicente Joanes, or Juan Macip. According to C. Gasquoine Hartley, in _A Record of Spanish Painting_, this artist was ‘the first great exponent’ of the art of the Valencian School. ‘He is one of the national painters of Spain. To some extent his painting was imbued with the Italian ideal, and it is possible that he received his artistic training in Italy; but the Spanish personality of his work is rarely obscured. The intense religious solemnity, the decorous purity, the vigorous handling, the careful painting of details, the luminous warmth of colour, the lack of creative imagination, the disregard of beauty, the tendency to exaggeration, all the virtue and all the limitation of the painters of Spain are outlined in his work.’

Little is known of the life of Juanes. He was a Valencian by birth, and he painted several pictures in the churches of his Province. Juanes was a devoutly religious man, and his work shows a strong bias for mysticism and warm piety. He was an industrious painter; his work ranges from portraits to large subject pictures, and there are many of his paintings in Valencia. Juanes died in 1579, and his style is seen in the pictures produced by his pupils, who are, however, unimbued with his genius. ‘With Juanes,’ writes C. Gasquoine Hartley, ‘we close the record of the early Hispano-Italian painters.’

In the Bedroom of the Queen there is a tapestry and a ceiling by López, who also designed the ceiling of the dressing-room.

We have already noted the tapestries in the Apartments of the Princess. The Carved Rooms demand inspection, for they contain examples of rare decoration in woods. The carvings and the inlaid work of these rooms cost a very large sum. Woods of the rarest and finest were employed for the adornment of the apartments, and gilt and gold were lavished upon the walls. The pictures painted on copper are by Montalbo, and the ceiling painting was intrusted to Maëlla. Blue upholstery decks the seats. There are four of these sumptuously decorated chambers. The third of them has a ceiling-painting by Galvez. In the fourth room, Maëlla painted the ceiling, and the walls are adorned in green and gold. There are a few pictures here, but none of striking worth. The Oratory contains a tapestry of Spanish design. On the altar there is a picture by Giordano representing Santa Anna, St. Joachim, and the Holy Mother.

The Reception Room of this portion of the Palace is decorated with tapestry, and the ceiling is painted by López. In the Antechamber, Billiard Room, and the offices adjacent, there are more tapestries.

We have made our survey of this remarkable pile, which contains a treasure house of works of art, an institution of learning, a convent, a palace, and a church. Surely such a composite building is not to be seen in any other quarter of the world. Nor is there any other edifice of such importance and grandeur amid surroundings so savage and primitive. The Royal Monastery of the Escorial is indeed an unique structure, historically instructive, and of deep interest for the architect, the art student, and the philosopher. It is a reflection and a symbol of Spain and of Philip II.; the building, in its sombre setting of grey crags and shadowy woods, has an indefinable atmosphere, a potent fascination.

VIII

APPENDIX I

THE FIRST CHRONICLER OF THE ESCORIAL

We have it on the authority of Padre Fray José de Sigüenza, the librarian of the Monasterio, and the first historian of Philip II., that the king desired the building at the Escorial to excel the majesty of Solomon’s Temple, and to astonish the whole world. When we consider that the edifice was erected and adorned with very little aid from machinery, we cannot but marvel at the expedition in carrying out the architects’ and designers’ plans. A great army of sawyers, carpenters, quarrymen, stonemasons, and craft-workers found employment upon this great pile. It is recorded that the labourers complained of the cold, searching winds in winter, and that they suffered from the scorching heat in summer.

The rules applying to the workmen were stringent. The labourers appear to have suffered from a scarcity of wine, which they desired in the hot weather. No doubt the rigour of the climate in winter increased the difficulties attending upon the undertaking.

Cranes and levers were employed for lifting the huge blocks of stone quarried from the surrounding mountains. Even the rough work was allotted only to workmen of approved ability and reputed industry, while the task of decoration was given to masters of the arts of painting, illuminating, and carving in wood, metal, and ivory. Upon this bleak highland a busy colony of toilers from many parts of Europe sprang up in a few months. Forges, workshops, and saw-pits were set up or constructed amongst the _scoriæ_ or shale of the mountains, and the desert rang with the beating of hammers on metal, the clicking of the mason’s chisel, and the grating of the saws.

An immense number of carts and horses were employed, besides pannier-mules and asses, to bring the stone from the quarries and the metal from distant furnaces.

Only a part of the work was performed at the Escorial. The bronze was compounded in Zaragoza; the white marble came from the Sierras de Filabres, and the green, black, and variegated marbles were brought from the mountains of Andalusia, while Cuenca and Segovia furnished part of the pine wood. Many of the figures of bronze for the altars were designed and made in Florence and Milan. Toledo supplied lamps, candlesticks, crosses, and incense-burners. Holland provided heavy bronze candle-holders. Spain, Italy, and Flanders were searched for precious stones and metals to beautify the building, and artists and craftsmen were imported from many countries.

Juan Bautista de Toledo, and his pupil Juan de Herrera, expended great care and pains in the designs. Models of the various parts of the Escorial were made in wood, and the designs were altered and improved by both architects from time to time. Under the direction of Juan de Herrera every detail of the building was submitted to him for his approval before it was finished. Even the designs of Peregrino and Flecha, the Italian masters, were submitted to the inspection of the master-architect. Juan de Herrera was succeeded by Francisco de Mora as chief architect.

The construction of the Principal Choir was a part of the work upon which much forethought was expended. Father Sigüenza describes the Corinthian style of the choir as the most beautiful feature of the Church. He mentions one hundred and twenty-eight as the number of the seats.

The Retablo was a costly piece of work, as a large quantity of jasper and precious metal was used in its embellishment, and much gilt employed. The columns are of the Doric order, and the bases are formed of gilded bronze.

Father Sigüenza does not stint his praise for the ‘judicious architects and singular painters’ employed by Philip II. at the Escorial, and his book is characterised by a high enthusiasm for the king, and admiration for the great work, ‘this sumptuous fabric,’ in which the worthy _padre_ spent so many years of his life as Director of the Royal Library.

Coello painted the strong features of Father Sigüenza upon a canvas that may be seen in the Prior’s Chamber of the Monastery.

APPENDIX II

LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL PAINTERS WHOSE WORKS ARE IN THE ESCORIAL

ARTIST. SUBJECT. SITUATION.

Cano. Virgin and Infant Christ. Apartments of Princess.

Carducci. Portraits of Saints. Relicario of Church. Arts and Sciences (fresco). Library.

Coello. Altarpieces. In Chapels. Father Sigüenza. Upper Prior’s Chamber.

El Greco. St. Maurice. The Old Church.