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ANNALS
ARTISTS OF SPAIN
VOLUME THE SECOND
PUBLISHER'S NOTE.
7 wo hundred and sixty-five copies of this Large raper Edition printed for England, and one hundred and fifty j or Am erica. The engravings given in duplicate, and the initial letters am! rules printed in red.
Each copy numbered and type distributed.
ANNALS
OF THE
ARTISTS OF SPAIN
BY
SIR WILLIAM STIRLING-MAXWELL
BARONET
3 /tJelo (Jrtittion
INCORPORATING THE AUTHOR'S OWN NOTES ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS
lUitb portrait anfc UvvcntE-four steel anfc ^C330tint Engravings
ALSO NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD
IN FOUR VOLUMES „,
VOLUME THE SECOND
/ 6
LONDON J O H N (.'. N I M M ()
14, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND
MDCCCXCI
Theirs was the skill, rich colour and dear light To weave in graceful forms by fancy dream'd, So well that many a shape and figure brig hi, Though flat, in sooth, reliev'd and rounded see in d, And hands, deluded, vainly strove to clasp Those, airy nothings mocking still their grasp.
VOLUME THE SECOND.
VIRGIN AND CHILD. From the original by Luis de Vargas at Keir. Engraved in mezzotint on copper by R. D. Parkcs ....
PABLO DE CESPEDES. From the engraving by Enguidanos in Rc- tratos de los Espanoles Illustres^fol. Madrid, 1791. Engraved on steel by H. Adlard
THE HOLY CHALICE OF VALENCIA. From the engraving by Lopez .
VICENTE JUAN MACIP, commonly called JOANES. After the print of his own picture of the Burial of St. Stephen, in the Colcccion Litho- graphica de los cuadros del Rey de Espaiia; 3 tom.,fol., Madrid, 1826. The border is taken from the title-page of the Silva dc Varia Lection, por Pedro de Mexia; fol., Scvilla, 1570. En- graved in mezzotint on copper by F. S. Walker ....
THE BLESSED NICHOLAS FACTOR. From a small print designed by
J. Camaron, and engraved by P. P. Moles, 1789, representing the
Virgin and angels appearing to Factor, and entitled ^ Effigic del
B. Nicholas Factor" Abogado de Quartanas
THE ALCAZAR AND CASA DEL TESORO, at Madrid. From an old plan of the town ..........
DESIGN FOR A CUSTODIA, by Juan d'Arp/ic. From his own woodcut
in his book De Varia Commensuracion ......
VOL. II. I)
370
392
422
424
ILLUSTRATIONS.
I'AOE
DESIGN FOR A PORTABLE CUSTODIA, by Juan. iVArphe. l-'rom a
woodcut in the forenamed work 471
PALACE OF THE PARDO. From an etching by Louis Meunicr,
1665-8 .... -477
VINCENCIO CARDUCHO. From the portrait by himself formerly in the Louvre, Gal. Esp., No. 454. Engraved on steel by //. Adlard 488
FRANCISCO DE RIBALTA AND HIS WIFE. From the picture by him in the collection of Sir William Eden, Bart., at Windlestone Hall, Durham. Exhibited at the Art Treasures Exhibition at Manchester, 1857, and copied there by Sidney Barclay. Engraved in mezzotint on copper by R. B. Farkcs . . . . . .568
PEDRO ORRENTE. From (lie portrait formerly in the Louvre, Gal. Esp., No. 195, and bought at the sale of the Louis-Phillipe Collec- tion in 1853 by the late Dice de Montpensicr. Engraved in mezzo- tint on copper by R. B. Parkes 584
IRON CROSS on the dome of the Church at the Puerta del Sol,
Madrid ............ 590
IRON CROSS in front of the Church of Getafe 670
DIEGO RODRIGUEZ DE SILVA Y VELAZQUEZ. From the engraving by Bias Amettler in the Retratox de los Espanoles Illustres. En- graved on steel by H. Adlard . . . . . . . .672
DONA JUANA PACHECO, wife of Velazquez. From the original, painted by her husband, in the Spanish Royal Gallery, No. 1086. En- graved in mezzotint on copper by R. B. Parkes .... 680
Los BORRACHOS, THE DRUNKARDS. From the etching by F. Goya, executed from the picture by Velazquez in the Spanish Royal Gallery, No. 1058. Etched on steel by H. Adlard . . . . 700
EL CRUCIFIXO DE LAS MONJAS DE SAN PLACIDO ; OUR LORD ON THE CROSS. From the print in the Coleccion Lithographica, executed from the picture by Velazquez in the Royal Gallery of Spain, No. 1055. Etched by R. C. Bell 728
ILLUSTRATIONS.
