Page:Impressions of Spain in 1866.djvu/27

Rh skin; but painful in the extreme, and almost grotesque from the manner in which it has been dressed. This remark, however, applies to almost all the images of Christ and of the Blessed Virgin throughout Spain, which are rendered both sad and ludicrous to English eyes from the petticoats and finery with which modern devotion has dis- figured them. This crucifix, however, is greatly venerated by the people, who call it * The Christ of Burgos,' and on Sundays or holidays there is no possibility of getting near it, on account of the crowd. In the Chapel of the Visitation are three more beautifiil monuments, and a very fine pic- ture of the Virgin and Child, by Sebastian del Piombo. But it was impossible to take in every portion of this cathedral at once ; and so our tra- vellers went on to the cloisters, passing through a beautiful pointed doorway, richly carved, which leads to the chapter-house, now a receptacle for lumber, but containing the chest of the Cid, re- garding which the old chronicle says : * He filled it with sand, and then, telling the Jews it contained gold, raised money on the security.' In justice to the hero, however, we are bound to add, that when the necessities of the war were over, he repaid both principal and interest. Leaving, at last, the cloisters and cathedral, and taking leave of the