opposite bank of the Guadalquivir. Among the low hills beyond the
Cartuja, to the right of Triana, is the ancient Roman amphitheatre of
Italica, while in the extreme distance are blue mountains.

Beyond the Alcázar we note the Parque, the Delicias, the Prado de San
Sebastian, and the red clay hills of Coria on the right bank of the
broad river. Further away are the interminable marshes bordering the
estuary, and beyond is San Lucar. Below us is the Archbishop's Palace
and the gardens of the Alcázar. Seville is spread beneath us like a huge
map. We look down on roof gardens, into _patios_, along the white,
narrow _calles_, into the _plazas_, and across the housetops to the
fertile land beyond the Roman walls.

It is a prospect that inspires the spectator. Fair, sunny, fruitful
Andalusia stretches around for league upon league, under a burning blue
sky. The air is clear; there is scarcely a trace of smoke from the
myriad chimneys of the city. No town could be brighter and cleaner. We
are above the brown hawks that nest in the niches of the Cathedral. They
float on outspread wings over the buttresses. The passengers in the
streets are like specks; the trees in the Court of the Oranges are but
shrubs. It is one of the finest panoramas in Spain. One is reluctant to
descend from this breezy platform, and to turn one's back upon the fine
bird's-eye view of Seville and the surrounding landscape.

It is a misfortune that sun, wind and rain have almost expunged the
frescoes that decorate the niches of the Giralda. They were the work of
Luis de Vargas, who painted the altar-piece in the Chapel of the
Nativity in the Cathedral. Vargas was a pupil of Perino del Vaga in
Italy. One of the paintings on the Giralda represented the Saints of
Seville, St. Justa and St. Rufina, who protect the tower from harm, and
other subjects were scenes in the lives of saints and martyrs. Vargas
also executed the fresco of Christ bearing the Cross, or the _Calle de
Amargura_, on the outside of Patio de los Naranjas. The picture was
restored by Vasco Pereyra, in 1594. We read of Luis de Vargas that he
was extremely devout. He practised austerities and mortifications, and
slept with a coffin by his bedside, to remind him of the insecurity of
this earthly life. The ascetic artist was born in Seville, in 1502, and
died there about the year 1568.

Like the monument of London, and many other high towers, the Giralda has
often been used by suicides. A number of despairing persons have thrown
themselves from its summit.

[Illustration: The Giralda]

CHAPTER V

_The Cathedral_

    'How reverend is the face of this tall pile,
     Whose ancient pillars rear their marble heads
     To bear aloft its arched and ponderous roof,
     By its own weight made steadfast and immovable,
     Looking tranquillity.'--WILLIAM CONGREVE.

'Let us build such a huge and splendid temple that succeeding
generations of men will say that we were mad.' So said the pious
originators of Seville Cathedral, in the year 1401. After one hundred
years, the temple was still unfinished, and to this day masons are at
work upon the dome.

When San Fernando captured the city of Seville from the Moors, and made
it his capital, the Mosque, which stood on the site of the Cathedral,
was consecrated to the service of the Christian faith. It was used for
Catholic worship until its disrepair became a reproach. Then the Chapter
decided to erect a worthier fane, one which would astonish posterity.
The Cathedral should be huge and magnificent, rivalling in its area all
the other cathedrals of Spain. Toledo Cathedral is 'rich'; Salamanca,
'strong'; León, 'beautiful.' The Cathedral of Seville is called the
'great.'

In point of size the edifice ranks third among the cathedrals of Europe.
It is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, larger than Cologne and
Milan. The superficial areas of the great cathedrals are as follows:--

    St. Peter's  230,000 feet square
    Córdova      160,000
    Seville      125,000
    Milan        110,000
    St. Paul's    84,000

In 1511, five years after the practical completion of the building, the
dome gave way. It was re-erected by Juan Gil de Hontañon, an architect
who subsequently designed the new Cathedral of Salamanca (1513). The
original architects are supposed to have been of German nationality.[B]
Earthquake shocks endangered a part of the structure at a later date,
and Casanova, who restored the Giralda Tower, superintended the
renovation, which was begun in 1882. Six years after Casanova's
restoration, the dome again collapsed, and from that time until to-day
the work of repair has proceeded.

Théophile Gautier, writing of this splendid pile, states:

'The most extravagant and most monstrously prodigious Hindoo pagodas are
not to be mentioned in the same century as the Cathedral of Seville. It
is a mountain scooped out, a valley turned topsy-turvy; Notre Dame at
Paris might walk erect in the middle nave, which is of frightful height;
pillars as large round as towers, and which appear so slender that they
make you shudder, rise out of the ground or descend from the vaulted
roof, like stalactites in a giant's grotto.'

In Caveda's description of the Cathedral, we read: 'The general effect
is truly majestic. The open-work parapets which crown the roofs; the
graceful lanterns of the eight winding stairs that ascend in the
corners to the vaults and galleries; the flying buttresses that spring
lightly from aisle to nave, as the jets of a cascade from cliff to
cliff; the slender pinnacles that cap them, the proportions of the arms
of the transept and of the buttresses supporting the side walls; the
large pointed windows that open between them, one above another, just as
the aisles and chapels to which they belong rise over each other; the
pointed portals and entrances--all these combine in an almost miraculous
manner, although these are lacking the wealth of detail, the airy grace,
and the delicate elegance that characterise the cathedrals of León and
Burgos.'

[Illustration: Pinnacle of the Cathedral]

It was during the long and exhausting endeavours of the Castilian Kings
to expel the Moors from Spain, that gold and treasure was paid into the
coffers of the Chapter for the cost of erecting the marvellous
Cathedral of Seville. Bishops, deans and clergy forfeited one half of
their stipends to meet the heavy charges of architects, artists, stained
glass designers, masons, carvers, and innumerable craftsmen and
labourers. An army of artists and mechanics was employed upon the vast
work. During the century of construction, the Catholic kings who resided
in the Alcázar, showed great interest in the undertaking, while the
noble families subscribed liberally towards the cost, and the poor gave
of their slender store of pesetas.

The exterior of the Cathedral is a type of the finest Spanish Gothic
architecture, though the incorporated Giralda Tower is distinctly
Morisco, and much older in style. Within the consecrated precincts, we
may see traces of the _Mudéjar_ handicraftsmen amid early Gothic and
Renaissance architectural details.

The Cathedral consecrated ground contains within its confines the
Moorish Patio de los Naranjas, the high minaret, the Columbus Library,
offices of the Chapter, and the Church of the Sagrario. There are nine
doors to the Cathedral proper, and a gateway with doors, leading to the
Patio de los Naranjas, or Court of the Oranges.

THE EXTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL.

From the Calle del Gran Capitan, on the west side of the Cathedral, one
may gain a conception of the extent and the magnificence of the
building. It is best to begin our inspection of the doors from this
side. Here we shall find three entrances, or _puertas_. The chief door
is in the centre. It is elaborately decorated, and is in fine
preservation. Thirty-two figures stand in niches. Over the door is a
beautiful relief of the Assumption by Ricardo Bellver.

[Illustration: Puerta Mayor.

THE CENTRAL DOOR OF THE CATHEDRAL]

Puerta del Bautismo, or San Juan, is embellished with sculptures by
Pedro Millan, which deserve careful inspection. The third doorway is the
Puerta del Nacimiento, or San Miguel. This is also adorned by the
sculpture of Pedro Millan. The upper part of the Cathedral viewed from
this side is not of much beauty. It is modern, dating from 1827.

[Illustration: Pinnacle of the Cathedral]

At the south side of the Cathedral is the Puerta de San Cristóbal, or de
la Lonja, added by Casanova in 1887. As we make the circuit of the
edifice, we shall see the turrets and numerous pinnacles of the roof.
The effect is impressive and bewildering. Centuries of labour are here
represented in noble form and beauty of outline. The flying buttresses
are especially graceful and the great dome is majestic in its
proportions. Cean Bermudez compares the Cathedral with 'a high-pooped
and beflagged ship, rising over the sea with harmonious grouping of
sails, pennons and banners.'

In the east façade are the Puerta de los Campanillas and the Puerta de
los Palos. These doors are magnificently decorated with sculptures by
Lope Marin, executed in the year 1548. There are three entrances on the
north side. That leading from the Court of the Oranges is named the
Puerta del Lagarto, from the stuffed crocodile which hangs from the
ceiling. The Puerta de los Naranjas is in the centre of the court. This
door is kept closed except on days of festival. The third door is the
unfinished one bearing the name of the Puerta del Sagrario.

As we survey this immense monument of the Christian faith, we are led to
muse upon the power of the early Catholic Church in Spain. It was no
half-hearted belief that urged men of all ranks of society to deny
themselves in contributing to the huge outlay that went to the planning,
erection and decoration of this mighty Cathedral.

The dictates of the Chapter ruled the councils of the State and the
conferences of kings and courtiers. When the throne lost power, the
bishop's chair gained in authority. In the reign of Philip III. the
Cathedral of Seville had no less than one hundred clergy on its staff.
Dunham, in his _History of Spain_, states that 'half a dozen could
assuredly have been sufficient for the public offices of devotion.' But
there was no question of restricting the number of ministers and
confessors in these days of perfervid devotion. It was considered
heretical to even speak of stinting the wealth that was freely poured
into the coffers of the hierarchy. To this devotion and liberality we
owe the great treasure-house of art beneath whose broad shadow we stand.
The painters, sculptors and craftsmen were under the patronage of the
Church; they could not have subsisted without such patronage. And in
most cases they gave their services gladly, for their heart was in their
labours, and devotion inspired them. Few desired any other kind of
employment; the highest service was that of holy religion.

A great faith, such as the Romish, inspires its devotees to the building
of resplendent temples. The Christians would not merely imitate the
Moors in the beauty and richness of their churches. They pledged
themselves to excel the magnificence of the _mezquitas_, and to show
mankind that God is honoured most devoutly by those who spare neither
wealth nor industry in the setting up of fanes dedicated to His worship.
We cannot grasp the Spanish character until we realise that its keynote
in the past was profound piety and deep loyalty towards the Church and
the Crown. The cathedrals of Spain are testimony to this devotion to the
Christian creed. They are solemn historic memorials of faith.

Worshippers in the Seville Cathedral are reverential; there is no
apparent insincerity in their responses and genuflexions. In Italy and
France there is a less manifest reverence during divine services. But
the Spanish temperament has remained religious through all the stress of
heretical days and the changing fortunes of its dynasties. It is not
only the women who are devout, for many men are present at the
celebrations in the cathedrals and churches. Very imposing are these
Spanish services in the half-light of the _capillas_:

    'Dim burn the lamps like lights on vaporous seas;
     Drowsed are the voices of droned litanies;
     Blurred as in dreams the face of priest and friar.'

The organ music is often superb, and the choristers are highly trained.
Besides the organ, reed and string instruments are used to accompany the
singing during important festivals. The smoke of incense mounts in the
lofty naves and aisles; the altars glow with candle-lights, and the
sweet, rich voices of the boys hover under the vaulted roofs. Rich and
poor alike sit or stand upon the flagged floors. The preachers are often
very eloquent, and they preach in the purest form of the Castilian
language.

The dim light of the interior of the Cathedral is a hindrance to the
full enjoyment of the very numerous works of art that adorn the chapels.
This gloom is characteristic of the Spanish cathedrals and churches. The
best time in the day to inspect the pictures in Seville Cathedral is
before eight in the morning. It is an early hour; but the light is then
fairly good, and the chapels are usually quiet. I advise the visitor to
spend several hours in the Cathedral, if he desires to study the inner
architecture, carvings, pictures and statues. A mere ramble through the
naves and a peep into one or two of the _capillas_ will not suffice. It
is well to select a portion of the interior for each day's inspection.
Shun the loafers who offer their services as guides. They have no
knowledge of the art treasures, and they possess a faculty of invention.

I trust that my description will assist the stranger in his tour of the
Cathedral. The chief objects of art are indicated, or briefly described,
in the remaining part of this chapter. The account is not to be taken as
exhaustive. A thorough treatise on the architecture of the building
alone would require more space than I have at my command, and it might
prove somewhat tedious to the reader who is not acquainted with the
technical terminology of architecture.

THE INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL.

Enter by the Puerta del Lagarto, in the Patio de los Naranjas. One's
first impression when within the Cathedral is that of its magnitude and
the 'frightful height,' which struck Théophile Gautier. The length,
exclusive of the Capilla Real, is three hundred and eighty feet; the
width is two hundred and fifty feet. The nave is one hundred and
thirty-two feet in height, and over fifty feet in width.

There is great dignity in the lofty columns, and a sense of vastness
possesses us as we gaze upwards. The floor is of fine marble. It was
laid in the years 1787 to 1795.

_The Capilla de los Evangelistas_ is the first chapel near to the
_puerta_. It has a fine altar piece in nine parts, the work of Hernando
de Sturmio, containing a picture of the ancient Giralda. The paintings
are on panel, and the brown tints are characteristic of the early
Sevillian School of Art.

By the Puerta de los Naranjas, the great door on this side of the
Cathedral, there are two altars. One is the Altar de la Asunción, and
the other is dedicated to La Virgen de Belén. The Assumption picture as
executed by Carlo Maratta. The face of the Virgin is clear, but somewhat
dark in tone, and the light is not favourable for viewing the picture.
On the other side of the doorway the light is better. The altar is
adorned by a painting of the Virgin, from the brush of the famous Alonso
Cano. It is a rather conventional presentment of Holy Mother, but the
features are not without beauty. On the whole, the painting is not
equal in merit to most of the works of the last Andalusian master. The
hands and feet of the figure are finished with the care characteristic
of Cano's art.

Alonso Cano has been called the 'Michelangelo of Spain.' He studied in
Seville under Pacheco and Juan de Castillo, and painted pictures for
some of the religious houses. Cano was also a sculptor and architect. He
was forced to leave the city after wounding an antagonist in a duel. In
1651 he was appointed a Canon of Granada, and during his residence in
the old Moorish city, Cano painted works for the churches. The artist
was of an irritable disposition; but he spent the latter part of his
life in religious exercises, and gave freely to the poor. He died in
poverty, in 1667, and received alms from the Church.

