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
According to Müntz, this tapestry has been copied at least on two
occasions; once in the eighteenth century by Josse de Vos, of Brussels,
and also, in the same century, in Spain, partly at Seville, and partly
at the factories of Santa Isabel and Santa Barbara.
[Illustration: XXIV
TAPESTRY. ARRAS WORK, FROM ITALIAN CARTOONS
(_First half of 15th Century. Zamora Cathedral_)]
Other most valuable and beautiful tapestries belonging to the Spanish
Crown are the series titled _The History of the Virgin_, believed to be
from cartoons by Van Eyk, _The Passion_, from cartoons attributed to Van
der Weyden, the _History of David_ and _History of Saint John the
Baptist_, the _Mass of Saint Gregory_, and the _Founding of Rome_. All
of these series date from the fifteenth century and early in the
sixteenth. Belonging to a later period are the reproductions of rustic
scenes and hunting subjects by Teniers and others, executed in Spain
between 1721 and 1724, the _Scenes from Don Quixote_, made at Santa
Barbara from Procaccini's cartoons, and the eminently national series
produced at the same factory from designs by Francisco Goya y Lucientes.
This latter group amounts to several dozen pieces, including the
well-known _Blind Man's Buff_, _A Promenade in Andalusia_ (Plate
xxiii.), _The Crockery-seller_, _The Grape-Gatherers_ (_Frontispiece_),
and other spirited and charming scenes of popular Spanish life--"tout
cela," as Lefort describes it, "spirituel, vif, pittoresque, très
mouvementé, bien groupé, s'élevant sur des fonds champêtres ou baignant
gaiement en pleine lumière."
Other tapestry collections of great merit belong to the cathedrals of
Burgos, Zamora (where they line the walls of the Sacristy; Plate xxiv.),
Zaragoza, Toledo, Tarragona, and Santiago. The first of these temples
possesses the following sets, which are displayed to decorate the
cloisters on the feast of Corpus Christi:--
(1) The History of Cleopatra and Mark Antony.
(2) The History of David.
(3) The Creation.
(4) An Historical Subject.
(5) The Theological and Cardinal Virtues.
(6) A series of five Gothic tapestries, which represent some
mystery or allegory, and seem to be of Flemish
manufacture. One other _paño_, of a similar character,
accompanies them.
All but the last of the above sets are marked with two B's separated by
a shield, denoting Brussels workmanship. The _Theological and Cardinal
Virtues_ were presented to the cathedral about the end of the sixteenth
century. They are evidently executed from Italian cartoons, and the
_haute-lisse_ craftsman who made them, in or towards the year 1571, was
named Francis Greubels.[52]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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