Toledo: an historical and descriptive account of the "City of generations"Calvert, Albert Frederick
History
Toledo: an historical and descriptive account of the "City of generations"
Calvert, Albert Frederick
Art -- Spain -- Toledo; Toledo (Spain) -- Description and travel; Toledo (Spain) -- History
Adjoining the Chapel of the Virgen del Sagrario are a set of apartments,
built with it upon the site of an old hospital, by Nicolas de Vergara,
junior, at the close of the sixteenth century. These rooms are the
Sacristia, Vestuario, Cuarto de la Custódia, and Ochavo. The Sacristia,
entered through a portal 26 feet high, contains paintings by El Greco,
to be noticed in the chapter on that master; the ‘Betrayal of Christ,’
by Goya; and a ceiling fresco by Luca Giordano, representing the Miracle
of San Ildefonso. The Vestuario contains pictures by several Italian
masters, among them ‘Paul III.’ by Titian; a replica of the portrait at
Naples; a ‘Madonna’ by Rubens; and a ‘St. Francis’ by El Greco. The
Custodia was till lately the Cathedral Treasury. The Ochavo, at the back
of the Capilla de la Virgen, is richly adorned and contains the
collection of relics, among them massive silver caskets, wonderfully
wrought, for the bones of the saints Leocadia and Eugenius.
The vestments preserved here, to the number of forty sets, belong mostly
to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and are of the most splendid
description. “Each set [says Riaño] generally includes a chasuble,
dalmatic, cope, altar frontal, covers for the gospel stands, and other
smaller pieces. The embroideries on the orphreys, which are formed of
figures of saints, are as perfect as the miniatures on illuminated MSS.”
The Cloisters to the north-west of the church were built by Cardinal
Tenorio in 1389. They are not, as Miss Lynch observes, to be compared
with those of Burgos, of Santiago, or of Oviedo. The garden they enclose
lends a brighter, gayer note to the columned and arched galleries than
is found in those other cathedrals. The frescoes in the lower cloister
were painted by Francisco Bayeu, and illustrate the lives of St.
Eugenius and the legend of the _Niño perdido_.
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