Writing of Alonso Cano, in his _Spanish and French Painters_, Mr Gerard
W. Smith says: 'Although he was never in Italy, his fine feeling for
form, and the natural charm and simplicity of his composition, suggest
the study of the antique, while in painting, the richness and variety of
his colouring could hardly be surpassed.'

_The Capilla de San Francisco_ is next to the altar of Alonso Cano. Here
we may try to see a painting of the Glorification of St. Francis by
Herrera el Mozo, and one of the Virgin and San Ildefonso, by Juan Valdés
Leal. Herrera's picture is not of value. He was a much less capable
artist than his father, Francisco Herrera el Viejo (the elder), from
whose roof the mozo ran away to Italy. Upon his return to Seville, the
young man was so conceited and affected in his painting that he failed
to produce any fine work. The Glorification of St. Francis and the
picture by Leal can be scarcely seen in the sombre shadows of the
chapel.

[Illustration: Interior of the cathedral]

_The Capilla de Santiago_ adjoins the last chapel. There are two
paintings here; one by Juan de las Roelas of St. James (Santiago) and
one of St. Lawrence (San Lorenzo) by Valdés Leal. Roelas was painting in
Seville at the time of Herrera the Elder. He is said to have studied art
in Venice. The finest work of this artist is to be seen in the Church of
San Isidoro.[C] In the Capilla de Santiago there is a dilapidated tomb
of Archbishop Gonzalo de Mena, who died in 1401.

_The Capilla de Escalas_ contains two pictures of note by Luca Giordano,
strong in character, drawing, and colour. Over the tomb of Bishop
Baltasar del Rio, who died in 1540, is an altar relief of the Day of
Pentecost by a Genoese artist.

_The Capilla del Bautisterio_ has one of Murillo's finest works,
representing St. Anthony of Padua's Vision of the Child Jesus. Part of
this picture was cut out and stolen in 1874. It was traced to New York,
and restored to the Cathedral a few months later. The picture was
originally painted for the Capuchin Convent in 1656, and afterwards came
into the possession of the Chapter. A Baptism of Christ, also the work
of Murillo, is above this painting. In this chapel is the font of holy
oil, which is consecrated in Holy Week. This _pila_, or monument, was
made by Antonio Florentin in 1545-1546. It is used for the exposition of
the Host, and is exhibited near the Puerta Mayor in Easter Week.
Originally the _pila_ was a tall construction of three storeys on
columns, with a large cross. Between the columns were coloured figures
of saints. Some of the effigies were modelled in clay, and others were
carved from wood. They were beautifully designed. In 1624 the building
was altered and spoiled by the addition of another storey of the
composite order. 'Its effect in the midnight service is superb,' writes
Sir Stirling Maxwell, 'when blazing with church plate and myriads of
waxen tapers it seems a mountain of light, of which the silver crest is
lost in the impenetrable gloom of the vaults above.'

On the west side of the Cathedral, which we have now reached, is the
Altar de la Visitación, with pictures by Marmolejo and Jerónimo
Hernandez. By the principal door is another altar, that of Nuestra
Señora del Consuelo, with a painting by one of Murillo's pupils, Alonso
Miguel de Tobar. Close to the Puerta del Nacimiento we shall find some
fine works by Luis de Vargas, the celebrated fresco artist. There are
three _capillas_ on this side of the building, called the Capilla de los
Jácomes, the Capilla de San Leandro, and the Capilla de San Isidoro.
They may be passed by, as they contain no important works of art.

At the Puerta del Nacimiento we reach the south aisle, and come to

_The Capilla de San Laureano_, with a tomb of Archbishop Alonso de Exea,
who died in 1417.

_The Capilla de Santa Ana_ is the next chapel on the south side. Here
there is an interesting old altar, with several pictures painted in the
early part of the fifteenth century.

_The Capilla de San José_ contains a notable work by Juan Valdés Leal,
the Marriage of the Virgin, and a poor picture by Antolinez.

_The Capilla de San Hermenegildo_ is noteworthy for the image of the
saint by Montañez, and the tomb of Archbishop Juan de Cervantes by
Lorenzo de Bretaña. The marble of the tomb is much worn.

_The Capilla de la Antigua_ is a larger chapel, with fourteenth-century
decorations of the altar. There is also a fine monument to Cardinal
Mendoza, executed in 1509 by the Italian Miguel. The figures are very
quaint. Adjoining this chapel is the Altar de la Gamba, with the
Generacion by Luis de Vargas, a famous picture described in the art
chapters of this book. The immense painting opposite is St. Christopher,
by Mateo Perez de Alesio, painted in 1584.

For painting the San Cristobal Alesio received four thousand ducats. The
saint is quaintly clad in hose, and the figure is gigantic. Sir Stirling
Maxwell draws attention to the fine colouring of the parrot seen in the
distance. Mateo de Alesio, who was an Italian by birth, died in the year
1600.

Passing through the _Capilla de los Dolores_, which is unimportant, we
come to the splendid _Sacristía de los Cálices_, built by Riaño and
Gainza in the years from 1530 to 1537. Diego de Riaño, sculptor and
designer, was often employed by the Cathedral authorities. He delighted
in lavish and fantastic embellishment, and introduced the Italian
methods of ornamentation. Martin Gainza was of the same school. He was
an architect and sculptor of great repute, and he assisted Riaño in much
of his work.

The Crucifix is the work of Montañez. It was removed from the Cartuja
Convent. Murillo's _Angel de la Guarda_, or Guardian Angel, is in this
sacristy. This picture was presented to the Cathedral by the Capuchins
in 1814. It is one of the best of Murillo's works. Borrow much admired
the _Guarda_, and Sir Stirling Maxwell describes the diaphanous drapery
of the child's dress in terms of praise. The angel holds a child by the
hand, and points to heaven. Notice the rich colouring of purple and
yellow in the vesture of the angel.

On the same wall are the _Ecce Homo_, the Virgin, and St. John, the work
of Morales; St. Dorothy by Murillo; a painting of Fernando de Contreras
by Luis de Vargas; Pietà and Death of the Virgin by a German artist, and
a picture by Juan Nuñez of the fifteenth century.

Goya's fine painting of St. Justa and St. Rufina is here. Elsewhere in
this book I have told the legend of these guardian saints of the
Giralda. Goya's conception of them is unconventional, and unlike that of
Murillo, who represents the two maidens with halos around their heads.
We have the figures of two charming potter-girls in Goya's picture, two
creatures of earth, lovely, but not ethereal. The Holy Trinity of 'El
Greco' (the Greek) is one of the interesting examples of this great
Toledan artist's work. Zurbaran is represented in the Sacristía by his
painting of St. John.

_The Sacristía Mayor_ is in the Renaissance style. It was built by the
designers of the Sacristía de los Cálices about the year 1532. Campaña's
admirable Descent from the Cross is here, but the picture has been
indifferently restored. There is also a work of Murillo, SS. Leandro and
Isidoro.

The Cathedral Treasury is in this sacristy. One of the principal objects
of interest is the splendid _custodia_, used for carrying the Host. It
is the work of Juan d'Arphe, a celebrated gold-worker, who was born in
Avila in 1535. In 1564 he constructed the _custodia_ of that city, and
in 1580 began a work of a similar character for Seville Cathedral. Many
designs were submitted for the inspection of the Chapter, but Juan
d'Arphe's was chosen as one unequalled in Spain. The _custodia_ is about
twelve feet high, round in form, with four storeys, each one supported
by twenty-four columns. Some of the columns are Ionic; the rest are
Corinthian and composite in design. Between the columns are a number of
statuettes, and the base and cornices are profusely adorned with
bas-reliefs. In the first storey there was originally seated a figure of
Faith, but it was changed in 1668 for one of the Virgin of the
Conception, when the _custodia_ was restored by Juan Segura. The second
storey is the repository of the Host, and in the third and fourth
storeys are figures of the Church Triumphant and the Holy Trinity.
Crowning the edifice was a small dome and cross, which was replaced in
1668 by a statue of the Faith. The _custodia_ is of beautiful and simple
design.

The _Tablas Alfonsinas_, a reliquary, given to the Church in 1274 by
Alfonso el Sabio, are in the Treasury. Crosses, plate and sacerdotal
vestments are among the treasures. The canonical robes date from the
fourteenth century. The keys of Seville, yielded to Fernando el Santo on
the day of conquest, are also shown here.

_The Capilla del Mariscal_ adjoins the Sacristía Mayor. In this chapel
is the great altar-piece of Pedro Campaña, restored in 1880. The work is
in ten parts, representing scenes in the life of Christ, and containing
portraits of Marshal Pedro Caballero and his family.

_The Sala Capitular_ was the work of Riaño and Gainza. It was begun in
1530 and finished in 1582. The plateresque decorations are very
beautiful. Note the fine ceiling, the marble medallions, and the
pavement. Murillo's Conception is here, and the Four Virtues of Pablo de
Céspedes. There is a picture of San Fernando by Pacheco, the
father-in-law and instructor of Velazquez. The ovals between the windows
were the work of Murillo. This _sala_ is close to the Puerta de los
Campanillas, and beyond this entrance, on the east side of the
Cathedral, is

_The Capilla de la Concepción Grande_, containing a monument to
Cardinal Cienfuego, a modern work. The other small chapel on this side
is that known as

_The Capilla de San Pedro_. Here are nine pictures by Zurbaran, well
worthy of notice, and a tomb of Archbishop Diego Deza, restored in 1893.

_The Capilla Real_ is between the two smaller chapels of the east end.
In design this chapel is Renaissance. The decorations are luxuriant and
there is a high dome. Gainza began to build the chapel in 1541, and his
work was carried on by Hernan Ruiz, who planned the choir of Córdova
Cathedral, and afterwards by Juan de Maeda.

On the chief altar is a figure of the Virgin of the Kings, dating from
the thirteenth century. It was presented to San Fernando by St. Louis of
France. The fair hair is real; the crown that adorned the head was
stolen in 1873. On each side of the doorway are tombs. One is that of
Alfonso el Sabio, and the other is the tomb of his mother.

The shrine of the adored San Fernando is in front of an altar. In the
Panteón are the coffins of Pedro el Cruel, his mistress Maria de
Padilla, the Princes Fadrique, Alonso and Pedro, and others. Over San
Fernando's coffin is the ivory figure of the Virgin of Battles, which
the King carried upon his saddle when he went to the wars. The monarch's
pennant and sword are also displayed.

Murillo's Mater Dolorosa is in the sacristy of this _capilla_. There are
portraits of St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier, by Pacheco.

In the later styles of the Capilla Real we may see examples of the
Grotesque, or _Estilo Monstruoso_, with which the buildings of Seville
abound. Diego de Riaño's work in the Ayuntamiento, or City Hall, is full
of instances of this development of fanciful design and bizarre effect.
Gainza, the collaborator of Riaño, is responsible for the articulations
and curious, lavish adornment of the Royal Chapel of the Cathedral. The
sacristy of the _capilla_ was built and decorated by Gainza after plans
by Riaño. We may now inspect the stained-glass windows, in which we
shall find the influence of Italian artists. It must be noted that art
in Spain has been profoundly influenced by Italy. Michelangelo is
reverenced by Spanish artists. Many of the early Spanish painters went
to Italy to study, and brought back with them new ideas and fresh
methods of painting. 'Spanish artists,' writes Professor Carl Justi,
'did their best to Italianize themselves in the studios of Roman and
Florentine masters.'

Cristobal Micer Aleman was the first to introduce the art of staining
glass into Seville. Until 1504 stained glass windows had not been seen
in the city, and Aleman was the designer of the first painted window of
the Cathedral. Sir Stirling Maxwell states that in 1538 the Church paid
Arnao of Flanders, Carlos of Bruges, and other artists the sum of ninety
thousand ducats for staining the windows of Seville Cathedral. The work
was not completed until twenty years later. The chief window pictures
are the Ascension, Jesus and Mary Magdalen, the Awakening of Lazarus,
and the Entry into Jerusalem. The Resurrection is the work of Carlos,
and other pictures are by the two brothers Arnao.

The isolated _Capilla Mayor_ has an altar-piece of wood, and a silver
image of the Virgin by Alfaro. The painted scenes are from the
Scriptures. Crowning the retablo are a crucifix and large statues of the
Virgin and St. John. Dancart, the designer of the retablo, was of the
Flemish school of decorative carvers. The work was begun about 1482 and
finished in 1526.

Between the _Coro_ (choir) and the Chief Chapel an enormous candelabrum
is displayed during Semana Santa, or Holy Week. It is called the
Tenebrario, and it was constructed by Bartolomé Morel, a
sixteenth-century sculptor. The structure is twenty-six feet high, and
it is ornamented with several small images. During the imposing
celebrations of Semana Santa, the candelabrum is lit by thirteen
candles. Twelve of these lights represent the apostles who deserted
their Master; the thirteenth candle stands for the Virgin, and when the
twelve have been extinguished, the thirteenth still burns as a symbol of
Mary's fealty to the Saviour.

_The Coro_ was much injured by the collapse of the dome. Two grand
organs were destroyed at this time. One of the most interesting objects
preserved in the choir is the facistol, or choristers' desk, of
Bartolomé Morel, adorned with highly-finished carvings. The choir stalls
were decorated by Nufro Sanchez, a sculptor of the fifteenth century,
whose work suggests German influence. They are beautiful examples of
carving.

_The Coro_ is entered by either of the two doors of the front or
_Trascoro_. There is a handsome marble façade; a painting of the Virgin
by an unknown hand, and a picture said to be from the brush of Francisco
Pacheco, the artist, author and inquisitor. The white marble frontage is
adorned with bas-reliefs of the Genoese school, exhibiting fine feeling.
Italian influence is manifest in the picture of the Holy Mother, which
is highly decorative in style.

