The Hall of Battles is adorned with a number of fresco-paintings representing various combats. The battle of Higueruela, which was fought against the Moors by Don John in 1431, was painted by two Italians, Granelo and Fabricio, from an old battlepiece which was found at Segovia. Philip II. was much interested in this picture, and he ordered the two artists to reproduce it in a huge mural painting. The work was divided into eight sections, depicting various scenes in the great encounter with the infidels, and the king was well satisfied with the fresco. There are two pictures of Philip’s battleships in action at either end of the ‘Battle of Higueruela.’ Other martial subjects are treated. They are: ‘A Review by Philip II.,’ the ‘Battle of Lisbon under the Duke of Alba,’ the ‘Capture of Noyon,’ the ‘Firing of a City,’ the ‘Departure from St. Quintin,’ the ‘Capture of a Fort,’ the ‘Attack on St. Quintin,’ the ‘Spanish Troops under Philibert,’ ‘A Battle,’ and ‘Before the Siege of St. Quintin.’ The ceiling of the Hall of Battles is adorned with quaint pictures. The Apartments of the Queen are daintily decorated with tapestries, some by Spanish and others by Dutch designers, while the hangings are of amber silk. In the Oratory of the Queen there is an altar with a painting of the ‘Virgin and the Infant Jesus.’ The painter was Juan de Juanes, sometimes called Vicente Joanes, or Juan Macip. According to C. Gasquoine Hartley, in _A Record of Spanish Painting_, this artist was ‘the first great exponent’ of the art of the Valencian School. ‘He is one of the national painters of Spain. To some extent his painting was imbued with the Italian ideal, and it is possible that he received his artistic training in Italy; but the Spanish personality of his work is rarely obscured. The intense religious solemnity, the decorous purity, the vigorous handling, the careful painting of details, the luminous warmth of colour, the lack of creative imagination, the disregard of beauty, the tendency to exaggeration, all the virtue and all the limitation of the painters of Spain are outlined in his work.’ Little is known of the life of Juanes. He was a Valencian by birth, and he painted several pictures in the churches of his Province. Juanes was a devoutly religious man, and his work shows a strong bias for mysticism and warm piety. He was an industrious painter; his work ranges from portraits to large subject pictures, and there are many of his paintings in Valencia. Juanes died in 1579, and his style is seen in the pictures produced by his pupils, who are, however, unimbued with his genius. ‘With Juanes,’ writes C. Gasquoine Hartley, ‘we close the record of the early Hispano-Italian painters.’ In the Bedroom of the Queen there is a tapestry and a ceiling by López, who also designed the ceiling of the dressing-room.