Part 40 (1/2)

order.

A central figure pointing to a sort of well in the centre.

59. Ma.s.sacre of the wors.h.i.+ppers of the molten calf.

60. Exodus xxiv. 29.

Moses holds the two tables of the Law, and is surrounded by other figures all touching the tables.

61. Exodus xxiv. 32, 33.

The two tables held by two figures above a draped altar; four figures kneeling before them.

With this subject the series concludes.

I have thought it quite worth while to give this short account of the work because it is rather rare to find so large a number of Old Testament subjects treated in this way. On the whole, too, I think that this is the most important work of the age in Spain. The sculptured works of this period (the fourteenth century) are comparatively rare.

The most important of those which I have mentioned in this book are the north doorway of Toledo, which has a series of subjects in all of which the Blessed Virgin appears; at Burgos the three western doors, which have--(1) the birth of the Blessed Virgin, (2) the a.s.sumption, and (3) the Coronation; in the south door, our Lord with the evangelists, saints, and prophets; and in the north door, the Last Judgment. At Leon, the three western doors, which have--(1) subjects from our Lord's life, introducing the Blessed Virgin, (2) the Last Judgment, and (3) the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the south transept, on one door our Lord, the evangelists and apostles, and on another the death of the Blessed Virgin Mary; the north transept, our Lord surrounded by saints.

Avila cathedral has, over its north door, our Lord in the centre, the Betrayal, Last Supper, and Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and the Resurrection of the Dead in the archivolt; and there are various other smaller works, which will be found by reference to the Catalogue of Sculptures in the index to this volume. I know no other example of the introduction of Old Testament subjects.

In all these examples the character of the sculpture is very similar; the architectural framing of niches and canopies is of the best kind of Middle Pointed; and the draperies, faces, and pose of the figures are very much the same as one sees in work of the first half of the fourteenth century at Bourges and elsewhere in France. The subjects round the Coro at Toledo are superior to the others in the facility which the regularity of the openings gave for the free treatment of the sculptures, and in the variety of treatment which the subjects naturally involve. But on the other hand, the artistic skill of the sculptors who were employed at Leon cathedral seems to me to have been greater than that of the sculptors of any other Spanish work of the same age. And though the character, mode of design, and manner of execution are all extremely French, I do not know why we should have any doubt about the ability of Spaniards to execute such work, when we consider how exceedingly skilful they were in the succeeding age, when they perhaps excelled any other sculptors of the same period.

The French work to which this Spanish sculpture has most similarity, appears to me to be that of the three western doors of Bourges cathedral. In some respects, indeed, there is so much likeness between the two that one can hardly avoid supposing that the sculptor at Leon had himself been at Bourges. And it is interesting therefore to observe that one of the most remarkable series of sculptures ill.u.s.trating the early portion of the Old Testament is that which is carved in the spandrels of the arcade which is carried all round the lower part of the jambs of the Bourges doorways. I have, in the earlier part of this work, observed that there is evidence of the same men having wrought at Burgos, Leon, Avila, and Toledo.

(G.)

AGREEMENT BETWEEN JAYME FABRE AND THE SUB-PRIOR AND BRETHREN OF THE CONVENT OF SAN DOMINGO, AT PALMA IN MALLORCA.

Sit omnibus notum, quod ego magister Jacobus Fabre lapicida, civis Majoricarum, praesenti stipulatione convenio vobis fratri Petro Alegre, gerenti Vices-Prioris conventus fratrum Praedicatorum Majoricarum antedicti et Notarij infra scripti stipulantis, vice et nomine dicti conventus; quod quando Prior dictae domus fratrum Praedicatorum Majoricarum, vel ejus loc.u.m tenens, voluerit, et requisiverit me, quod redeam ad hanc civitatem Majoricarum ex Barchinona, quo iturus sum in praesenti, causa faciendi illuc aliqua opera, vel ea dirigendi c.u.m licencia vestra, et fratrum dictae domus, ad praeces Ill.u.s.trissimi Domini Regis Aragonum, et venerabilis Domini Barchinonensis Episcopi: ego illico recepta monitione vel requisitione vestra vel Prioris dictae domus, seu ejus loc.u.m tenentis, omnibus operibus et negotiis postpositis, redeam ad hanc civitatem Majoricarum, salvo justo impedimento et quod vobis et fratribus vestri conventus faciam, et consumabo opera vestri monasterij, et alia opera faciam prout pactus sum, et facere teneor, ut continetur in quodam publico instrumento, facto inter me et venerabilem Fr. Arnaldum Burgeti, dudum Priorem dictae domus; quod instrumentum sit validum, et nihil pro praedictis ille videatur innovatum, aut mutatum. Quod si per me steterit quod non redeam, c.u.m citatus fuero, et non compleverim praedicta c.u.m ea complere possim, tenear dare, et per validam, et solemnem stipulationem dare promitto operi vestri dicti monasterij in manu et posse Notarij infrascripti, vice et nomine dicti operis stipulantis, pro pena, et nomine penae, quinquaginta libras regalium Majoricensium monetae perpetae minutorum, quae pro d.a.m.nis, et interesse computtantur, qua pena soluta, vel non, nihilominus rata maneant haec praedicta, et cetera contenta in instrumento inter me et dictum fratrem Arnaldum Burgeti facto, et pro praedictis attendendis, et non contraveniendis, obligo vobis, et vestro conventui supradicto, et nomine infrascripti stipulantis, vice et nomine ejusdem monasterij me, et omnia bona mea, ubique habita, et habenda. Ad haec ego Maymonus Peris civis Majoricarum,” &c. &c. ”Actum est hoc Majoricis octavo idus Junii, anno Domini millessimo trecentessimo septimo decimo sig?num Magistri Jacobi Fabre,” &c. &c.