Close to the _Coro_, near the chief entrance on that side of the
Cathedral, is the tomb of Fernando Colón, son of Cristobal Colón
(Columbus). The slab is engraved with pictures of the discoverer's
vessels. An inscription runs: '_Á Castilla y á León mundo nuebo dié
Colon:_' _i.e._, 'To Castile and León Columbus gave the New World.'

The student of architecture and painting will find ample examples of
varied styles of art in this great repository of sculpture, frescoes and
panel pictures. He will be able to trace the development of
architectural design from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, both
in the exterior and interior of the immense Cathedral. The art of the
_Mudéjar_, the Fleming, the Italian, the German and the Spaniard are
here represented in masonry, decoration, stained glass, and upon canvas.
Wandering designers and craftsmen of the Middle Ages looked upon Spain
as a land of plenty. They came from Flanders, Italy and Genoa, and found
favour with the wealthy Chapter of Seville. The artists employed to
adorn the Cathedral range from Juan Sanchez de Castro, 'the morning star
of Andalusia,' in 1454, to Francisco Goya, the last great painter of
Spain.

Many of the so-called Spanish school of artists were aliens who settled
in the country. Pedro Campaña was, for example, a native of Brussels.
For twenty years he studied in Italy, and his Purification of the Virgin
shows the Italian influence. Sturmio was probably a German named Sturm.
Doménico Theotocópuli, called '_El Greco_,' was a Greek. Mateo Perez de
Alesio was an Italian, who lived in Seville, and died at Rome in 1600.

Luis de Vargas, the painter of the Nativity picture in the Cathedral,
whose fresco work is to be seen elsewhere in the city, was a student of
the Italian method. Vargas was a man of profound piety. He was born in
Seville in 1502. After his death, scourges used for self-inflicted
penance were found in his room, and by his bed was a coffin in which
the ascetic painter used to lie in order to meditate seriously upon
life.

The religious devotion of Luis de Vargas is exhibited in the spirit of
his work. This reverential treatment of sacred subjects is
characteristic of all the Sevillian painters. In their art they
worshipped. Martinez Montañez, or Montañes, the sculptor, was a zealous
Catholic. In his coloured statues we perceive a melancholy reflection of
his sombre mind, a pathos expressing itself in realistic conceptions of
a suffering Christ and a sorrowful St. Francis Xavier. These tinted
statues appeal powerfully to the imagination of the Sevillian populace.
Many of the images were made for the solemn processions of Semana Santa.

Among the artists employed in adorning the Cathedral there was not one
more devoted to the Church than Pacheco. He was censor of art for the
Inquisition, and in his writings we find precise counsels upon the
fitting method of painting sacred pictures. To Pacheco the faith was of
far greater moment than art. He was a close friend of Montañez, whose
statues he sometimes coloured.

_The Sagrario_ adjoins the Cathedral, and may be entered from the Court
of the Oranges. The building serves as a parish church, and occupies the
ground of the old _Sagrario_. It was begun in 1618 by Miguel Zumárraga,
and completed in 1662 by Lorenzo Fernandez. The vaulted roof is
remarkable. Pedro Roldan painted the retablo, which was formerly in the
Francisan Convent. The convent stood in the Plaza de San Fernando, or
Plaza Nueva, as it is sometimes called. Roldan was a contemporary and
follower of Montañez. There is an important image of St. Clement by
Pedro Duque Cornejo. The statue of the Virgin is the work of the devout
Martinez Montañez.

Beneath the church is the vault of the Archbishops of Seville. The
terra-cotta altar is exceedingly decorative. In the sacristy there are
some splendid _azulejos_, which formed part of the old Morisco mosque.

CHAPTER VI

_The Alcázar_

    'How Sultan after Sultan with his Pomp
     Abode his destined Hour, and went his way.'

     RUBÁIYAT OF OMAR KHAYYÁM.

The richest monument of Almohade might in Seville is the beautiful
Alcázar, or 'Castle,' which stands at but a stone's-throw from the
remains of the great mosque. It is a palace of dreams, encompassed by
lovely perfumed gardens. Its courts and salons are redolent of Moorish
days, and haunted by the spirits of turbaned sheiks, philosophers,
minstrels, and dark-eyed beauties of the harem. As we loiter under the
orange trees of quiet gardens, we picture the palace as it was when
peopled by the chiefs and retinues of swarthy skin in the time of
Abdelasis, and contrast what remains of the primitive structure and
Morisco decoration with the successive additions by Christian kings.

The nightingales still sing among the odorous orange bloom, and in the
tangles of roses birds build their nests. Fountains tinkle beneath
gently moving palms; the savour of Orientalism clings to the spot. Here
wise men discussed in the cool of summer nights, when the moon stood
high over the Giralda, and white beams fell through the spreading boughs
of the lemon trees, and shivered upon the tiled pavements.

[Illustration: Patio de las Doncellas]

In this garden the musicians played, and the tawny dancers writhed and
curved their lissome bodies, in dramatic Eastern dances. _Ichabod!_
The moody potentate, bowed down with the cares of high office, no longer
treads the dim corridor, or lingers in the shade of the palm trees, lost
in cogitation. No sound of gaiety reverberates in the deserted courts;
no voice of orator is heard in the Hall of Justice. The green lizards
bask on the deserted benches of the gardens. Rose petals strew the paved
paths. One's footsteps echo in the gorgeous _patios_, whose walls have
witnessed many a scene of pomp, tragedy and pathos. The spell of the
past holds one; and before the imagination troops a long procession of
illustrious sovereigns, courtiers, counsellors and menials.

The historians of the Alcázar suppose that the original structure was
erected in 1181 for Abu Yakub Yûsuf. Between the Puerta del León, in the
Plaza del Triunfo, and the Sala de Justicia there are parts of the wall
which are said to date back to the Roman times. It is generally asserted
that the Moorish palace was reared on the ruins of a Roman prætorium,
and that the original work was undertaken in the eleventh century. In
its pristine form the Alcázar was of triangular design, and the
buildings and gardens occupied a much greater space than they cover at
the present day. The chief _puerta_ was originally at the Torre de la
Plata, formerly standing in the Calle de Ataranzas, but pulled down in
recent years; while another point of the triangle was at the Torre del
Oro, on the bank of the Guadalquivir. Within these precincts there were
vast halls, council rooms, dormitories, baths and gardens. The remaining
portions of the walls and the towers show that the ancient fortress was
very strong; and one can understand the difficulty experienced by
Fernando the Good during his long siege of the citadel.

In the Plaza de Santo Tomas is the Tower of Abdelasis, which was once
part of the palace. It was from this tower that Fernando floated the
Christian standard after the capture of the Alcázar. The chief entrance
in our day is in the Plaza del Triunfo. It is called the Gate of the
Lion (Puerta del León). We pass through, and come into the Patio de las
Banderas (Court of the Banners), so called because a flag was hoisted
here during the residence of the sovereign in the palace. The _patio_ is
surrounded by modern offices, and planted with orange trees. A roofed
passage on the right side of the court leads to the wonderful _Mudéjar_
halls and the salons of the Catholic kings. The passage is the Apeadero,
or 'halting-place.' It was built by Philip V. The façade is in the
Baroque style.

Turning to the right from the Apeadero, we follow a corridor to the
Court of Doña Maria Padilla, the mistress of Pedro the Cruel. The court
is planted with orange and lemon trees and big palms. Arched galleries
of a modern character seem out of place here. But in a moment we come
into the Patio de la Monteria with its beautiful Moorish façade. The
_ajimez_ windows, the cusped arches, and the decorations of this doorway
are fine examples of Almohade art. There is an inscription in early
Gothic characters, over the door, stating that 'the most noble and
powerful Don Pedro, by the grace of God, King of Castile and León,
caused these fortresses and palaces to be built in the era of _de mill
et quatrocientios y dos_' (of Cæsar). The date is 1364 A.D.

We follow a passage to the Patio de las Doncellas (Court of the
Maidens). This large and lofty hall has twenty-four beautiful Morisco
arches, and singularly rich ornamentations. The fifty-two marble columns
are of the Renaissance period, and were substituted between the years
1540 and 1564 for the original pillars. Notice the glazed tiling
decorations of brilliant colouring. These date from the time of Pedro
the Cruel, who added to the ancient palace until little of the original
remained. Notwithstanding, the style is distinctly Moorish, and the
decoration was the work of _Mudéjares_, whose quaint _azulejos_ may be
here studied to advantage.

The Salón de Embajadores adjoins the Court of the Maidens. This was the
Hall of the Ambassadors. It is about thirty-three feet square. The dome
is of the _media naranja_ or 'half orange' shape, the favourite design
of the Moorish architects. On the walls are portraits of the monarchs of
Spain. This is the most sumptuous of the salons of the Alcázar; the
walls veritably dazzle the spectator with their richness of colouring.
Not one inch of space on the arches, walls and doorways is left without
an ornate pattern. The doors of the salon are massive and finely
decorated. In this hall Charles V. was married to Isabella of Portugal.

The Comedor, or dining-room, opens out of the Hall of Ambassadors on the
west side. We find in this room the latest restorations of the palace.
Here, on September 21, 1848, was born the Infanta Doña Maria Isabel de
Orleans y Borbón, Condesa de Paris. The bedroom of Isabella the Catholic
adjoins the Comedor.

Returning to the Hall of the Ambassadors, we enter the room of Philip
II., and pass through it to the small Patio de las Muñecas. Note the
pigmy figures in the ornamentation, which give the name of the Dolls'
Court to this chamber. The upper parts of the gallery are modern, and
were constructed in the years 1855 and 1856, at the time of the last
extensive restoration of the Alcázar.

The Salón of the Princes, approached from the Patio de las Muñecas, is a
spacious hall, in the mixed styles of the _Mudéjar_ and the plateresque.
The Dormitory of the Moorish Kings should be inspected. Then cross the
Patio de las Doncellas to the Salón de Carlos V. This chamber has a
remarkably fine ceiling, and beautiful decorations of _azulejos_, made
by Cristobal de Augusta, an Italian, who worked in Triana in 1577. From
the salon we may enter the room of Maria de Padilla.

The upper apartments of the Alcázar can be viewed by special permission.
I would strongly urge the visitor to obtain this permission. If he
applies to the _conserje_ at the Palace of Pedro, he will be informed
that admission is impossible without an order from the King of Spain.
Such was my experience. I then asked for an order at the offices in the
Patio de las Banderas, but the courteous officials were firm in their
refusal, stating that 'no one but the King can give permission to visit
the upper part of the Alcázar.' Still determined, I ventured to address
His Majesty by letter, and in a few days I received a reply from the
Intendencia General de la Real Casa y Patrimonio at Madrid. The letter
was written by the royal secretary, and is a beautiful example of the
ornate caligraphy in which educated Spaniards delight. I was told that
'the Señor Marqués de Irún, Alcaide of the Reales Alcázares, would grant
me the desired permission.'

At the hotel I inquired where the Marqués de Irún resided. No one knew.
My host searched through a Seville directory. The name of the Marqués de
Irún was not to be found in its pages. Finally, armed with the letter
from the royal palace, I presented myself at the offices in the Patio de
las Banderas, and displayed the missive.

The effect was magical. The officials were even more polite than before.
One of them wrote a note, which he asked me to give to the _conserje_,
and I was bowed out of the office. The _conserje_ in the Patio de la
Monteria scanned the open-sesame. And at last I gained entrance to the
upper apartments of the Royal Alcázar.

The visitor who has secured his permit will be rewarded. There is much
to see in these chambers. Notice, first of all, the fine staircase
constructed at the end of the sixteenth century. The seventeenth-century
tapestries in the salons are magnificent examples of this art. Most of
the subjects are Dutch; some are copies of pictures by David Teniers. In
the first hall, at the head of the principal staircase, there is some
handsome artesonada ceiling decoration of the fifteenth century.

In the Oratory of the Catholic Kings there is the most notable specimen
of ceramic art to be seen in Spain. It is a lovely retablo of
_azulejos_, designed by Franciso Niculoso, an Italian, in 1504. Niculoso
introduced this kind of _azulejo_ painting into Seville. The central
picture represents the Visitation of the Virgin to St. Isabella. A
smaller subject is the Annunciation, and there is a curious genealogical
tree of the Saviour. The decorations are fantastic.

In the Comedor there is a splendid laced ceiling of _Mudéjar_
workmanship, dating from the fifteenth century. The walls are covered
with interesting tapestry pictures.

Step on to the balcony of the Hall of the Ambassadors, and admire the
roofing, the columns, and wealth of Oriental ornamentation. In the rooms
of the Infantas there are _Mudéjar_ ceilings of the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries. The portraits of princes and other royal personages
are not of much artistic importance. There is a picture by Goya, a very
spirited portrait of Doña Maria, wife of Don Carlos IV. Goya was the
last of the great painters of Spain. A number of his works are in a
gallery of the Prado Museum at Madrid, but very few of his paintings are
preserved in Seville. This example in the Alcázar deserves the visitor's
notice.

One of the most interesting apartments on the upper floors of the royal
palace is the bedroom of Pedro el Cruel. The _dormitorio_ is sumptuous
with _Mudéjar_ decorations of the sixteenth century. Near the doorway
are four heads painted upon the wall. They are the heads of four
disloyal justices who incurred the anger of their sovereign, and were
condemned to death. The paintings throw a light upon the character of
Pedro, who, no doubt, surveyed them with satisfaction whenever he
entered the chamber. It is probable that the King feared assassination,
for from this part of the palace there is a staircase descending to the
quarters formerly occupied by the guards and royal bowmen. The story
runs that Pedro had this stairway made in order to communicate with his
faithful servant Juan Diente, a famous marksman with the bow.

In the Dormitory of Queen Isabel there is a copy of Murillo's _Ecce
Homo_, and various portraits of monarchs. The Salón Azul (Blue Room) is
so named on account of the colour of its silk tapestries. The pastel
paintings in this apartment are by A. Muraton, representing Queen Doña
Isabel, the Infanta Doña Isabel, King Alfonso XII., and the Marquesa de
Novaliches. There are also eighteen miniatures painted upon ivory.