THE FOUNTAINS OF THE TRITONS, in the island garden at Aranjnez.
From the print in the Coleccion Litlwgrapliica, executed from the
picture by Velazquez in the Royal Museum at Madrid, No. 1109 . 736 POPE INNOCENT X. From the portrait by Velasquez. Engraved
in mezzotint on copper by F. S. Walker . . . , . 7 60
DIEGO RODRIGUEZ DE SILVA v VELAZQUEZ. A sketch taken from
his corpse as it appeared arrayed in the habit of Santiago, and
executed in black crayon by his disciple Alfaro ; and now at Keir.
Engraved on copper by R. B. Parkes . . . . . . 792
ARMS OF THE FAMILY OF VELAZQUEZ ON THE CROSS OF SANTIAGO.
The arms front Argotc dc Molina; Noblcza de Andalusia; fol.
Scvilla, i588,/0/. 112 .823
CHAPTER VI.
RETGN OF PHILIP II. 1556-1598— (concluded).
PAOE
Artists of Andalusia . . .361 Painters ...... 362
Anton Perez 362
Juan Bautista Campafia . . 362
Luis de Vargas .... 362
Goes to Italy 363
Works at Seville .... 364
Portrait of Fray Fernando de Con- treras ...... 364
Devotional pictures in the Cathe- dral 364
"LaGamba" 365
Frescoes ...... 366
On the Giralda .... 366
gtas. Justa and Rufina sustain the Giralda in a storm . . . 368
Death 368
Character 368
Austerities 369
Playful humour .... 369 Style and merits .... 369 Antonio de Arfian .... 370
"La Feria" 371
Assisted by Antonio Ruiz, and by
Alonso de Arfian . . . 3 7 1 Juan Bautista Vazquez . . . 372
PAOE
Alonso Vazquez . . . -373 Paints the Life of St. Raymond for the Convent " de la Mer- ced" 374
Luis Fernandez . . . -375 Pedro de Villegas Marmolejo . 375 Friend of Arias Montano . . 376 Pablo de Cespedes .... 377
Visits Italy 377
Works at Rome .... 379 Pictures . . . . . -379 Sculptures ..... 379 Versatility of genius . . .379
Learning 380
Friend of Carranza de Miranda,
Archbishop of Toledo . . 380 Returns to Cordoba . . .381 Assists A. Morales in making a calendar of Cordobese saints . 381
Paintings 382
Essay on the Cathedral . . 382 Residence at Seville . . . 383 Friendship with Arias Mon- tano 383
Second visit to Italy . . . 383 Literary works .... 384
CONTENTS.
" Discurso de la cornparacion de la antigua y moderna pintura y escultura " .
Close of his life ....
Bequests to the Cathedral
Artistic merits ....
Anecdote of Federigo Zuccaro
Pictures
" Last Supper "
Anecdote respecting it .
Impatience of criticism .
Portraits .....
Poem, " De la Pintura "
Opinions of Spanish critics .
Analysis — Book I. .
Creation of man ....
Principles and implements of paint -
"ig
Pinceles (pencils) .... Broohas (brushes) .... Tiento (maul-stick) Astas de los pinceles (handles for
pencils)
Tablilla (palette) .... Panegyric on ink, and poetry Tinta (ink) ..... Book II. — Art of design How to paint the horse . William, Duke of Newcastle, on
the Spanish horse Simetria del caballo (symmetry of
the horse)' . . . .
Horses of the Marquess de Priego
Perspective, &c
Conclusion
Antonio Mohedano
Works at Seville ....
