The Arts and Crafts of Older Spain, Volume 3 (of 3)Williams, Leonard
History
The Arts and Crafts of Older Spain, Volume 3 (of 3)
Williams, Leonard
Decorative arts -- Spain -- History
A typical _fiesta_ and procession of these trade-guilds is described by
Tramoyeres. "Formed in two long lines, the members of the guild advanced
along the tortuous and narrow highways of the town, adorned with
tapestries and altars. Each _gremio_ was preceded by a band of
cymbal-beaters, pipers, and jongleurs, sometimes accompanied by a
_comparsa_ allusive to the ceremony now being celebrated. Next came the
standard of the master-craftsmen and apprentices, each group of whom
attended its _divisa_ or distinguishing emblem. Close after followed the
banner of the craft in general, carried by one or two of the
_oficiales_, who made display of their dexterity and strength by
supporting the staff of the banner upon their shoulder, the palm of the
hand, or the under-lip. The cords of the banner were held by the
officers of the guild, denominated _mayorales_, _clavarios_ and
_prohombres_; behind these came the masters, and last of all, a
triumphal car on which were represented scenes relating to the craft.
Thus, in the year 1655, at the commemoration of the second centenary of
the canonization of Saint Vincent Ferrer, the _gremios_ showed
particular ingenuity and novelty in these devices." Don Marco Antonio
Ortí, who wrote an account of the festival in question, thus describes a
few of them. "The millers were preceded by a waggon drawn by four mules
and covered with boughs and flowers. On it was the imitation of a
windmill, wheel and every other part, contrived so cunningly that
although the wheel went round at a great speed, the artifice which
caused it to revolve was kept from view, and in the time that the
procession lasted, it ground to flour a whole _caliz_ of wheat." Another
invention, says the same chronicler, was that of the masons. "The scene
devised by these was a triumphal car, handsomely adorned, on which was
borne the great tower (of the cathedral),[69] imitated so skilfully that
it seemed to have been rooted from its foundation, and replanted in the
car aforesaid; and so enormous was its size that a special spot required
to be chosen in which to set it up. This was in the garden of La Punta;
and when the tower was finished and ready to be taken forth, a breach
for its passage had to be opened in the garden wall. It even contained a
peal of bells, which rang by turning round and round, and this invention
of the bells, besides its ingenuity, was rarely fitted to this festival,
seeing that the clock-bell of the cathedral (that is the greatest of
them all) was given, when it was baptized, the name of San Vicente's
bell, as well as of Saint Michael the Archangel; whence the tower itself
is called the Micalet, this, in the language of Valencia, being the
diminutive for Michael. It were impossible to imagine the stir and the
applause excited in all quarters of the city by the passage of this
tower."
[69] That is, the ponderous structure known as the Miguelete, which
stands unfinished to this day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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