The modern bedroom has a Coronation of the Virgin, the work of Vicente
López, a copy of a Murillo, and another of Raphael's Holy Family.

Let us saunter now in the sunny gardens of the Alcázar. We can reach
them through the Apeadero, and by the steps leading from the tank at the
entrance. The reservoir is full of carp, some of them of corpulent
proportions. A few small fish may be seen basking near the surface of
the water, but the bigger and warier carp do not often show themselves.
Roses cluster about the steps, and twine on all the railings. We come to
a tree-grown court, with a gallery running on one side, and an arched
entrance to the Baths of Maria de Padilla. This garden is called El
Jardin del Crucero. The underground bath is cool, and it is a rest to
the eyes to escape for a few minutes from the dazzling sunlight of the
gardens. Here the lovely Maria, faithful mistress of the ferocious
Pedro, was wont to bathe in warm weather.

To show their homage to the monarch's consort, the chivalrous courtiers
came hither when the fair bather had taken her bath, and drank of the
water in which she had washed her white limbs. It is said that these
devoted servitors used sometimes to carry away some of the water in
vessels 'to drink it with enjoyment.'

Pedro el Cruel, of all the Christian sovereigns who lived in the
Alcázar, was the most attached to the palace. He lavished money upon the
building of the apartments which we have just inspected, and employed
the cleverest _Mudéjar_ designers and craftsmen. In the Hall of Justice
he heard charges against criminal offenders; in the gorgeous salons he
received illustrious guests, discoursed with his officers, and played at
draughts with his courtiers. His image arises before the imagination as
we stray under the lemon and orange trees of his quaint and charming
pleasure-grounds. Coming to the throne in his sixteenth year, Don Pedro
decided upon making Seville his capital.

We have read in the historical sections of our account of the city how
he earned the title of 'El Cruel.' But the story of his treachery
towards his half-brothers has not been related.

Don Fadrique, Master of the Order of Santiago, and half-brother of Pedro
el Cruel, having confessed allegiance to the King, came one day to
Seville, after a campaign with rebels in Murcia. The Master of Santiago
went to the Alcázar with the intention of paying a visit to his
half-brother, the King. Pedro was playing at backgammon in his private
apartment of the palace when Don Fadrique came to him.

The monarch received his general with genial courtesies, and bade him
stay in the Alcázar. Leaving Pedro for a while, the Master went to the
rooms of Maria de Padilla. He found her agitated and pale, but the
sadness of her beautiful countenance did not cause him to suspect what
lay upon her mind. Maria knew that Pedro longed to rid himself of all
possible claimants to the throne. His eldest half-brother Enrique was in
France, plotting against the Castilian throne. Pedro still dreaded a
rising under Fadrique. He apparently doubted his professed fealty, and
he had planned his murder. It is said that the Master of Santiago
received hints of the fate that awaited him. But he returned to the
quarters of the King, who was in company with several members of his
court.

Pedro had shut himself in an inner room, which had a wicket to it. From
the wicket he shouted to his soldiers: 'Kill the Master of Santiago!'
The bowmen obeyed. Fadrique drew his sword and made a stand, but he was
soon overpowered, and struck down by blows on the head. The Master's
servants were next seized and slaughtered. One of the train ran to the
room of Maria de Padilla, pursued by his assailants, and threw himself
behind Doña Beatrice, one of Maria's daughters. Pedro was among the
pursuers. He tore the man from the arms of Beatrice, stabbed him, and
gave him into the hands of his assassins. Returning to the room where
Don Fadrique was expiring, Pedro saw that his half-brother was still
breathing. Drawing his dagger, the King gave it to an attendant, and
commanded him to kill the Master outright.

During the siege of Seville by Fernando el Santo, the fortified palace
was the chief point of attack. The massive walls of the Alcázar long
resisted the assault of the besiegers. But the beleaguered Moors were at
length compelled to offer surrender to the knights of the Cross. On the
day of St. Clement the gates were thrown open, and San Fernando rode
into the courtyard. In the King's hand was a sword; on his saddle the
ivory image of the Holy Virgin. By his side rode Don Garcia de Varga and
his brother Don Diego, the Condé Lorenzo, Pelago, and other brave
cavaliers. The Khalif of the Alcázar escaped by the gate near the
Hospital del Sangre. Henceforward, the palace was to be the residence of
the kings of Castile.

In 1379 Juan I. lived in the Alcázar. The King ascended the throne
without opposition. Trouble arose soon with Portugal, and Juan marched
at the head of thirty-four thousand soldiers into the enemy's territory.
The Portuguese had a small force of only ten thousand men, including a
few Englishmen. Near the village of Aljubarrota the armies met. There
was a great battle, in which the Portuguese troops fought valiantly, and
drove back the invaders.

Don Juan was ill and weak during the engagement. He was carried on a
litter by his knights, and in the retreat, the King was put on a mule,
and hurried from the scene of action to the Tagus. Here the monarch
embarked in a small boat for Lisbon, whence he returned to Seville to
mourn his defeat in the seclusion of the Alcázar.

Isabel and Fernando often sought the tranquil paths of this garden. The
Catholic Queen and her Consort lived here in great state, in the palmy
days of Seville, dispensing justice, listening to the counsels of
Torquemada and the officers of the Holy Inquisition, and consulting with
Columbus regarding the expansion of their realm and the development of
trade with the New World. Many were the hours passed by the blue-eyed,
fair-haired Queen in the private chapel.

The pious Philip II. came here, though he preferred his mountain palace
of the Escorial. He ordered the portraits of the Kings of Spain to be
painted in the Hall of the Ambassadors. As we have read, Philip incurred
the resentment of the Sevillian merchants by his confiscation of their
ingots. But the prelates and clergy of the city honoured the sovereign,
who always supported the Church and favoured the priests. In his reign
the Primate of Spain was almost as wealthy as the Pope. The Archbishop
of Seville received an income of eighty thousand ducats a year.

Philip spent his time at the Alcázar in his usual daily labours, writing
like a clerk in his private room until the small hours of the morning.
Every morning he attended Mass. The King lived simply, for he feared the
gout. But in spite of this form of frugality, Philip spent his revenue
freely in maintaining a large household. In his retinue there were
fifteen hundred persons, including forty pages, all of noble family.

In the Queen's train there were twenty-six ladies-in-waiting, and four
physicians were in constant attendance on Her Majesty. We may picture
Philip moodily roaming in the gardens, dressed in black velvet, with a
plumed cap. From his neck was suspended the fine jewel of the Golden
Fleece. He wore sober clothes, and changed his suits once every month
for new ones. His wear, like the cast of his mind, was sombre. A dread
of society possessed the King, and in his later days he became more
taciturn and morose.

'I am absolute King,' was the boast of the despotic Philip. His ambition
was to attain power, to extend his kingdom beyond the seas, and to crush
out heresy. Yet Tennyson's love-dazzled Mary is made to ask, as she
gazes upon the face of the Spanish King, in a miniature painting:

    'Is this the face of one who plays the tyrant?
     Peruse it; is it not goodly, ay, and gentle?'

These gardens evoke reflections upon the ever-changing fate of Spain. We
gaze at relics of the Moors, and remember the eight hundred years of
that sanguinary history of the expulsion of the infidels. Yet everywhere
there are traces of that mighty civilisation built up by Morisco
knowledge and industry. The _Mudéjar_ has touched the palace and the
gardens with his magic wand. Fernando, Pedro, Philip, Carlos--all the
Catholic sovereigns--preserved the Moorish style of decoration, and
borrowed from the art of the hated race.

Passing under a handsome gateway, represented in one of our
illustrations, we come to a fountain surrounded by a tiled pavement, and
overshadowed by trees. Before us is the Pavilion of Carlos Quinto, with
a fine ceiling and _azulejos_. This summer-house was built by Juan
Hernandez in 1543. Turn to the left, and inspect the archway in the
wall, and the curious mural paintings. We may then retrace our steps to
the pavilion, and pass another tank and a grotto till we reach the maze
and a tangled garden beyond it. This is the Garden of the Labyrinth.
Further, we may not ramble.

In 1626 a theatre stood in the large _patio_ near the Puerta del León,
by which gate we must leave the Alcázar. The playhouse was of oval form,
with three balconies, and one part of the theatre was reserved for
ladies. The travelling actors who visited Seville preferred this theatre
to any other in the city, as is shown by the archives of the palace. In
the year 1691 the theatre was entirely destroyed by a great fire, and
not a stone of the old building remains.

The singular mingling of Christian and Moorish architecture and
adornment in the modern Alcázar is characteristic of Seville. We find
the same mixture of styles in the Casa Pilatos and in other mansions of
the city. Even the railway station at the termination of the Córdova
line affords an example of the perpetuation of Morisco design and
decoration. It is this Moorish influence that lends a strange interest
to Seville. Some writers have declared that these mixed styles of
architecture are anomalous. There is certainly an air of the grotesque
in the combination of _Mudéjar_ windows, cusped arches, columns, and
_azulejos_, and Renaissance and Gothic features. But despite the element
of incongruity, the effect is often pleasing, while the mingling of the
styles is especially interesting from the historical point of view.

In our inspection of the Sevillian monuments we are able to estimate the
enormous sway that the Moors exercised upon the Andalusian mind. That
influence will probably endure for very many centuries to come.
Spaniards may abhor the faith of Allah, and detest the children of
Mahomet; but they have never refused to learn the arts of the Moors, nor
to apply them to the building of sacred and secular edifices. In the
poorest villages of Southern Spain we rarely fail to notice some trace
or another of the Moorish builder.

[Illustration: In the Garden of the Alcázar.]

The Orientalism of the Alcázar remains in spite of the pseudo-Moorish
restorations and the Renaissance additions. It is perhaps an atmosphere,
a suggestion, rather than the reality. Still, the pile is a very
remarkable monument, and every stone of it has its tale to tell of
memorable scenes and great events. One is tempted to linger hour after
hour in the dreamy gardens, watching the gaudy butterflies and the
peering, green lizards, and thinking of the bygone greatness of Seville.

Let us conjure one more illustrious figure to the view before we quit
the palace grounds. Here the Emperor Charles V. roamed with his young
bride, Isabella of Portugal. The portraits of Charles show a well-knit
figure, and a good forehead, with the projecting lower jaw
characteristic of his family. He was fond of music, and was accounted
well cultured. Mr. Edward Armstrong tells us, however, in his _Emperor
Charles V._, that the sovereign was a 'singularly bad linguist.' He knew
only a few words of Spanish after he had ruled Castile and Aragon for
two years. 'French was his natural language, but he neither spoke nor
wrote it with any elegance.' The Emperor's knowledge of theology was
scanty; and though he was a stern defender of the Catholic faith, he
could scarcely read the Vulgate.

Isabella was but twenty-three years of age at the time of her marriage
with Charles. She was, however, no child. Her intelligence was quick.
The Princess was short, spare in body, with a clear white skin. The
wedding was celebrated in Seville, in March 1526. For the honeymoon the
Emperor and his bride visited Córdova and Granada.

Charles liked the seclusion of his palace in Seville. 'Not greedy of
territory, but most greedy of peace and quiet,' was the description of
the monarch by Marcantonio Contarini, in 1536. He was strongly attached
to his wife; he was fond of children, and kept pet animals, 'including a
parrot and two Indian cats.' The Emperor was interested in gardening,
and he introduced the carnation into Spain. At table he was a glutton,
and unable to exercise self-control over his greedy appetite. It was
said that Charles five times drained a flagon, containing nearly a quart
of Rhenish wine, during a single meal. We need not be surprised that he
suffered from severe attacks of gout. Yet he would not forego the
pleasures of the table, and when his physician warned him that beer was
injurious to his constitution, the Emperor refused to give up drinking
it.

In dress Charles was economical. He went to Italy in a shabby suit,
hoping by his example to check the tendency to extravagance displayed by
his courtiers and the nobles of Spain. His servants were sometimes in
tattered clothes.

'A fine taste for art seemed inborn in Charles,' writes Mr. Armstrong.
'Before he ever set foot in Italy he had summoned Italian architects and
sculptors to build the splendid Renaissance palace at Granada, which was
destined to remain unfinished.... Music was a passion from boyhood. The
Emperor's choir was the best in Europe. To his choristers he was most
generous, for when their voices broke he would educate them for three
years, and afterwards, if they recovered voice, he would give them the
preference for places in his chapel.'

CHAPTER VII

_The Literary Associations of the City_

     'Among no other people did the spirit and character of the middle
     age, in its most beautiful and dignified form, so long continue and
     survive in manners, ways of thinking, intellectual culture, and
     works of imagination and poetry, as among the
     Spaniards.'--SCHLEGEL, _Philosophy of History_.

We have noted that in the Visigoth and Moorish periods Seville was a
centre of literature and the arts. The Christians had their St. Isidore,
a famed historian and theological writer, and the Moriscoes acclaimed
the sagacious El Begi, 'whose knowledge was a marvel.' Many Moorish
scribes laboured in the city before San Fernando regained it for the
Spaniards; but very few of their names have lived through the stress of
turbulent times, when every man was for fighting, and art and letters
languished.

When we reach the fifteenth century, we find that certain enterprising
German printers set up presses in Seville, and that books, such as Diego
de Valera's _Cronica de España_, were printed and published.

The printing press gradually destroyed the wonderful art of the
illuminated missal, in which the monks excelled, and letterpress began
to supersede manuscript. In the Cathedral Library of Seville is the
great Bible of Pedro de Pampeluna, in two volumes. It was transcribed
for Alfonso the Learned, and the work is perhaps unmatched. Rich
illuminations abound in the pages, testifying to the skill and the
patience of the artist.

But this industry, followed with such zeal by the clergy, was soon
lost. With the advent of machinery more books were produced, and they
came into the hands of the people, who in the pre-printing days were
unable to purchase the costly volumes of manuscript.