At Cordoba
Poetry ......
Bias de Ledesma ....
Painters of illuminations
Fr. Diego de Salto ....
Fr. Francisco Galeas
Pedro de Raxis and brothers .
Foreign artists ....
Cesare Arbasia
PAOK
Mateo Perez de Alesio . . . 406 Fresco of St. Christopher in Seville
Cathedral ..... 406 Alesio prefers the " Gamba " of Vargas to his own St. Chris- topher 408
Italian account of his life . . 408 Works at Malta .... 409 Vazquez the Portuguese . . 409 Vasco Pereyra . . . .410
Sculptors 411
Juan de Maeda . . . .411 Asensio de Maeda . . . .411 Bartolomd Morel . . . .411 Pedro Delgado . . . .411
Ccpeda 412
P;iblo de Roxas . . . .412 Artists of Valencia . . .412 Archbishop Thomas de Villanueva 413 Painters . . . . . -414 Vicente Joanes (Macip) . . . 414 Return from Italy . . . . 415 Marriage . . . . -415 Works only for the Church . . 416
Devoutness 416
Works 416
The Virgin appears, and orders her
picture to be painted . -417 Joanes is chosen ; he is at first baffled, but in the end suc- ceeds 417
Joanes not known at Court . -419 Death ...... 419
Style 419
Conception of Our Lord's counte- nance ...... 420
"El Santo Caliz" (Holy Chalice) at Valencia .... 422
"Assumption of the Virgin" in
the Museo at Valencia . . 423 "Baptism of Christ," &c., in the
Cathedral 424
Pictures on the Life of St. Stephen
in Royal Gallery at Madrid . 424 The " Cena" in the church of St. Nicolas at Valencia . . 426
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Miniature painting .... 427
Portraiture 427
Portraits of Archbishop St. Thomas de Villanueva, and "el beato" Archbishop Juan de Ribera . 427 Study of a Franciscan friar . . 428 Don Luis de Castelvi . . . 429 Juan Vicente Joanes . . . 429 Dorotea and Margarita Joanes . 430 El Beato Fray Pedro Nicolas Fac- tor 431
Precocious piety and genius . -432 Turns Franciscan monk . . . 432 Takes priest's orders at Chelva . 433 Legend of the convent garden . 433 Love of self-discipline . . . 434 Musical powers .... 435 Pulpit eloquence . . . -435
Humility 435
Charity 435
Hatred of women .... 436 Temptations by women-demons . 436 Loves to paint the Passion of Our
Lord 436
Visits to other convents . . 436 Appointed confessor to the royal convent, " de las Descalgas," at
Madrid 437
Addressed by the Virgin of
Atocha 437
Return to Valencia . . .438 Journey to Catalonia . . . 438
Return 438
Death 438
Estimation 439
Miraculous and prophetic powers . 439
Canonisation 440
Merits as a painter . . . .441
Works 441
Writings in prose and verse . . 442 Fray Nicolas Borras . . . 443 Becomes a Jeronymite friar . . 444 Works at Gandia . . . -444 Works in Cathedral of Valencia, at Aldaya, in Museum of Val- encia 445
PAGE
Cristobal Llorens .... 446 Cristobal Ramirez, painter of illu- minations 447
Public taste in the age of Philip
II 447
The Court, Alcazar, and Treasury
of Madrid 448
The nobility 449
Secretary Antonio Perez . . 449 Juan Perez Florian . . .451 Diffusion of taste in the pro- vinces . . . . . -451
Duke of Alba 452
His castle at Alba de Tormes . 452 Country house at La Abadia . . 453 Palace of Duke Alvar Bazan Mar- ques de Santa-Cruz at El Viso . 454 Palace of Duke of Infantado at
Guadalajara .... 454 Palace and villa of Duke of Villa-
hermosa at Zaragoza . Paolo Esquarte The Church the great patron of
art 455
Juan de Ribera, Archbishop of Val- encia 456
Chapter of Seville and the Arch- bishop de Valdes . . . 456 Goldsmiths . . . . -457 Juan d'Arphe . . . -457 Custodias at Avila, and at Seville . 458 Custodias of Cathedrals of Bur- gos, and of Valladolid . . 460 Assisted by Lesmes Fernandez de Moral, in the Custodias of Cathe- dral of Osma, and St. Martin's church at Madrid . . . 460 Appointed Assay er of Mint . .461
Death 461
Merits as an artist . . . .461 Writings ..... 462 "Quilatador" .... 462 "De Varia Commensuracion" . 462 Engravings ..... 463 Francisco Alvarez .... 464 Francisco Merino .... 465
Xll
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Feretories for the bodies of St.