(H.)

REPORTS OF ARCHITECTS ON THE PLAN FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE CATHEDRAL AT GERONA--A.D. 1417.

_Junta of Twelve Architects, upon the mode which ought to be followed in the construction of the Cathedral of Gerona, with the Reports of each of them, as they appear in the archives of the said Church._

I.

In nomine Sanctae ac individuae Trinitatis, Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.

Etsi mansiunculas et domos profanas mundanorum usibus dicatas fideles Domini erigunt et fabricant opere polimento, quanto magis ipsi fideles verique zelatores fidei orthodoxae circa templi Domini fabricam construendam devotius accelerare deberent? Numquid prisci patres pro archa Domini tabernaculum opere deaurato mirifice fabricaverunt? Hodie namque archa illa verissima, et sanctissimum illud Mamua in templo Domini a catholicis praeseservantur. Dignum quin imo et congruum potest et debet a quolibet reputari ut domus illa quam orationis veritas nominavit, in qua etiam illud sacrum Christi fidelibus pignus datum reconditur et tenetur, artificioso ex politis lapidibus opere construatur. Haec enim domus rite noscitur pastori verissime dedicata, in illa nempe populus Domini et oves ejus Paschuae cib.u.m dulzoris a.s.sumunt.

Sane in domo ista latices sacrosancti noxas perimunt, culpas diluunt et veternas cuilibet occurrenti. Heu igitur, quam dolendum sacrum Domini templum ecclesiam Sedis clarissimae Gerundensis imperfectum opere minorari! Idcirco cunctis pateat, quod reverendus in Christo Pater et dominus dominus Dalmacius, Dei gratia episcopus Gerundensis, ipsius ecclesiae tunc electus, et honorabile capitulum ecclesiae Gerundensis praedictae praemissa omnia pio sidere aspectantes, considerantesque a quantis citra temporibus fabrica dictae Sedis cessavit ex diversorum controversia juxta opiniones varias artific.u.m subsequentes, nonnulli enim a.s.serebant opus dictae fabricae sub navi una debere congruentius consummari, affirmantes illud fore n.o.bilius, quam si sub tribus navibus opus hujusmodi subsequatur. Alii autem a contrario a.s.serebant dictum opus sub prosecutione trium navium continuari debere, dicentesque, quod firmius et proportionabilius esset capiti jamque cpto, quam si c.u.m navi una ipsa fabrica prosequatur, quoniam opus navis unius multum reddunt debile distantia parietum, ac etiam testudinis alt.i.tudo; et quod terraemotus, tonitrua, ventosque vagantes timebit apetentes etiam circa directionem operis dictae fabricae consummandae solertius vacare, ac de opinione praedictorum veridica informari: et adeo ut controversia et opiniones hujusmodi clarius tollerentur, convocaverunt artifices peritissimos, lapiscidas de diversis partibus regni hujus, et etiam aliunde ad hanc civitatem Gerundae, quorum nomina inferius annotantur, indeque habitis collationibus plurimis, tam coram dictis reverendo domino Episcopo, tunc electo, et honorabili capitulo dictae ecclesiae Gerundensis, quam alias inter ipsos artifices opere praemisso subjecto primitus oculis cujuslibet eorundem cernentium opus, quod cptum fuerat, et qualiter hucusque fuerat; prosecutum in illo, et formatis super hujusmodi opere prosequendo articulis infrascriptis.

II.

_Inquiry._[468]