At this time also secular dramas began to take the place of mystery
plays. The theatre has remained one of the favourite recreations of the
Spanish people, and on the modern stage serious plays, dealing with
social problems, are often produced. Among the playwrights of Spain the
name of Lope de Rueda is held in reverence, for it was he who opened the
way for them. 'The real father of the Spanish theatre' was a native of
Seville, and by trade a goldsmith. From 1560 to 1590, the dramas of Lope
de Rueda were performed in Seville. Cervantes may have been influenced
by this pioneer of dramatic art, for, as a youth, he saw Lope de Rueda
act.

In his zenith, the player's stage consisted of half-a-dozen planks, laid
upon four benches. There was no scenery. Old blankets served as curtain
and 'back sheet.' Between the acts a few singers sang without any
instrumental accompaniment. With such primitive paraphernalia this
Thespian travelled about with his company of mummers, writing his own
dramas, and acting in them. He died about the year 1567.

Contemporary with Lope de Rueda and Cervantes was Domingo de Bercerra,
who was born in the city in 1535. During the campaign with the Turks, he
was seized by Moorish pirates and taken prisoner with Cervantes to
Algiers. De Bercerra is known for his translation of Giovanni della
Casa's _Il Galateo_. Hieronimo Carranza, who wrote _Philosophia y
destreza de las Armas_, and Juan de la Cueva, writer of plays and poems,
lived in Seville at this time.

We now enter upon an era memorable in the literary annals of the city.
This is the period when Seville could boast of her scholars, poets,
dramatists and historians, and lay claim to distinction as possessing
the most cultured circle of writers and artists in the whole of Spain.
Fernando de Herrera, born in 1534, in Seville, holds a high position
among Spanish poets. His _Canción á Lepanto_, a poem in celebration of
the victory of Lepanto, 'deserves,' says Mr. Butler Clarke, 'to be
placed side by side with the first eclogue of Garcilaso as one of the
noblest monuments of the Spanish tongue.'

Rodrigo Caro, the historian, and one of the Sevillian authors, says in
his _Illustrious Men, Natives of Seville_, that Herrera 'understood
Latin perfectly, and wrote several epigrams in that language, which
might rival the most famous ancient authors in thought and expression.
He possessed a moderate knowledge of Greek.' The prose writings of 'the
divine Herrera' are marked with the same beauty as his poetry. He wrote
a great general history of his country, up to the reign of Carlos V.,
and earned from Lope de Vega the title of 'the Learned.'

We learn that Fernando de Herrera was a tall man, with a handsome
countenance, thick curling hair, and a beard. The love of his life
appears to have been 'spiritual'; he was enamoured of Eliodora, Countess
of Gelves. This adoration was of the nature of that manifested by Dante
for Beatrice. The poet calls his divinity 'Love,' 'Sun,' and 'Star,' but
there is an unreality in his odes to the Countess. We read, too, that
Herrera was well read in philosophy, and expert in mathematics.

At this time there were two resorts in Seville for authors, artists, and
men of culture. One was the house of the refined and versatile Pacheco,
Canon of the Cathedral; the other was the Casa Pilatos, the mansion of
the Duques de Alcalá. In the circle of Francisco Pacheco we shall find
all the notable painters and poets of Seville; Céspedes, Cervantes, and
Velazquez, who married Pacheco's daughter, were frequenters of the
Canon's hospitable house. It was Pacheco who collected and published
Herrera's poems, under the patronage of the Condé d'Olivarez, and to him
we owe the preservation of some wonderful fragments of a poem on the art
of painting, composed by Pablo de Céspedes. These selections were quoted
by Pacheco in his treatise on art, and one of the finest passages is
that of counsel to an artist in painting a horse. Except for these
portions, nothing remains of the poem of Céspedes, which was a work of
high merit, written in the purest form of the Castilian language. The
author was a man of conspicuous ability. He painted, wrote, carved
statuary, and designed buildings.

The genial Pacheco is perhaps better known as a writer upon painting,
and a maker of Latin verse, than as an artist with the brush. His great
book on art, _Arte de la Pintura_, was published in 1649. It is
anecdotal, technical and historical, and displays the credulity of the
writer in regard to the miraculous. He had the honour of training
Velazquez, his future son-in-law, and the satisfaction of discovering
the power of his young pupil.

We will now take our way to the Casa Pilatos, which stands in the
_plaza_ of that name. Passing under a gateway, we enter a court. On the
right is a very beautiful ironwork door in the _Mudéjar_ form. An
attendant opens it, and we pass into an inner _patio_, surrounded by
busts, portions of antique sculpture, and two statues of Athena. In the
centre is a fountain. The _casa_ was designed by Moorish artists, early
in the sixteenth century, for Don Pedro Enriquez, and his wife Doña
Catalina de Ribera. A descendant, Don Fadrique, who had travelled in
Palestine, added the so-called Prætorium, and probably named the mansion
after Pontius Pilate. There are unlettered persons in Seville who will
assure you that Pilate lived in the house.

[Illustration: Cancela of the Casa Pilatus.]

The third Duke of Alcalá, Fernando Enriquez de Ribera, established a
great library here, and the Casa Pilatos was the rendezvous of a
polished coterie. The Duke collected pictures, procured Roman relics
from Italica, and had cabinets of coins and medals, and cases containing
manuscripts. He was an amateur painter, a patron of the fine arts, and
the encourager of struggling genius. Pedro de Madrazo, in his _Sevilla y
Cadiz_, states that 'the Casa Pilatos is an august representation of the
architectural genius of the sixteenth century; memorable for the
reunions of Pacheco, Céspedes, the Herreras, Góngora, Jauregui, Baltasar
de Alcázar, Rioja, Juan de Arguizo, and Cervantes.'

Other writers describe the architecture of the palace as pseudo-Moorish.
It is indeed a mixture of Gothic, Moorish, and Renaissance designs,
adorned with _azulejos_, the decorations being _Mudéjar_ for the greater
part. Pacheco, the friend of the Duke de Alcalá, painted the salon.

Mr. M. Digby Wyatt, in his valuable work, _An Architect's Note Book in
Spain_, describes the Casa Pilatos as possessing two special 'points of
architectural value,' _i.e._, 'the entirely Moresque character of the
stucco work at a comparatively late date, and the profuse use of
_azulejos_ or coloured tiles. It is ... in and about the splendid
staircase that this charming tile lining, of the use of which we have
here of late years commenced a very satisfactory revival, asserts its
value as a beautiful mode of introducing clean and permanent
polychromatic decoration.'

In the principal garden there are remains from Italica. The orange,
lemon and jasmine grow profusely in this sunny, sheltered corner of the
city. Here the cultured Duke Fernando Enriquez de Ribera discoursed with
his illustrious guests, when the stars twinkled and the air was sweet
with the odour of the jasmine and rose. No doubt Francisco Pacheco
brought his pupil Velazquez to the symposia. We can picture Cervantes
relating the story of his imprisonment in Algiers, or diverting the
company with anecdotes of the thieves and sharpers of Seville, whose
exploits are recorded in his novel of _Rinconete y Cortadillo_. Góngora,
the poet, whose affectations and 'Gongorisms' offended George Henry
Lewes, probably read his verses to a critical audience in the salon. Wit
vied with wit, scholar discussed with scholar, and artists discoursed
upon the new methods of painting. This was the intellectual centre of
Seville, where kindred souls uttered their deepest thoughts, assured of
sympathy and of comprehension. When the courtly owner of the palace
died, his library, his treasures and curiosities were removed to Madrid,
and Sevillian men of letters and painters lost a true friend.

In 1588, Miguel de Servantes Saavedra, otherwise Cervantes, lived in the
city. In his twenty-first year, while at Madrid, he had written a
pastoral poem called _Filena_, some sonnets and canzonets. A few years
later he obtained a position as chamberlain to Cardinal Julio Aquaviva
at Rome; but he was not long in Italy. The love of adventure inspired
him to enlist in the expedition force sent by Philip II. against Selim
the Grand Turk. At the famous battle of Lepanto the young soldier
received a wound in the left hand, which necessitated amputation. The
surgeons bungled, and Cervantes lost the use of his arm. Still, he
continued to serve as a private soldier in the ranks.

In 1575, Cervantes was aboard a galley called the _Sun_, and when
journeying from Naples to Spain, he and the entire crew were captured,
and borne to Algiers as prisoners. For five years he lay in a dungeon
until a sum was paid in ransom. Upon returning to his native land, he
joined his mother and sister at Madrid, and there he led a studious
life for three years. His fighting days were at an end. He had seen
strange things in foreign lands, and greatly enriched his store of
experience of life. Henceforward he gave of his knowledge of the world,
and toiled as a writer of poetry, dramas and marvellous romances. His
struggle with fortune was severe. He wrote thirty comedies without
gaining recognition. At this time he married Doña Catalina de Solazar y
Palacios y Vozmediano.

In Seville there lived two relatives of the soldier-dramatist. They were
merchants, with a large business, and it is said that they offered
Cervantes employment. Mr. J. Fitz-Maurice Kelly tells us that the author
obtained a post in the Real Audencia in Seville, probably that of
tax-gatherer. Cervantes himself relates that 'he found something better
to do than writing comedies.' Whether he sat on a stool in the
mercantile office of his relations, or travelled as a tax-collector in
Andalasia, is perhaps not quite certain. At anyrate, the dramatist
continued to produce plays. He sought an appointment as
Accountant-General of the new kingdom of Granada, or as Governor of
Secomusco in Guatemala, or as Paymaster of the galleys at Cartagena, or
as Corregidor in La Paz. His application was unnoticed, and it was not
until 1808 that the document was unearthed. It is a story of hardship,
neglect and disappointment. The soldier who had lost an arm in combat
with his country's foes, the genius whose name was to reach the far ends
of the civilised world, was forced to go begging for situations, which
were refused to him. He still plied his pen for poor returns in the way
of money. For Rodrigo Osorio he agreed to write six comedies at fifty
ducats each. The price was not to be paid unless each play was 'one of
the best ever presented in Spain.' Was there ever a more arbitrary
contract? It is doubtful whether Cervantes received anything for this
work. Then came the quarrel between the Church and the Stage.
Playwrights and actors were banned, and four months before the death of
Philip II. all the theatres were closed.

The clouds lifted slightly. In 1595 'Miguel Cervantes Saavedra of
Seville' won the prize offered by the Dominicans of Zaragoza for a
series of poems in honour of St. Hyacinthus. He appears to have earned
his living at this period as a tax-gatherer. Sometimes he was to be
found at Pacheco's house, and at the Casa Pilatos. Cervantes discerned
the genius of Herrera, and the two poets became friends. A sonnet in
praise of Herrera was written by Cervantes.

Fresh trouble beset the unfortunate author. 'About this period Cervantes
fell into the first of his money troubles,' writes Mr. Watts, in his
_Miguel de Cervantes_, 'in connection with his office. Having to remit a
sum of 7,400 _reals_ from Seville to Madrid, he entrusted it to the
hands of one Simon Freire, as his agent. Freire became bankrupt, and
fled from Spain. This involved Cervantes in a debt to the crown, for
which, being unable to pay, he was thrown into prison. Having reduced
the amount by what he recovered from the bankrupt estate of Freire to
2,600 _reals_, Cervantes was released after a detention of three months.
Neither then, nor at any time afterwards--although the affair hung over
him to trouble him for many years--was there any charge implicating his
own personal rectitude.'

Cervantes' pictures of the seamy side of Sevillian life were drawn
vividly in his _picaresco_ novels. The tales contain phrases in
_Germania_, or thieves' argot, showing that the author closely observed
his types of low life. It was not until he had reached his fifty-seventh
year that he finished the first part of _Don Quixote de la Mancha_. The
great romance was partly written during Cervantes' imprisonment in La
Mancha. There are three versions of the circumstances that brought about
his confinement. One account is that Cervantes made himself unpopular as
a tax-gatherer. But could that be made a felony or misdemeanour meriting
gaol? Another story relates how he became a factory-owner, and polluted
the Guadiana with waste matter; while a third report ascribes his
punishment to the offence of uttering satires upon a lady.

In 1605 _Don Quixote_ was published, in a quarto volume, by Juan de la
Cuesta of Madrid. Within seven months the book had reached its fourth
edition. W. H. Prescott, in his essay on 'Cervantes,' states that two
editions were issued in Madrid, one in Valencia, and one in Lisbon. Yet
the author was not relieved of the burden of poverty. Fame sounded his
name far and wide. But he had sold the copyright of his romance. And
although his reputation was established beyond all doubt, he does not
appear to have been in a position to obtain worthier remuneration for
his labours. What is perhaps more strange, the leading incidents of his
life were scarcely known in Spain when his first biographer, Mayans y
Siscar, essayed a history of the great writer's career. Seven towns
claimed him as a native when Tonson, in London, issued the first English
edition in 1738.

'If Cervantes, like his great contemporary, Shakespeare, has left few
authentic details of his existence,' writes Prescott, 'the deficiency
has been diligently supplied in both cases by speculation and
conjecture.'

In 1616 Cervantes fell sick of a dropsy. He was then in the sixty-ninth
year of his age. After a brief illness, the genius expired, receiving
the extreme unction as a devout Catholic.

In the Calle de Santa Clara in Seville is the Casa de los Marqueses de
Castromonte, a house mentioned by Cervantes in his novel, _La Española
Inglesa_ ('The Spanish-English Lady'). This _novela_ relates the
adventures of a Cadiz maiden, who was carried to England by one of the
Earl of Essex's captains in 1596.

We must now quit the stately Casa Pilatos, with its great literary
traditions, and briefly note a few more of the writers who are
associated with Seville. One of these is the novelist Cecilia Boehl von
Faber, of German descent, who wrote under the _nom de plume_ of Fernán
Caballero. This gifted authoress wrote several novels of social life in
Spain, in which she did not flinch from attacking faulty institutions.
She had even the courage to condemn the national pastime of
bull-fighting, an institution that very few Spaniards have ventured to
call in question. Fernán Caballero lived in the street that bears her
pen-name, and a tablet will be found upon the house which she occupied.

