Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/270

254 254 SPANISH ARCHITECTURE. Part II. feature, though in the lower part of the fa9ade and under the dome all the arches are pointed. It is possible that these interiors, which now look so plain, were, or were intended to be, plastered and painted ; though, had the intention been carried out, it is hardly probable but that traces of this mode of decoration would have remained to this day, which does not seem to be the case. Still it is difficult to understand why they should have designed a fa9ade so rich as that of Zamora Cathedral (Woodcut No. 695), if it were to lead to an interior infinitely plainer than the 696. Collegiate Church at Toro. (From Villa Amil.) exterior would lead one to expect. In all the countries of Europe during the round-arched Gothic period the external doorways were the features on which the architects lavished all their art, and Spain was certainly not behind the others in this resjiect. That at Zamora is excelled in richness by that at Toro (Woodcut No. 696), though the rest of the facade is not so well worked up to its key-note as in the last example. Among a hundred, one of those at Lerida (Woodcut No. 697), borrowed from Mr. Street's work, will illustrate their beauty, and seems to force on us the comiction that so much labor