The Arts and Crafts of Older Spain, Volume 1 (of 3)Williams, Leonard
History
The Arts and Crafts of Older Spain, Volume 1 (of 3)
Williams, Leonard
Decorative arts -- Spain -- History
The _reja_ of the Capilla Mayor of Toledo Cathedral is twenty-one feet
high by forty-six in breadth. "Armies of workmen," wrote Méndez Silva,
referring to this screen and to its neighbour, that of the _coro_, "were
toiling at them for ten years, nor would their cost have been greater
had they been of founded silver." The cost of which he speaks was more
than a quarter of a million _reales_, although the workmen's daily wage
was only two _reales_ and a half, or, in the case of the particularly
skilled, four _reales_.
The author of this admirable screen was Francisco de Villalpando, whose
plans and estimate were approved by Cardinal Tavera in 1540. "The _reja_
consists of two tiers resting on different kinds of marble. Attic
columns ornamented with handsome _rilievi_ and terminated by bronze
caryatides, divide these tiers into several spaces. The upper tier is
formed by seven columns of ornate pattern, containing, on a frieze of
complicated tracery, figures of animals and angels, and other
delicately drawn and executed objects in relief. Upon the cornice are
coats of arms, angels, and other decoration; and in the centre, the
imperial arms of Charles the Fifth, together with a large crucifix
pendent from a massive gilded chain. On the frieze of the second tier
are the words, ADORATE DOMINUM IN ATRIO SANCTO EJUS KALENDAS APRILIS
1548, and on the inner side, PLUS ULTRA." [74]
[74] Rosell y Torres; _La Reja de la Capilla del Condestable en la
Catedral de Burgos_, published in the _Museo Español de
Antigüedades_.
[Illustration: XXIII
_REJA_ OF CHAPEL ROYAL
(_Granada Cathedral_)]
The other of the larger _rejas_ in this temple--that of the choir--is
not inferior in a great degree to Villalpando's masterpiece. It was made
by "Maestre" Domingo (de Céspedes),[75] who, in his estimate of June
18th, 1540, engaged to finish it at a total cost of 5000 ducats, "he to
be given the necessary gold and silver for the plating" (_Archives of
Toledo Cathedral_, quoted by Rosell). This Maestre Domingo was
aided by his son-in-law, Fernando Bravo, and both of them, says de la
Rada y Delgado, were probably natives of Toledo.[76] In the same city
they also made the _rejas_ for the Baptismal Chapel, and for the chapels
of the Reyes Viejos and Reyes Nuevos.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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