Mateo Aleman, author of _Guzman de Alfarache_, who is sometimes ranked
next to Cervantes, lived in the parish of San Nicolas. Alberto Lista,
the poet, also resided in Seville.

Lord Byron was here in August 1809. In a letter he writes:--

'We lodged in the house of two Spanish unmarried ladies, who possess
_six_ houses in Seville, and gave me a curious specimen of Spanish
manners. They are women of character, and the eldest a fine woman, the
youngest pretty, but not so good a figure as Donna Josepha. The freedom
of manner, which is general here, astonished me not a little; and in the
course of further observation, I find that reserve is not the
characteristic of the Spanish belles, who are, in general, very
handsome, with large black eyes, and very fine forms.' ...

The elder of the two ladies presented Byron with a tress of her hair,
measuring about three feet in length, and begged a lock of his
lordship's hair in return.

I have already mentioned Blanco White, who was born in Seville, and
wrote _Letters from Spain_, in the name of Leucadio Doblado. His
reminiscences should be read for the pictures of Sevillian society, in
the early part of this century. White's _Life_, by J. H. Thorn, was
published in London, in 1845.

Théophile Gautier spent some time in the city, and related his
impressions in his _Voyage en Espagne_, which is the most ably written
of all books upon Spanish places and people. The author of _Mademoiselle
de Maupin_ excels in his descriptions of Seville, its monuments,
paintings, and its life and character. He praises the charms of
Sevillian _doñas_, declaring that they 'quite deserve the reputation for
beauty which they enjoy.'

The eccentric George Borrow came to Seville to distribute the
Scriptures, as an agent of the Bible Society. His experiences with the
clerical authorities of the city are recounted in _The Bible in Spain_.
It is not strange that the priests of 'the Spanish Rome' resented the
intrusion of the English Protestant missionary, and it was fortunate for
Borrow that the Inquisition days were of the past. Otherwise, he would
have suffered in the manner of the hapless Lutherans of Ponce de León's
time. As it was, the heretical _colporteur_ had seventy-six copies of
the New Testament confiscated. The books had been placed in the keeping
of a bookseller. Borrow was never timid. He went straight to the
ecclesiastical governor, and asked why the Testaments had been seized.
The dignitary's reply was that the books were 'corrupting,' and he
soundly reproved the audacious Protestant for venturing to disseminate
such dangerous literature in orthodox Seville.

George Borrow does not write in flattering terms of the Andalusians. He
says: 'I lived in the greatest retirement during the whole time that I
passed at Seville, spending the greater part of each day in study, or in
that half-dreamy state of inactivity which is the natural effect of the
influence of a warm climate. There was little in the character of the
people around to induce me to enter much into society. The higher class
of the Andalusians are probably upon the whole the most vain and foolish
of human beings.' ...

Such was Borrow's opinion of the society of Seville. He appeared to be
quite as contemptuous of the frivolous rich class as he was of most
scholars and literary men. Fashionable London was never able to
'lionise' Bohemian Borrow. He loved 'the wind on the heath,' the song of
the waves on the Norfolk coast, the purple _sierras_ of Spain, and the
company of those children of nature, the _Kaulos_ of Britain and the
_Zincalis_ of Castile. Elsewhere, however, in his writings, George
Borrow speaks highly of the Spaniards in general. It was the pretensions
of 'respectability,' whether in Spain or England, that called forth his
pungent sarcasms.

We must not forget that a famous prelate of the Roman Catholic Church,
Cardinal Wiseman, was born at Seville, in 1802.

It is perhaps not out of place in this chapter to allude to the
attraction that Seville has possessed for three great musical composers.
Mozart laid the scene of his _Don Juan_ and _Figaro_ in the city.
Bizet's _Carmen_ is concerned with Seville; and most famous of all in
local interest is Rossini's _Barber_. Rossini's opera is still popular
in Spain. I saw it acted by an excellent company at Córdova, in May
1902.

The dispersal of the cultured circle of Casa Pilatos would seem to mark
the hour of the beginning of the decline of literature and the arts in
Seville. We may feel astonishment that the writers of the Inquisition
times were able to publish any works save those of theology, church
history, or devotion. But we must remember that Pacheco was a cleric,
that Góngora was a priest, and that Rioja held a post in the Holy
Office. Antonio, the bibliographer, was a canon of the Cathedral, and
Cervantes was a staunch Catholic. These authors were safe; they were
either priests of the Church or sworn defenders of the faith.

Philosophers, scientific writers, and heterodox thinkers were unable to
survive their environment. New thought was stamped out as soon as it was
uttered, and it was seldom indeed that bold spirits dared to express
innovating opinion. The greatest writer could scarcely subsist upon the
earnings of his pen. He was forced, as in the case of Cervantes,
Calderon, and Lope de Vega, among many other authors, to enter the army.
The choice lay between the military and the ecclesiastic professions.
Outside of these no man possessed a status.

With the decline of literature in Spain, the teaching that science is an
evil spread everywhere. In the seventeenth century, on the authority of
Spanish historians, the arts had fallen into decay. At the same time the
trade of Seville greatly suffered. The city was reaping the harvest of
trouble sown by the Inquisition, with its disastrous proscriptions of
scientific inquiry, and its taboos upon learning and the arts. Not only
were Bibles burnt publicly in Seville and elsewhere, but secular books,
treating upon many subjects, were thrown to the flames, in the height of
the Inquisition fanaticism. At the end of the fifteenth century six
thousand volumes were thus destroyed at Salamanca. Such wanton acts
contributed to the causes that brought the downfall of Spain. When
Córdova, Granada and Seville were under the Saracen rule, the conquered
Christians were protected in their religious rights, and there was no
restraint upon knowledge. These cities possessed excellent schools and
huge libraries. The Arabic and Spanish languages were both spoken, and
there was an Arabian translation of the Bible. Unfortunately, the
Christians failed to profit by this example of rational tolerance when
they again came into power.

Classical learning was fostered in Seville by Antonio de Lebrixa, who
lectured in the University, about 1473. Lebrixa had studied for ten
years in Italy. He was opposed by the Sevillian clergy, who claimed sole
authority in instruction; but fortunately Lebrixa found favour with
influential persons, and so contrived to save himself from persecution.
Queen Isabella had lessons from the learned Lebrixa, who may be called
the Erasmus of Spain. But the royal tutor narrowly escaped the awful
punishments of the Holy Tribunal, under Deza, Archbishop of Seville, and
successor of Torquemada. The Inquisitor-General commanded the
manuscripts of Lebrixa to be seized, and accused him of heresy for
making corrections on the text of the Vulgate, and for his exposition of
passages of Scripture.

'The Archbishop's object,' wrote Lebrixa in an Apologia, 'was to deter
me from writing. He wished to extinguish the knowledge of the two
languages on which our religion depends; and I was condemned for
impiety, because, being no divine but a mere grammarian, I presumed to
treat of theological subjects. If a person endeavour to restore the
purity of the sacred text, and points out the mistakes which have
vitiated it, unless he will retract his opinions, he must be loaded with
infamy, excommunicated and doomed to an ignominious punishment!'

'Is it not enough that I submit my judgment to the will of Christ in the
Scriptures? Must I also reject as false what is as clear and evident as
the light of truth itself? What tyranny! to hinder a man, under the most
cruel pains, from saying what he thinks, though he express himself with
the utmost respect for religion! to forbid him to write in his closet or
in the solitude of a prison! to speak to himself, or even to think! On
what subject shall we employ our thoughts, if we are prohibited from
directing them to those sacred oracles which have been the delight of
the pious in every age, and on which they have meditated by day and by
night.'

Lebrixa here eloquently announces the right of the layman to translate
the Scriptures and to expound religion. He claims that liberty of
inquiry and of speech which belongs to every man. His case is typical of
the vast difficulties that encompassed all thinkers of his age.

Science and letters were not only hindered by the Church. Some of the
kings of Spain were hostile towards learning, while others were
apathetic. Carlos IV. instructed his Prime Minister to inform the heads
of universities that 'what His Majesty wanted was not philosophers, but
loyal subjects.' It was no uncommon custom of the inquisitors to enter
private libraries, and to carry away such books as they considered
heretical or dangerous.

In Seville, therefore, as elsewhere throughout Spain, institutions
tended to crush out the genius of authors, and to discourage philosophy
and science. We cannot wonder that Emilia Pardo Bazan, a modern Spanish
writer, should say: 'Perhaps our public is indifferent to literature,
especially to printed literature, for what is represented on the stage
produces more impression.' It has also been said that the upper classes
of Madrid would rather spend their money on fireworks or on oranges than
on a book.

But Spain possesses to-day four or five gifted novelists, who give their
readers true pictures of modern life and manners. Valdes and Galdos are
social influences. Their books are eagerly read and discussed by the
young intellectual spirits in whose earnestness lies the hope of Spain.

CHAPTER VIII

_The Artists of Seville_

BY C. GASQUOINE HARTLEY

     'Beauty, like all other qualities presented to human experience, is
     relative.'--WALTER PATER.

'The art of Spain was, at the outset, wholly borrowed, and from various
sources: we see heterogeneous, borrowed elements assimilated sometimes
in a greater or less degree, frequently flung together in illogical
confusion, seldom, if ever, fused into a new harmonious whole by that
inner welding fire which is genius; and we see in the sixteenth century
a foreign influence received and borne as a yoke, because no living
generative force was there to throw it off; and finally we meet this
strange freak of nature--a soil without artistic initiative bringing
forth the greatest initiator in modern art--Diego Velazquez.'

These words, which form a portion of the address delivered by the late
Lord Leighton to the students of the Royal Academy Schools, in the year
1889, epitomise the salient points in the artistic history of Seville.
An almost impenetrable gloom shadows the early records of her art. Only
one work remains to testify to the skill of her artists, during the
thirteenth century. This is a rare old Bible, written on vellum and
richly illuminated. It was transcribed for Alfonso, the Wise, by Pedro
de Pampeluna, in the thirteenth century, and its numerous miniatures
represent the pristine efforts of the Sevillian school of painting.

During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the artists of Seville
were wholly dominated by the Flemish school. The great master of the Low
Countries, Jan van Eyck, visited the Peninsula, and from that time the
Flemish influence continued to increase in potency. Flemish works of art
were largely imported into Spain, and three Flemish artists, according
to Professor Carl Justi, were employed in the court of Isabella la
Catolica. The Gothic characteristics of the Northern school are manifest
in all the pictures of this period. They may be readily recognised by
their long lean figures, their definite, almost harsh outlines, and
their rich colours, which are frequently embellished with gold.

The pictures painted during these years bear little trace of Italian
influence, although we know that in the year 1466 a Florentine painter,
Dello, who belonged to the school of Giotto, was living in Seville. No
authentic works from his hand remain, but he amassed great wealth, as a
proof of which we are told that he always painted in an apron of stiff
silk brocade.

Many of these paintings, dating to the fourteenth and fifteenth
centuries, bear no signature. They are classified without distinction as
the _Escuela Flamenca_, and the Spaniards apparently regard them with
scant reverence. They are all interesting, while many of them possess
great charm, and reveal well-developed artistic power. The Gothic
influence is dominant, but a distinctly Spanish tendency can frequently
be discerned. Local dress and customs are often depicted, and the
pictures are executed with the relentless vigour, which is the specific
characteristic of the early Spanish school. Examples of these
Hispano-Flemish pictures will be found in the Museo, in the _Cap de
Santa Ana_ and the _Cap de la Antigua_, in the Cathedral, and in many of
the churches.

The earliest Sevillian artist of whom we have any distinctive record is
Juan Sanchez de Castro, who lived in the city from 1454 to 1516. Sir W.
Stirling-Maxwell calls him 'the morning star of the school of
Andalusia.' He quickly absorbed the Flemish influence, and his works are
wholly Gothic, both in conception and manner of treatment. No details of
his life are extant, but the wreckage of time has spared his work, and
we can still study both a fresco and a panel painting executed by his
hand.

In the Church of San Julian, situated in the _plaza_ of that name, is a
giant San Cristobal, painted by Sanchez in 1484. It is executed in
tempera upon the wall of the church, close to the principal entrance.
The figure of the saint is of enormous size, entirely subordinating the
remainder of the composition, thus producing an effect of exaggeration
and lack of proportion. The fresco has unfortunately been repainted, and
little of the old master's work remains, except his signature and the
date 1484.

Of infinitely greater value is his painting on panel, preserved among
the pictures collected by the late Señor D. Manuel López Cepero, which
may now be seen in the house of Murillo, described elsewhere in these
pages. The picture is painted upon a panel of wood, covered with canvas
and carefully prepared plaster, as was the manner of the early masters,
who did none of their work hurriedly, and devoted much time to the
painstaking preparation of their materials. The picture may be regarded
as a typical instance of the Hispano-Flemish manner. The conventional
grief, symbolised by the drooping eyelids, falling tears and set
countenances of the women; the harsh outlines; the extreme length of the
reclining figure of the Christ, all bear the imprint of the Gothic
school. The picture deserves much study. Its decorative proportions,
extreme simplicity and harmony of colour can hardly be praised too
highly. It is a meritorious herald of the work of the Sevillian artists.

Juan Nuñez, the pupil of Sanchez, continued to imitate the manner of his
master. His finest work is a composition, representing the _Piéta_. It
was painted for the Chapter of the Cathedral, during the latter half of
the fifteenth century, and now hangs in the _Sacristía de los Cálices_,
where many of the choicest treasures of art are preserved. The Virgin
supports the dead body of the Christ; St. Michael and St. Vincent are at
her side, while kneeling ecclesiastics pray below. The Flemish manner
still prevails, and the Gothic stiffness of the Saviour's figure bears a
strong resemblance to the work of Sanchez. Cean Bermudez praises the
picture very highly, and states that it is not inferior to Albert Dürer
in colour and arrangement of the drapery. Like many of the early
religious painters, Nuñez appears to have been destitute of a sense of
humour, and in a picture of St. Michael and St. Gabriel, painted for the
Chapter of the Cathedral, he depicted the saints adorned with
gaily-coloured peacocks' wings.

