During the Romanesque and, even more, in the early Gothic periods the creative forces of art in Spain found its expression, after building, in carving in stone and wood. A wealth of ornament meets us in every building, for it must be remembered that the churches are the real museums of Spain. We have in the last chapter spoken incidentally of some of these carvings in connection with the churches for which they were executed. It is now necessary to examine in detail the most representative of these works. Among them we shall find many beautiful examples of polychrome statuary. All the statues of this time were coloured, for Spain, always tenacious in her habits, never wavered from the custom of colouring her carvings to resemble life. However, few pieces retain manifest traces of such colourisation, the tints having been lost through the action of the atmosphere, as well as through frequent washings. The statues in the Gloria of Santiago de Compostella (Plate 30) are among the earliest works that are clearly painted, and even in these, as we have seen, it is very doubtful if the present tints represent the original colours used. For this reason a very special interest attaches to the fine font in enamelled bronze, now in the Museum of Burgos, which came from the monastery of Santo Domingo at Silos. This remarkable and fine work is coloured and richly encrusted with gold and jewels, but of these unfortunately many have disappeared. Seated on a throne, the figure of God the Father occupies the centre, and ranged on either side are the twelve Apostles. The figures are set in a kind of frame formed by columns placed on a base of metal crossed by horizontal bars. Two winged monsters are in the triangles on either side, and a dove is placed above the figure of God. Small rectangular enamelled medallions are encrusted in the frame. Colour is used for the robes of the figures, for the winged monsters, the dove, and the medallions, the predominant tints being dark blue or vivid green. The heads, the hands, and the feet, as well as the architectural motives, are all in gold. Polished stones in bezel settings alternate in the decoration of the frame with the coloured medallions, and though many of the stones have disappeared this rich setting helps the effect of the whole bas-relief, which is one of great splendour. Besides the altar font the old monastery of Silos possessed a rich collection of religious furniture. Among those which have been saved are a chalice, used under the Mozarabic ritual for celebrating the communion, a very beautiful specimen of the _mudéjar_ goldsmith’s work; an altar-screen of engraved copper with figures of the Apostles; and several small cofferets or caskets. One of these, composed of an elephant’s tusk, belonged to Rahman III., Khalif of Cordova, at the beginning of the tenth century; another, made at Cuenca in 1026, is of ivory, and represents a Mussulman: it was mounted in enamel at a later date (about 1150).