Eugenius and Sta- Leocadia . 465 Custodia of Baeza .... 466 Various celebrated works in silver
and gold at the Escorial and
Valencia 467
Solemnities in the Cathedral of
Seville, on the death of Philip II. 468
The monument, and its decora- tions 468
Galleries 469
Paintings ..... 469
Artists 469
Ceremonial 470
Cervantes . . . . .471
CHAPTER VII.
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 1598-1621.
Philip III. His character His patronage of art Anecdotes of Philip III. Improvement of the royal palaces
Valladolid
Estacio Gutierrez . The Pardo . . . . . Artists employed there . Litigation between the artists and
the Board of Works . Pierre Horfelin . Giulio Cesare Semin Lorenzo de Viana . Statue of Philip III. at the Casa
del Campo
Escorial Pantheon Saying of Philip II. Giovanni Battista Crescenzi . The " Messina " reliquary Person and portraits of Philip III. Queen Margaret .... Patrons of art .... Cardinal Duke of Lerma Marquess de Canete Duke of Uzeda .... Amateur artists .... Dom Tomas Gracian Dantisco Don Francisco Tejada . Marquess of Aula .... Don Gregorio Lopez Madera Painters of Castile .
473 474 474 475 475 475 475 476
476
476 477 477
477 478 478 478 479 479 480
482 482 483 483 483 483 483 484
Pedro de Guzman .
Francisco Lopez
Cristobal de Velasco
Matias de Velasco .
Vincencio Carducho
Works at Valladolid
The Pardo
Eclipsed by Velazquez .
Works for the Cathedral of Tole- do, the Convent of Guadalupe, and the Chartreuse of Paular
Life of St. Bruno, and history of his order
Persecuted Carthusians of Eng- land ....
Virgin ......
Demons
Carthusian pictures not adapted for a museum ....
Visit to Granada and Valencia
" Dialogos de la Pintura "
Appendix to " Dialogos "
Last work
Death
Style .....'
Pictures of secular history
Sonnet by Lope de Vega Eugenic Caxes .... Works at the Pardo, Madrid, and
Toledo .... Death and character
484 485
485
487
490 492 492 493 495 495 495 495 496
497
498 498
CONTENTS.
Xlll
PAOE
Style 498
Fray Juan Bautista May no . . 499 Becomes monk .... 499 Goes to Court .... 500 Works in the palaces . . . 500 Praised by Lope de Vega . -501 Bartolome Gonzalez . . . 502 Bartolome de Cardenas . . . 503 Works at Madrid, and Valladolid . 503 Jubilee of the Porciuncula . . 504 Juan de Cardenas .... 505 Felipe de Liaiio .... 505 Epitaph by Lope de Vega . . 505 Pedro de las Cuevas . . . 506
Scholars 506
Fray Juan Sanchez Cotan . . 506 Paints from still life . . . 507 Becomes a Carthusian at Paular . 507 Visit to Alcazar de S. Juan and
Toledo 508
Removed to Chartreuse of Granada 508
Works 509
Visited by Vincencio Carducho . 509 Various talents, amiable disposi- tion, and piety . . . .510 The Virgin one of his sitters . . 5 1 1
Luis Tristan 511
Works . . . . . -5ii Anecdote of El Greco . . . 511 Portrait of Luis Tristan . .512 Pictures at Yepes . . . .512 Tristan's women usually coarse . 514 Portrait of Cardinal - Archbishop
Sandoval 515
Portrait of Lope de Vega . -515
Other works 515
Juan de Haro . . . . . 516 Fray Arsenio Mascagio . . .516 Pedro Angelo, engraver . . .516 G. Hernandez, sculptor . . . 517
Works 518
" Mater Dolorosa," for the church
" de la Cruz," at Valladolid . 518 " Crucifixion," " Conception," "Virgin and Dead Christ," and other statues .... 519
" Baptism of Our Lord " . . 520 Works of architecture . . . 520 Style ...... 520
Character . . . . .520
Death 521
Portrait 521
Juan Francisco Hibarne . .521 House of Juni and Hernandez . 521 Aragon ...... 522