The Hispano-Flemish manner was perfected by Alezo Fernandez, who came
from Córdova, in 1525, to work in Seville Cathedral. Lord Leighton
considers him 'the most conspicuous among the Gothic painters,' and
without doubt, his work marks a further advancement in the development
of the Andalusian school. It bears testimony to advancing knowledge. For
the first time we perceive clearly the growth of a distinctive Spanish
style. The Flemish manner is still strongly visible, but from out of
this eclecticism emerges that forceful effort after truth and natural
expression, which is the conspicuous characteristic of the Spanish
school. His finest picture is the Virgen de la Rosa, in the Church of
Santa Ana, at Triana. The charm of this work is very great. The mellow
splendour of its tones, and the lofty spirit in which it is conceived
render it a study of high merit. Other pictures by this master may be
seen in the Palacio Arzobiscopal, where hang the Conception, the Birth
of the Virgin, and the Purification, three works of great interest; and
in the Church of San Julian, where there is a fine altar-piece. The
figure of San Pedro depicted upon the left of the composition is one of
the ablest; beside him is San Antonio, while San Julian and San Josef
stand upon the left. Over the altar are representations of the
Incarnation and the Crucifixion.

During the opening years of the sixteenth century a new influence from
without was imposed upon the Spanish school of painting. The Italian
Renaissance extended to Spain, and this movement, which in Italy
produced the brilliant group of the _quatrocentisto_, fell upon the
artistic genius of Spain as a deadening blight. It was alien to the
temper of the Spanish nation. The simple, truthful directness of their
early mode was forgotten; gradually their art became steeped in a
hopeless mannerism.

Luis de Vargas, who was born in Seville in 1502, was the first
Andalusian artist, whose work testifies to the Italian influence. He
spent many years studying in Italy. He was a devout Catholic, and like
all the artists of Seville was supported by the munificence of the
Chapter of the Cathedral. Unfortunately his frescoes, upon which his
reputation, according to Cean Bermudez, largely rested, have been almost
entirely obliterated. Dim traces of them may be seen upon the Giralda
Tower, and upon the outer wall which encloses the Court of the Oranges;
but it is impossible to appraise the work of De Vargas from these
time-spoilt relics.

Of his panel paintings only a small number have been preserved. They are
simple, yet powerful in design; the colour is fresh, and the drawing is
good. They are specially noteworthy for the charm with which women are
portrayed, a characteristic unusual among the artists of Spain. The
earliest known work of De Vargas was The Nativity, which was painted for
the Chapter of the Cathedral, in 1555, and placed over the Altar del
Nacimiento, where it still hangs. Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell says that the
figure of the Virgin, as she stands gazing upon her babe, 'bears a
simple dignity not unworthy of Raphael.' The grouping of the figures is
admirable. Notice especially the peasant, as he kneels and offers his
basket of young doves. The care bestowed upon the execution of the
details shows that De Vargas had not yet forgotten the example of the
early masters. The goat, the sheaf of corn, the Spanish pack-saddle, all
the accessories are painted with Flemish accuracy.

The Temporal Generation of our Lord, in the south transept of the
Cathedral, adjacent to the colossal figure of San Cristobal, is
generally considered the masterpiece of Luis de Vargas. It is an
allegorical composition, representing Adam and Eve adoring the infant
Christ, who rests in the arms of the Virgin. The picture is lacking in
charm, but the figures are finely conceived, and executed with power.
Indeed, the life-like drawing of Adam's leg has given the picture its
name of _La Gamba_ (the leg). It is reported that the Italian Perez de
Alesio, the painter of the giant San Cristobal, exclaimed when gazing
upon his handiwork, 'The whole of my figure is of less merit than the
leg of Adam.'

Greater than Luis de Vargas was the Flemish painter Pedro Campaña, who
came to Spain and settled in Seville in the year 1548. He had spent many
years in Italy, studying in Rome, and his pictures bear the impress of
a combined Flemish-Italian influence. He stayed in Seville for
twenty-four years, and is always identified with the artists of
Andalusia. His finest picture, The Descent from the Cross, was painted
for the Church of Santa Cruz in the year he came to Seville, 1548. The
strength and realism of this work are truly majestic. It is, without
doubt, the finest picture painted by the Italian mannerists in Seville.
It exerted great influence upon the artists of a later day. Pacheco
declared that its realism was so overmastering that he did not care to
be left alone with it in the dimly-lighted chapel. Murillo spent long
hours in earnest contemplation of the picture. He was wont to perform
his devotions before it, and once, when asked why he sat watching the
picture so intently, he is reported to have answered, 'I am waiting
until those men have brought the body of our Blessed Lord down the
ladder.' It was beneath this picture that the favourite master of
Seville chose to be buried. The picture now hangs in the _Sacristía
Mayor_ of the Cathedral. It was rescued from the Courts of the Alcázar,
where it had been wantonly flung by the French, during the War of
Independence, and tolerably restored by Joaquin Cortes, in 1882.

Seville contains many other works by the Flemish master. In the _Cap de
Mariscal_, in the Cathedral, is a very beautiful Purification of the
Virgin. The charm and simple grace of the fair-haired maiden, who stands
upon the left of the picture, contrasts vividly with the form of the
beggar beneath. The half-length portraits of the Mariscal Don Pedro
Cabellero and family, which also hang in the chapel, are individual and
life-like. There is little trace of Italian influence in the rendering
of these figures; they are all painted with Flemish carefulness. Other
works of Campaña may be seen in the Church of San Pedro and the Church
of Santa Ana, at Triana. The individuality of Campaña can hardly be too
strongly emphasised. His pictures possess many of the essential and
distinctive attributes, which characterise the work of the greatest of
the Sevillian artists.

Contemporary with Luis de Vargas and Pedro Campaña--the masters of the
early Italian mannerists--worked a group of artists of lesser fame.
Antonio de Arfian, 1537-1587, a native of Triana, painted frescoes for
the parish church of St. Mary Magdalen. Juan Bautista Vasquez, in 1568,
executed an altar-piece for the Church of Our Lady of the Pomegranate,
in the Court of the Oranges; and other works since destroyed, for the
Cathedral. Alonso Vasquez painted many pictures for the Cathedral and
the Convents of St. Francis and St. Paul. The few of these works which
remain may be seen in the Museo, where they hang neglected, fast rotting
in their frames. These artists closely imitated the style of De Vargas.

More individuality is revealed in the works of Pedro Villegas Marmolego,
1520-1597, an artist whose pictures are extremely rare. The Virgin
visiting Elizabeth, which hangs over the _Altar de la Visitación_ in the
Cathedral, is a good example of his work, and displays his charm as a
colourist. The garments of both the Virgin and Elizabeth are beautiful
with radiant harmony. The works of Francesco Frutet--like Campaña a
Flemish artist trained in Italy, who came to Seville, about the year
1548--will be noticed in the account of the Museo.

Another foreigner, who worked in Seville during this period, was
Sturmio, probably a German, who, in 1554, painted nine pictures on panel
for the _Cap de los Evangelistas_, in the Cathedral. These studies are
important, for they afford the earliest instance of the fine brown
tones distinctive of the Sevillian school. The central picture depicts
St. Gregory saying Mass, while around him are grouped the fourteen
evangelists, and the saints of the city. Santas Justa and Rufina, the
holy maids, frequently portrayed by the artists of Seville, are among
the best.

The work of all these artists, who may be classified as the early
Italian mannerists, reveals a distinctive personality. The individuality
of the artist constantly breaks forth, through the strong Italian bias,
while traces are often revealed of the truthful expression of the early
Hispano-Flemish mode.

As the sixteenth century drew to its close, the tendency to adopt a
style of affected mannerism was largely augmented in the work of the
artists of Andalusia, the result being a corresponding loss of national
individuality. All that was essentially Spanish was for the time
forgotten, submerged in an imported Italianism. The pictures of these
later mannerists are dreary and almost entirely without interest. Their
work may be readily identified by the conventional conceptions, the flat
tones, the dry, hard colours, and the utter lack of that element of
charm, so essential to all works of art.

Juan del Castillo, 1584-1640, and Francisco Pacheco, 1571-1654, may be
regarded as types of this phase in the record of Andalusian art. Their
reputation rests largely upon the renown of their pupils. Juan del
Castillo was the master of Murillo and Alonso Cano, and the chief
interests incited by the study of his work, rests in tracing the
influence he may have exercised in moulding the work of the Sevillian
favourite. His best picture is the Assumption, in the Museo, in which
the figure of the Virgin has some merit.

Francisco Pacheco, the father-in-law and devoted teacher of Diego
Velazquez, claims our attention as an individual, rather than as an
artist. He painted innumerable pictures, which may still be viewed in
the Cathedral, the churches and the Museo, but none rise above the level
of mediocrity. They are carefully executed and rarely offend the rules
of drawing, but they are all hopelessly 'mannered,' and entirely devoid
of individual imagination.

We owe a debt of gratitude to Pacheco for his _Arte de la Pintura_, a
treatise upon the principles of art, and the lives of the artists of
Spain, published in Seville in 1649. In style the work is pompous and
prolix, and often very tedious, but as a record of the lives of the
Sevillian artists it possesses great value. Pacheco was the Inquisitor
of Art, or Familiar of the Inquisition. His authority under the Holy
Office was great, and it was his duty to see that no indecorous or
indecent pictures found their way into the churches. Here is a copy of
the commission which was granted to him: 'We give him commission and
charge him henceforward that he take particular care to inspect and
visit all sacred subjects which may stand in shops or in public places;
if he finds anything to object to in these he is to take the picture
before the Lords, the Inquisitors.'

The degraded Italian taste was carried to its uttermost limits by
Herrera El Mozo (the younger), 1622-1625, who, by a strange anomaly, was
the son of the man, who was the first to break completely away from the
trammels of the pseudo-Italian manner. His works may be viewed in the
Cathedral and the Museo; they instance the degradation which had been
brought upon the art of Seville, by the unintelligent adoption of an
alien style.

It is a relief to revert to the work of those men, whose sturdy Spanish
spirits refused to bend beneath the yoke of conventional tradition. The
work of the cleric, Juan de la Roelas, 1560-1625, bears little, or no,
trace of the degenerate pseudo-Italianism, although his pictures are not
exempt from foreign influence. They are Venetian in colour, soft, yet
free, in their drawing. They exhibit many of the features, afterwards
amplified in the work of Murillo. His finest composition is the Death of
San Isidore, in the parish church, dedicated to that saint. The theme of
the picture is the transit of the holy man, Archbishop of Seville,
during Gothic days. Many figures fill the canvas, but with true artistic
unity, the interest is centralised upon the dying saint, who rests upon
the ground, clad in dark mantle and finely-painted pontifical robes.
Subtle discernment is manifested in the grouping of the figures. The
aged fathers are thrown into distinct relief, by the youthful bloom of
the children who kneel beside them. The shadowy forms of the
worshippers, as they kneel in the receding aisles of the church, lend
atmosphere to the study. The heavens are depicted above, and in the
midst of a blaze of glowing light, the Virgin awaits with Christ, the
coming of the saint.

San Santiago, destroying the Moors in the battle of Clavigo, which hangs
in the Cathedral, affords another fine instance of the work of Roelas.
Three more of his pictures may be seen in the University--The Holy
Family, The Nativity, and the Adoration of the Shepherds, while several
hang in the Museo. A figure of a black-robed kneeling saint, in the Holy
Family, is said to be the portrait of Roelas.

Francisco de Herrera, 1575-1656, termed, el Viego (the Elder) to
distinguish him from his son, possessed a character of unusual vigour.
The traditions which have survived, reveal the temper of the man. His
methods were eccentric. He worked with a dashing pencil, and it was his
custom to employ any implement, which presented itself as convenient. It
is reported that upon one occasion, when short of a brush, he painted a
picture with a spoon. His fame induced numerous artists--the young
Velazquez being among them--to seek his studio; but his irascibility was
so great that few of them remained. He broke many a maul-stick across
their shoulders, and frequently he was left without a single pupil to
execute his mandates.

It is said that one day, when this had occurred, he rushed into the
kitchen, and insisted upon the serving-maid becoming his attendant; and
amidst oaths and blows, he forced the trembling girl to prepare a canvas
for the composition he desired to execute. His turbulent spirit led him
into difficulties, and he was accused--whether falsely or not it is now
impossible to say--of coining money. To escape punishment he sought
sanctuary in the College of the Jesuits, where he painted the Legend of
St. Hermingild, now in the Museo. In the year 1624 Philip III. came to
Seville, and visited the college. In common with all the house of
Austria, the King had a fine appreciation of art, and when he saw the
work of Herrera, he at once recognised its merits, and desired to see
the artist. Herrera knelt at the King's feet, and told the reason of his
confinement in the convent. 'What need of silver and gold has a man
gifted with a talent like yours? Go, you are free,' was the answer of
the King.

Such was the nature of the man, whose cogent individuality
re-established a national Spanish style. His pictures are distinguished
for their vigorous force. Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell calls him 'the most
remarkable of the painters, who learnt their art solely in Andalusia';
while Palomino, often termed the Spanish Vasari, says that the boldness
of his manner conveys to his figures the appearance of being painted in
relief. Several of his pictures are now in the Museo; the Cathedral
possesses none, but there is one in the Church of San Bernardo, which,
in spite of dirt and dim lighting, affords a fine instance of the power
of Herrera. In the upper portion the Lord is shown with a band of
attendant angels, while below St. Michael divides the sinful from the
righteous. The canvas is overcrowded; a fault in which the majority of
the compositions of Herrera share, and the form of St. Michael is
somewhat uncouth, but the picture is full of power, and many of the
figures, especially among the hosts of the wicked, are drawn with a fine
freedom of handling.

