The Picturesque Antiquities of Spain: Described in a series of letters, with illustrations representing Moorish palaces, cathedrals, and other monuments of art, contained in the cities of Burgos, Valladolid, Toledo, and Seville.Wells, Nathaniel Armstrong
Islamic
The Picturesque Antiquities of Spain: Described in a series of letters, with illustrations representing Moorish palaces, cathedrals, and other monuments of art, contained in the cities of Burgos, Valladolid, Toledo, and Seville.
The adjoining chapel, as we proceed towards the northernmost nave, that
of Santiago, or more generally called after its founder, Don Alvaro de
Luna, is still finer. It is larger and loftier, and of a more ornamental
design. It presents five sides of an octagon: the three remaining sides
turning inwards to suit the form of the apse. This Alvaro de Luna, the
Lord Essex of Juan the Second, having by the high favour he enjoyed in
the intimacy of the monarch, given umbrage to the courtiers, was put to
death by the King, who gave credit to the charges falsely brought
against him. Don Juan, however, who did not long survive his friend, had
justice done to his remains. Being found innocent by a posthumous trial
at Valladolid, his body was conveyed with great pomp to Toledo, and
placed in the centre of his chapel. The tomb of his Countess stands
close to his own; and in the niches of the surrounding walls, those of
his most distinguished relatives, one of whom, on the right of the
altar, is represented in complete armour, with a turban on his head. The
treasures bestowed on this favourite, flowed plentifully into the
Cathedral of Toledo. Besides his chapel, the finest of all--the
elaborately executed enclosure of the sanctuary, is one of his gifts:
his arms are there recognised, frequently recurring among the various
designs of the external tracery.
A narrow passage, leading from the apse between the chapel of Don
Alvaro, and the entrance to the sacristy, communicates with the chapel
of the kings. After passing through a simply designed anteroom of more
recent date, the eye reposes with pleasure on a small interior in the
pointed style of the latest period--of proportions, perhaps, not the
less graceful from their being rather narrow for the length. Two richly
ornamented arches, stretching across the interior, divide it into three
parts, in the first of which is seen a gallery containing an elaborately
wrought gilded confessional. The walls of the two other divisions are
divided into six parts; the chapel having been constructed and endowed
by Juan the First, for the reception of six monuments: those of himself
and his Queen Isabella; those of his father Henry the Second, (natural
son of Alonzo the Eleventh, and who dethroned and killed with his own
hand his half-brother, Pedro the cruel,) and Doña Juana his wife; and
those of Henry the Third, and Doña Catalina his wife.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account