Geronirno Cosida .... 522
Andalusia 522
Juan de las Roclas. . . . 522 " El Transito de S. Isidoro " . . 524 " Martyrdom of St. Andrew " . 526 Works in the University of Seville 527 " La Calabaza :> .... 528 Francisco de Hcrrera el Viejo . 529 Method of painting . . . 529 Coins false money ; takes refuge
in the Jesuits' college and paints
"St. Hermenegild" . . . 530 Clemency of Philip IV. . . . 532 Gets rid of his children . . . 533 Goes to Madrid . . . -534 Bartolome Herrera. . . . 534 Herrera el Rubio .... 534 Style of Herrera the elder . . 534 Agnstin del Castillo . . . 535 Juan del Castillo .... 535 Visits Granada . . . .536 Francisco Pacheco . . . . 537 Paints the banners of the American
fleet 538
Works at Seville . . . -539 Visits Madrid and Toledo . . 540 " Last Judgment " for the nuns of
St. Isabel 540
Chosen Inquisitor of art . . 542 Essay on painting and sculpture . 543 Second visit to Madrid . . . 544 Return to Seville .... 545
Writings 545
Death 545
Style as a painter .... 546 Makes Rafael his model . . 546 Versatility 547
CONTENTS.
Portraits 547
Sketches of illustrious contem- poraries 547
Praised by Quevedo . . . 548 Pacheco's notice of Lope de Vega . 549 Writings — "Arte de la Pintura" . 549 Miraculous pictures . . -552 Duke 'of Bulgaria converted to
Christianity by a picture . . 552 Tedious descriptions of his own
works 553
Rules for representing sacred sub- jects 554
Description of the Cross . -554 On the four nails .... 554 Notes on Spanish art . . -555
Poetry 556
Epigram 556
Praise of Lope de Vega . . -557
Diego Vidal 557
Cristobal de Vera .... 558 Juan de Vera . . . .558 Fray Adriano .... 558
Juan Peiialoso .... 559 Juan Luis Zambrano . . . 559 Antonio de Contreras . . . 560 Girolamo Lucenti .... 560
Sculptors 561
Geronimo Hernandez . . .561 Gaspar Nunez Dclgado . . . 5'">2 Anecdote of the poet, Fernando de
Herrera .... Juan Martinez Montaiies Statue of Ignatius Loyola Models an equestrian statue of
Philip IV 564
Death 565
Style and merits .... 565
Seville ; its wealth, grandeur, and politeness ..... 567
Enlightened clergy . . . 568 Jesuits ...... 568
Society of the house of Pacheco . 569 Patrons of art .... 569
Duke of Alcala .... 569
Casa de Pilatos .... 570
PAGE
Valencia 571
Francisco de Ribalta . . . 571 Paints the " Last Supper " for the
college of Corpus Christi . . 573 Other works ..... 573
St. Francis 574
St. Bernard 574
Pictures in the Museum at Va- lencia 575
" Nuestra Seiiora de los Dolores " 575 Academy of San Carlos . . 575
Sta- Teresa 575
Death 576
Style 576
One of his pictures mistaken in
Italy for a work of Rafael . . 576 Juan de Ribalta . . . -577 " Crucifixion " in the Museum of
Valencia 577
Imitates the style of his father . 578
Portraits 578
Poetry 578
Works of the Ribaltas at Mad- rid 580
St. Francis of Assisi . . . 580 Picture at Magdalene College, Ox- ford 580
Francisco Zarinena . . . 582 Cristobal Zarinena . . .582
Juan Zarinena .... 583 Bartolome Matarana . . . 583 Geronimo Rodriguez de Espinosa . 584
Jayme Terol 584
Pedro Orrente .... 585 Paints St. Ildefonso and Sta- Leo-
cadia for the Cathedral of Toledo 585 Works at Murcia .... 586 Valencia, " St. Sebastian " . . 586 Cuen^a ...... 586
Madrid 586
Style 587
Murcia : painters . . . .588 Cristobal Acevedo .... 588 Lorenzo Juarez .... 589 Valencian sculptor ; Fray Gaspar San Marti 589
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 1621-1665.