Francisco de Zurbaran, a peasant, born in Estremadura, in the year 1598,
was the veritable follower of Herrera. His work more fully than that of
any other artist typifies the genius of Spain. Lord Leighton speaks of
him 'as a man of powerful personality, in whom more than any of his
contemporaries, the various essential characteristics of his race were
gathered up--its defiant temper, its dramatic bent, its indifference to
beauty, its love of fact, its imaginative force, its gloomy fervour, its
poetry, in fact, and its prose.'

He was the pupil of Juan de las Roelas, but his work soon eclipsed that
of his master. From the very first he cast from him all mannered
tradition, and determined unflinchingly to follow natural methods. He
copied all objects directly from Nature, and while still a lad working
in the studio of Roelas, he refused to paint drapery, without having it
placed upon a lay figure to represent the living model. He has been
termed the Spanish Caravaggio from his strict adherence to Nature, and
his delight in breadth and strong contrasts of light and shadow. As he
saw Nature thus he painted her, without desire to soften or to
idealise. His one purpose was to portray conscientiously the exact
impression of the objects he beheld. And for this reason he may be
designated the herald of Velazquez. His pictures lack the facility, the
charm and the impelling force of the great master; but in their
adherence to Nature and strict nationality of style they are in nowise
inferior. The Adoration of the Shepherds, the fine picture in our
National Gallery, formerly ascribed to Velazquez, is now held to be the
work of Zurbaran. His colour is above all praise; his tints, although
sombre, have at times, as Sir W. Stirling-Maxwell justly remarks, 'the
depth and brilliancy of Rembrandt.'

His earliest work was a series of pictures, illustrative of the life of
the Apostle Peter, which he painted for the Chapter of the Cathedral.
They may still be inspected in the _Cap de San Pedro_, but unfortunately
the deficiency of light renders it well-nigh impossible to see them.

The celebrated Death of St. Thomas Aquinas, and the remarkable series of
pictures, painted for the Chartreuse monks of Santa Maria de las Cuevas,
are now in the Museo.

For the Church of the Hospital del Sangre he painted eight small
pictures of female saints. They are portraits of the beauties who
reigned in the city during the life of Zurbaran, and are among the most
charming of the pictures of women to be found in Seville. Especially
mark Santa Matilda in her crimson robe, embroidered with gold and
pearls, Santa Dorotea in lilac, and Santa Iñes in purple, and bearing a
lamb in her arms.

The fame of Zurbaran was overshadowed by Murillo, who became the central
figure in the artistic life of Seville, during the latter half of the
seventeenth century.

The position Murillo occupies in the record of Andalusian art is so
significant, that it appears fitting to notice his work, and that of his
brilliant contemporary Velazquez, in a separate chapter; and to conclude
this brief chronicle of the Sevillian artist with two names--Alonso Cano
and Juan de Valdés Leal, the last painters of Andalusia, whose work is
worthy of special note.

Alonso Cano, 1601-1667, was not born in Seville, but came to the city,
when quite young, to receive instruction from Pacheco and Juan de
Castillo. He painted pictures for the Carthusians, and the other
convents and churches, but a duel, fought with a brother artist, in
1639, drove him from the city. The finest instance of his work in
Seville is Our Lady of Bethlehem, in the Cathedral. It was painted in
Malaga for Señor D. Andres Cascentes, who presented it to Seville. The
light is dim, and it can only be seen by the glow from the tapers which
burn upon the altar. It is somewhat conventional in treatment, and bears
distinct traces of Italian mannerism. Yet the picture is not without
charm, and the Spanish national note is not entirely absent. The hands
and feet are painted with extreme care, and the crimson robe and
dark-blue mantle of the Virgin are exquisite in colour. The picture may
be regarded as typical of his work. One of his chief faults was
repetition, and he was frequently accused by his contemporaries of
copying from the works of other masters; a charge which he is said to
have challenged, with the following answer: 'Do the same thing, with the
same effect as I do, and all the world will pardon you.' His power as an
artist has been somewhat over-estimated, and his claim to be called 'the
Michelangelo of Spain' rests solely upon the fact that he was sculptor
and architect as well as painter.

Juan de Valdés Leal, 1630-1691, lived until the time when Andalusian
art was fast approaching its decline. His early life was embittered by
jealousy of Murillo, and much of his energy was expended in useless
quarrels with his brother artists. His pictures are mannered, but the
best are vigorous, and their main defects are due to hasty execution. He
appears to have had no power to finish his work; when he tried to be
careful he became weak. The Museo contains many of his pictures. The
Virgin bestowing the Chasuble on San Ildefonso in the _Cap de San
Francisco_, in the Cathedral, is one of his finest works. The two
pictures in the Hospital de la Caridad were painted to illustrate the
vanity of worldly grandeur. They are theatrical, and have little
'literary' attraction, but the execution exhibits a certain power. In
one of them a hand holds a pair of scales, in which the sins of the
world--represented by bats, peacocks, serpents and other objects--are
weighed against the emblems of Christ's Passion; in the other, which is
the finer composition, Death, with a coffin under one arm, extinguishes
a taper, which lights a table spread with crowns, jewels and all the
gewgaws of earthly pomp. The words _In Ictu Oculi_ circle the gleaming
light of the taper, while upon the ground rests an open coffin, dimly
revealing the corpse within.

It was this picture which caused Murillo to remark that it was something
to be looked at with the nostrils closed. To which rather uncertain
praise Leal is reported to have replied, 'Ah, my compeer, it is not my
fault, you have taken all the sweet fruit out of the basket and left me
only the rotten.'

With the death of Valdés Leal, at the close of the seventeenth century,
the long chain of artists, who had made the name of Seville famous,
terminates. He left behind him no painter of specific merit. The artists
who remained were dreary conventionalists, without originality, mere
copyists of those who had preceded them. The study of their work yields
neither pleasure nor profit. It is better to leave the record of the
artists of Seville, while the memory of her greatest masters is still
vivid, than to trace the slow decay of her art into feeble mediocrity.

_Note._--In order to facilitate the finding of the works of the artists
mentioned in this chapter, this list is appended, naming their chief
pictures, and the places where they may be found.

   Artists.                 Pictures.               Where Situated.

  Pedrode Pampeluna        Illuminated Bible.      Library of the Cathedral.
   (thirteenth century).

  Juan Sanchez de          Fresco of San           San Julian.
   Castro (1454-1516)       Cristobal.
          "                Painting on panel       House of Murillo.
                            of the Entombment.

  Juan Nuñez (fifteenth    Piéta.                  Sacristía de los
   century).                                        Cálices, Cathedral.

  Alezo Fernandez          Conception.             Palacio Arzobiscopal.
   (worked in Seville
   about 1508).
          "                Birth of the Virgin.    Ditto.
          "                Purification.           Ditto.
          "                Virgen de la Rosa.      Santa Ana, Triana.
          "                Altar-piece.            San Julian.

  Luis de Vargas           Frescoes.               The Giralda Tower.
   (1502-1568).                                     Outer Wall of the
                                                    Court of the Oranges.
          "                The Nativity.           Altar del Nacimiento,
                                                    Cathedral.
          "                Temporal Generation     Altar de la Gamba,
                            of Our Lord.            Cathedral.
          "                Portrait of Don         Ditto.
                            Juan de Medina.

  Pedro Campaña            The Descent from        Sacristía Mayor,
   (1503-1580).             the Cross.              Cathedral.
          "                Purification of the     Cap de Mariscal,
                            Virgin.                 Cathedral.
          "                Portraits.              Ditto.
          "                Altar-piece.            San Pedro.
          "                Retablo, with           Santa Ana, Triana.
                            fifteen paintings.

  Antonio de Arfian       Frescoes on the          St. Mary Magdalen,
   (1537-1587).            History of St.           Triana.
                           George.

  Juan Bautista Vasquez   Altar-piece.             Altar of Our Lady of
   (worked in                                       the Pomegranate,
   Seville about 1568).                              Court of the
                                                    Oranges.

  Alonso Vasquez          Various works.           Museo.
   (_d._ 1648).

  Pedro Villegas          Virgin visiting          Altar de la Visitación,
   Marmolego               Elizabeth.               Cathedral.
   (1520-1597).
          "               Doubtful Works.          Museo.

  Francesco Frutet        Several Works.           Museo.
   (worked in Seville
   about 1548).

  Sturmio (worked in      St. Gregory saying       Cap de los Evangelistas,
   Seville about 1554).    Mass.                    Cathedral.
          "               Evangelists.             Ditto.
          "                Saints.                 Ditto.

  Herrera, el Mozo        Several Works.           Cathedral.
   (1622-1685).
          "                     "                  Museo.

  Juan de las Roelas      Martyrdom of St.         Museo.
   (1560-1625).            Andrew.
          "               Other works.             Ditto.
          "               Death of San             San Isidore.
                           Isidore.

  Juan de las Roelas       San Santiago.           Cap de Santiago,
   (1560-1625).                                     Cathedral.
          "                Holy Family.            The University.
          "                Nativity.               Ditto.
          "                Adoration of the        Ditto.
                            Shepherds.

  Herrera, el Viego        Legend of St.           Museo.
   (1576-1656).             Herminigild.
          "                Other works.            Ditto.
          "                St. Michael and the     San Bernardo.
                            Hosts of the Wicked.

  Juan de Castillo         Assumption.             Museo.
   (1584-1640).
          "                Other pictures.         Ditto.
          "                Virgin and Child.       House of Murillo.
          "                Other works.            The Churches.

  Francisco Pacheco        Many works.             Museo.
   (1571-1654).
          "                     "                  House of Murillo.
          "                     "                  Cathedral.
          "                     "                  Churches.

  Francisco de Zurbaran    Legend of St.           Cap de St. Pedro,
   (1598-1661).             Pedro.                  Cathedral.
           "               Death of St.            Museo.
                            Thomas Aquinas.
           "               Other works.            Ditto.
           "               Eight Female            Hospital del Sangre.
                            Saints.

  Alonso Cano              Our Lady of             Altar de la Virgin
   (1601-1667).             Bethlehem.              de Belen, Cathedral.

  Juan de Valdés Leal      San Ildefonso.          Cap de St. Francisco,
   (1630-1691).                                     Cathedral.
          "                Pictures illustrating   Hospital de la
                            the vanity              Caridad.
                            of worldly grandeur.
          "                Many works.             Museo.

CHAPTER IX

_Velazquez and Murillo_

     'The more the artist studies Nature, the nearer he approaches to
      the true and perfect idea of art.'--Sir J. REYNOLDS.

On the 15th of June, in the year 1599, Diego Rodriguez de Silva y
Velazquez was born in Seville. Eighteen years later affords the record
of birth of Murillo. Contemporary, or nearly so, they began their lives
in the same environment, yet from their earliest youth they tended to
develop upon divergent lines. The young Velazquez, at the age of
thirteen, became the pupil of the vigorous Herrera, while Murillo
entered the school of the academic Juan de Castillo.

It was reserved for Velazquez to break away from the traditional
limitations of the Sevillian school, while the work of Murillo was to
develop them to their fairest fruition.

The national manner, begun by Herrera and developed by Zurbaran, was, by
the genius of Velazquez, carried to perfect fulfilment.

The grave and truthful simplicity of his pictures is unsurpassed among
the artistic records of any nation. His supreme effort was directed to
the portrayal of Nature. With unerring judgment he selected the
essential details of a composition, and painted them with unflinching
fidelity. He depicted each colour precisely as the lighting of his
canvas revealed it to him. He is the master of chiaroscuro, by the
perfect unity of his tones. His style is wholly personal, his pictures
bear pre-eminently the mark of individual expression. From his earliest
youth this was his method of work. 'He kept,' Pacheco tells us, in the
account he gives of his pupil and son-in-law, in his _Arte de la
Pintura_, 'a peasant lad, as an apprentice, who served him as a study in
different actions and postures--sometimes crying, sometimes
laughing--till he had grappled with every difficulty of expression; and
from him he executed an infinite variety of heads, in charcoal and chalk
on blue paper, by which he arrived at certainty in taking likeness.' In
this way did Velazquez train his power; and we are able to comprehend
the wonderful portraits, which have rendered the House of Austria
familiar to the world, when we picture the youth drawing his slave,
again and yet again, in different attitudes and ever varied changes of
expression.

This, then, was the divergence between the methods of Velazquez and
Murillo. The one painted Nature as she was; the other depicted men and
women as they never could be, but in the guise of saints, according to
the desires of the Catholic Church. It is in this dis-similarity of
their aims, that we shall find the explanation of the fact, which cannot
fail to impress the visitor to Seville, that, while the city abounds in
the works of Murillo, no single picture from the hand of Velazquez is to
be found in Cathedral, Church or Museo. The city of his birth is
destitute of any commemoration of his genius, if we exclude a few
pictures, of very doubtful authenticity, to be found in some of the
private collections.

The art of Seville was maintained by the munificence of the Church.
Painting was the handmaid of the Catholic religion. Pictures were
painted for the glory of God; they were valued as aids in the due
performance of religious observance rather than as works of art. For
the artist whose supreme desire was to follow truth Seville was no home.
Realism was opposed to the very essence of the Catholic mind. The
mediæval spirit did not exist in Velazquez, the most modern of all the
old masters; he yearned for a freer and wider scope for the development
of his genius.

In March, 1621, Philip III. died, and was succeeded by his young son,
Philip IV., who at once began to collect about the throne the literary
and artistic genius of the day.

Accompanied by Pacheco, Velazquez went to Madrid and craved an audience
of the King. The favour was denied, and after some months of waiting,
the young artist returned to Seville. Next year he again sought the
metropolis. One of the Canons of Seville Cathedral, Don Juan Fonseca,
had obtained a post in the King's service; Velazquez painted his
portrait. It was carried to the palace before it was dry, and in an hour
the whole court had seen it. 'It excited the admiration of the capital,'
writes Pacheco, exulting in the success of his favourite, 'and the envy