Page:A Handbook for Travellers in Spain - Vol 1.djvu/72

[56] met with in Spain, in which the art-student will find constant elements of study: it underwent the same modifications in Spain as in other countries, until it reached in the 15th centy., its latest period, the Flamboyant style. This style lasts longer in Spain than in other countries, and acquires great importance. The cathedrals of Salamanca (la nueva) and Segovia, both built in late Gothic, were begun in the 16th centy., when in other parts of Europe and even in Spain itself Italian Renaissance models were largely imported. Spanish cathedrals are undoubtedly, with the exception of Italy, the most interesting in Europe; for although they cannot compete in architectural details with those of France, they are vastly superior in regard to the objects they contain of ecclesiastical furniture of every kind—iron railings, carved stalls, monstrances, church-plate, vestments, pictures, and sepulchres. The cathedrals of Toledo and Seville are museums in their way. No traveller interested in Gothic architecture should enter Spain without providing himself with Mr. G. E. Street’s ‘Gothic Architecture of Spain,’ in which the history of it is lucidly explained, with the aid of drawings and plans.

Italian models were copied in Spain from the end of the 15th centy. The portals of Santa Cruz at Valladolid and Toledo are of this period. Gothic architecture continued, however, for several years to alternate with this style. The combination of these styles produced an important series of models known in Spain by the name of Plateresco.

The revival of the fine arts coincided in Spain with the greatest power and richness of the country. The marriage of Ferdinand and Isabel united Castile, Aragon, and the kingdom of Naples. The conquest of Granada completed the political unity of the country: the discoveries of Columbus, Cortes, and Pizarro brought riches from a new world, and the union with the House of Austria, the Flemish States, and immense power, which it enjoyed during the reign of the Emperor Charles V. Renaissance architecture is better represented in Spain than in any other country except Italy. In almost all towns of importance admirable examples of this style will be found. The finest are at Salamanca: the University, Sto. Domingo, Casa de las Conchas, and Salinas, San Marcos (Leon), Casa de Ayuntamiento (Seville), Valladolid, Zaragoza, Burgos, &c.

The Cathedral and Palace of Charles V. (Granada) may be quoted as an example of pure Græco-Roman style. Part of the Alcazar at Toledo belongs to this same period. The tendency to copy classical models increased daily. The Monastery of the Escorial may be considered the most important specimen of this school. In the 17th centy. the Borromenisco style was imported from Italy. The Pantheon at the Escorial is a good example. ‘This architectural decay increased in Spain with great rapidity, and in no country did it reach to such an extravagant point. It lasted during the 17th and part of the 18th centuries. In Spain this style is called Churrigueresque, after the architect Churriguera. Examples will be found everywhere. The Transparente (Cathedral of Toledo), retables of San Esteban (Salamanca), Cartuja (Granada), and façade of Hospicio (Madrid) may be considered the most remarkable.

The creation of the Academy of San Fernando, the French architects