Philip IV 591
Character ..... 591 Patronage of literature . . . 593 Literary talents .... 594 Writes plays, and acts in them . 594 Artistic skill ..... 595 Taste in choosing his artists . . 596 Velazquez ..... 596 Visit to Andalusia .... 597
Rubens 597
Alonso Cano ..... 597 Projected Academy of Arts fa- voured by the King . . . 598 Architectural works of Philip IV. . 599 Church of St. Isidore . . . 600
Buenretiro 600
Garden Hermitages . . .601 Statue of Philip IV. by Tacca . 60 1 Pantheon of the Escorial . . 603 Philip IV. in the Pantheon . . 604 Giov. Bat. Crescenci . . . 605 Fray Eugenic de la Cruz and Fray
Juan de la Concepcion . . 605 Philip IV. a diligent, collector of
works of art .... 606 Works of Rafael: "II Spasimo," called "La Joya," "La Perla," " Virgen del Pez," "Madonna della Tentla " . . . 606
Works of other Italians . . 607
Flemings 608
Collection of sculpture . . . 608 Person and portraits of Philip
IV 609
His imperturbable gravity . .610 Supposed second-sight . . -613 His humour . . . . -613 Brothers of the King . . .614 Don Carlos . . . . .615 Cardinal Don Fernando . . .615
PAGE
Funeral honours at Toledo . . 617 Queen Isabella . . . .617 Picture of her reception at the Spanish frontier, attributed to
Velazquez 618
Extraordinary religions service at
the palace of Madrid . . .619 Altar of the Queen . . . 619 Queen Mariana . . .619
Conde-Duque de Olivares . . 620 Patronage of letters . . .621
His library 621
Patronage of art .... 622 Other patrons of art at court . 622 Admiral of Castile .... 623 Prince of Esquilache . . . 623 Marquess of Leganes . . . 623 Count of Monterey . . . 623 Don Juan de Espina . . . 624 Duke of Alba and others . . 624 Amateur artists .... 624 Duke of Alcala .... 624 Juan Fonseca .... 625
Juan de Jauregui .... 625 Geronimo Fures .... 626 G. de Villafuerte . . . .626 Bishop Juan Caramuel Lobkowitz 626 Thomas Labaiia .... 628 Francisco Velazquez Minaya . . 628 Count of Benevente . . . 628 Count of Tula .... 628 Pedro de Herrera . . . 628
Diego de Lucena .... 628 Duke of Bejar . . . 628
Juan de Butron .... 628 Esteban Hurtado de Mendoza . 629 Duchess of Aveiro .... 629 Dona Maria de Abarca . . . 629 Countess of Villaumbrosa . . 629 Marquess of Montevelo . . . 629
XVI
CONTENTS.
Visit of the Prince of Wales to
Spain 630
Influence on his taste . . -631 Purchases of pictures . . .632 Presents made to him . . -633 Portrait by Velazquez . . -633 Employs Miguel do la Cruz to copy
pictures 634
Foreign artists . . . -634
Flemings 634
Peter Paul Rubens .... 634 Diplomatic mission to Spain . . 635 Royal portraits .... 636 Converse with the king . . . 637 His opinion of him . . -637
Industry 638
His friends 639
Visit to the Escorial with Velaz- quez 639
Mission to the Court of England . 640 Works at Madrid . . . .641 Seville and Plasencia . . . 642
Fucn-Saldana 642
Loeches ...... 643
View of the Escorial . . . 643 Gaspard de Grayer . . . 644 Visit to Spain .... 644
Praised by Rubens . . -645
Cornelius Schut el Viejo . . 645 Juan de Vanderhamen . . . 646 Anton Vandepere .... 647
Miguel el Flamenco . . . 647 Cornelius de Beer .... 648
Maria Eugenia de Beer . . . 648 Engravers 648
Pedro Perret
Print of the Youth of Juan de Hcr- rera
Herman Panneels . . . .
