The retablo of the high altar at Miraflores (Plates 69-71) is also by Gil de Siloe, but in this work he was aided by Diego de la Cruz. It was begun in the year 1490; the date at which it was completed is not known. It has numerous statues. In the centre is a Crucifixion, with a realistic Christ. The Virgin and St. John, figures of great merit, wait beside the Cross, and a band of angels press forward to receive the drops of the Divine Blood. Above flies the symbolical pelican, feeding its young with its own blood; below are the kneeling figures of Juan II. and Isabella his wife, he being guarded by Santiago, Spain’s patron hero, while she is protected by a saint. At either side of this central composition are bas-reliefs representing scenes from the life of Christ, and figures of the Apostles and Evangelists. Perhaps the best of the carvings is the one of a female saint with a figure asleep at her feet. The saint’s figure is exquisitely coloured--a perfect example of polychrome. There are also interesting carvings in the choir-stalls (Plate 72). With the Miraflores altar-screen we may compare the retablo of the Church of Santa Gadea del Cid, also at Burgos (Plate 73). The author of this important carving is unknown. Among numerous works which deserve to take rank with the polychromes of Gil de Siloe a few must be mentioned. One of the best is the funeral monument of Doña Beatrice de Pacheco, Comtesse of Medellin, in the monastery church of the Hyeronymites del Parral, near Segovia, which M. Marcel Dieulafoy suggests is the work of Juan Eqas or his brother. Unfortunately the barbarous treatment this monument has suffered prevents its enjoying the reputation it deserves. Then there are the bas-reliefs of Christ entering Jerusalem and Christ in Hades on the door which leads from the nave to the cloisters of Burgos Cathedral, fine specimens of Gothic carving; and other examples may be seen in the cathedrals of Vittoria, Pampeluna, Avila, Valencia, Leon, and Toledo. We have now examined the most important polychromes that were executed up to the close of the fifteenth century. They present us with works of great vigour, especially those later pieces, which show the influences from the North. They were wrought at a time when the vitality of Spain was at its highest and its growth in the art of carving was in full development. It may be well at this point, and before turning to new influences which were again to alter the tendencies of the native work, to consider briefly the technique of polychrome statuary.