Some Account of Gothic Architecture in SpainStreet, George Edmund
History
Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain
Street, George Edmund
Architecture, Gothic -- Spain; Church architecture -- Spain
The lantern or Cimborio, though in some respects similar to, is no doubt
later than the transept; it is one of the finest examples of its class
in Spain. Mr. Ford says that it was built in A.D. 1404, but I have been
unable to find his authority for the statement,[253] and though he may
be right, I should have been inclined to date it somewhat earlier. It is
an octagon of two rather similar stages in height above the roof.
Crocketed pinnacles are arranged at each angle, and large six-light
windows with very rich and varied geometrical tracery fill the whole of
each of the sides. The lower windows have crocketed labels, and the
upper crocketed canopies, and the string-courses are enriched with
foliage. From the very transparent character of this lantern, it is
clear that it was never intended to be carried higher. It is a lantern
and nothing more, and really very noble, in spite of its somewhat too
ornate and frittered character.[254]
[Illustration: The Micalete.]
The portion of the work next in date to this seems to have been the
tower. This, like the lantern, is octagonal in plan, and it is placed at
the north-west corner of the aisle, against which one of its angles is
set. A more Gothic contempt for regularity it would be impossible to
imagine, yet the effect is certainly good. The circumference of this
steeple is said to be equal to its height, but I had not an opportunity
of testing this. Each side is 20 ft. 8 in. from angle to angle of the
buttresses, so that the height, if the statement is true, would be about
165 feet. It is of four stages in height; the three lower stages quite
plain, and the belfry rather rich, with a window in each face, panelling
all over the wall above, and crocketed pediments over the windows. The
buttresses or pilasters--for they are of similar projection throughout
their height--are finished at the top with crocketed pinnacles. The
parapet has been destroyed, and there is a modern structure on the roof
at the top. The evidence as to the age of this work is ample. It is
called “El Micalete” or “Miguelete,” its bells having been first hung on
the feast of St. Michael.
Some documents referring to it are given by Cean Bermudez,[255] and are
as follows:--
I. A deed executed in Valencia before Jayme Rovira, notary, on the 20th
June, 1380, by which it appears that Michael Palomar, citizen, Bernardo
Boix and Bartolomé Valent, master masons, estimated what they considered
necessary for the fabric of the tower or campanile at 853 scudi.
II. From the MS. diary of the chaplain of King D. Alonso V. of Aragon,
it appears that on the 1st January, A.D. 1381, there was a solemn
procession of the bishop, clergy, and _regidors_ of the city to the
church, to lay the first stone of the Micalete.[256]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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