A similar sketch may be applied to other arts and crafts of Spain--particularly furniture and architecture. [Illustration: II THE CROSS OF ANGELS _(Oviedo Cathedral)_] The pious or superstitious kings and magnates of this land have always taken pride in adding (at the instigation of the clergy) to the treasure of her churches and cathedrals. Such gifts include all kinds of sumptuous apparel for the priesthood; chasubles and dalmatics heavily embroidered with the precious metals, gold or silver crowns and crosses, paxes,[17] chalices and patines, paraments and baldaquinos, reliquaries in every shape and style and size, and figures of the Virgin--such as those of Lugo, Seville, Astorga, and Pamplona--consisting of elaborate silver-work upon a wooden frame. Visitors to Spain, from leisurely Rosmithal five hundred years ago to time-economizing tourists of our century, have been continually astonished at the prodigal richness of her sanctuaries. Upon this point I quote a typical extract from the narrative of Bertaut de Rouen. "The treasure of this church," he said of Montserrat, "is wonderfully precious, and particularly so by reason of two objects that belong to it. The first is a crown of massive gold of twenty pounds in weight, covered with pearls, with ten stars radiating from it also loaded with large pearls and diamonds of extraordinary value. This crown took forty years to make, and is valued at two millions of gold money. The second object is a gold crown entirely covered with emeralds, most of them of an amazing size. Many are worth five thousand crowns apiece. The reliquary, too, is of extraordinary richness, as also a service of gold plate studded with pearls, donated by the late emperor for use in celebrating Mass." [17] The pax or osculatory used in celebrating High Mass is commonly, says Rosell de Torres, "a plate of gold or ivory, or other metal or material, according to the time and circumstances of its manufacture. The priest who celebrates the Mass kisses it after the _Agnus Dei_ and the prayer _ad petendam pacem_, and the acolytes present it, as a sign of peace and brotherly union, to all the other priests who may be present. This usage springs from the kiss of peace which was exchanged, prior to receiving the communion, between the early Christians in their churches. The pax has commonly borne an image of the Virgin with the Holy Infant, the face of Christ, or else the Agnus Dei." Its Latin name was the _deosculatorium_. Similar accounts to the above exist in quantities, relating to every part of Spain and every period of her history.