[52] See an article on these tapestries by Señor Lamperez y Romea, published in No. 55 of the _Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Excursiones_; and also Nos. 156 and 157 of the same publication, for an article on the Crown and other Spanish collections, by Elías Tormo y Monzó. [Illustration: XXV FLEMISH TAPESTRY (_Late 15th Century. Collection of the late Count of Valencia de Don Juan_)] The tapestries which belong to the cathedral of Zaragoza number some sixty or seventy pieces, including a series (fifteenth century) representing _The Life of Saint John the Baptist_, from designs by Lucas of Holland. Good tapestries were also the property of Valencia cathedral, but have been dispersed and sold in recent years. The convent of the Descalzas Reales at Madrid possesses a set from designs by Rubens. Ten pieces of this series formerly belonged to the Count-Duke of Olivares, who sent them to his town of Loeches; four passing subsequently to the Duke of Westminster's collection. The small though valuable collection formed by the late Count of Valencia de Don Juan (Plate xxv.), passed at this nobleman's death to his daughter, Señora de Osma, who has presented part of it to the Archæological Museum at Madrid. Another collector resident in Spain, Mons. Mersmann, of Granada, possesses a series of fine Brussels cloths representing scenes from _Don Quixote_, by Van den Hecke. LACE Although the Spaniards have enjoyed, and still enjoy, a widespread fame for lace-making, their written records of this craft are unsubstantial. Originally, perhaps, they borrowed it from the Arabs or Venetians. Certainly, the earliest Spanish lace was such as is made with a needle, that is, point, not pillow lace. In this form, _à la aguja_, and in the sixteenth century, the Spaniards possibly conveyed the secrets of its manufacture to the Netherlands, receiving from the natives of this country, in exchange, the art of making lace by means of bobbins, including the characteristic "Flemish net," or _red flandés_. Towards the sixteenth century the parts of Spain where lace was manufactured in the largest quantity were some of the Manchegan towns and villages, the coast of Finisterre, and nearly the whole of Cataluña. In La Mancha lace was made, and still is so, at Manzanares, Granatula, Almagro, and other places. That of Almagro (the celebrated _punto de Almagro_, resembling the lace of Cataluña), is mentioned by nearly all the older travellers. In _Don Quixote_, Teresa writes to Sancho Panza that their daughter Sanchita was engaged in making bobbin-lace at a daily wage of eight _sueldos_. [Illustration: XXVI THE MARCHIONESS OF LA SOLANA (_By Goya_)]