Juan de Courbes, Diego de Astor, Juan Van Noort, Juan Schor- quens, Alarclo de Popma, Robert Cordier, Martin Rossvood, Isaac Lievendal, Francisco, Bernardo, and Anna Heylan
Jacinto Tavcrnier, Pompeyo Roux
Spanish engraved title-pages.
Portraits
Diego and Francisco Romulo
Bartolomeo Cavarozzi
Angclo Nardi .
Giovanni Campino ....
Orazio Borgianni . . . .
Cosmo Lotti . . . . .
Angiol Michele Colonna and Agos- tino Mitelli . . . .
Visit to Madrid ....
Works in the Alcazar
Bucnrctiro
Death of Mitelli ....
His epitaph in the church of Mercy .....
Sculptors
Rutilio Gaxi
Giovanni Battista Ceroni
Virgilio Fanelli ....
Girolamo Ferrer ....
Giovanni Battista Morelli
Manuel Pereyra ....
San Juan de Dios
PAGE 649
649 650
CHAPTER IX.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 1621-1665— (continued).
vYrtists of Castile . . . .671 Diego Velazquez de Silva . . 672
Parentage 672
Education 673
Early love of drawing . . .673 Enters the school of Herrera el
Viejo 673
Becomes the scholar of Pacheco . 674
CONTENTS.
xvii
Carefully studies nature
Retains a peasant lad as a model
Skill in painting heads .
Studies of still life
Studies of low life
" El Aguador de Sevilla "
pictures
PAGE
675 675 675 . 676
677 677
Foreign and Castilian
brought to Seville . . . 679 He imitates Ribera and Tristan . 679 Marries the daughter of Pacheco . 68 1
Family 682
Social life 682
Reading 683
Visits Madrid .... 684 Second visit to Madrid . . . 686 Paints the portrait of Fonseca . 686 Retained for the King's service . 687 Sketches the Prince of Wales . 688 Equestrian portrait of the King . 689 Its exhibition and success . .691 Pacheco addresses a sonnet to
Velazquez 694
Poetical praises of Gonzalez de Villanueva ..... 695
Appointed painter to the King . 695 Royal progress to Andalusia . . 697 His equestrian portrait by Velaz- quez ...... 697
" Los Borrachos " . . . . 700
First sketch 701
"Philip III. expelling the Moris- cos," proposed as the subject for a pictorial competition . 702 Velazquez the victor . . . 703 Is made usher of the chamber . 703 Royal bounty to Velazquez and his
father 705
Intimacy of Rubens and Velaz- quez ...... 705
Visit to the Escorial . . . 706 Velazquez sails for Italy . . 706 Lands at Venice .... 707
State of Venetian painting . . 708 II Padovanino .... 708
Libertino 708
Turchi 708
Studies of Velazquez . . . 709 War ...... 709
Departure 709
Ferrara . . . . . .710
Bologna 710
Road from Loretto to Rome . . 711
Rome 712
Urban VIII. offers Velazquez lodg- ing in the Vatican . . .712 Studies and copies . . . . 713
Art at Rome 713
Domenichino 713
Guercino 713
Guido 713
Albani 713
Poussin 714
Claude 714
Bernini . . . . . . 714
Velazquez lives at the Villa-Medici 714
Fever 715
Removal to the city . . .716 Original works at Rome . . .716 Portrait of himself . . . .716 " La Fragua de Vulcano " . . 716 " La Tunica de Josef " . . . 718 Visit to Naples . . . .721 Return to Madrid ; reception at
Court 722
Portrait of Infant Balthazar Carlos 723 Equestrian portrait of the King . 723 Equestrian portraits of Philip III.
and Queen Margaret . . . 723 Equestrian portrait of the Count- Duke of Olivares . . . 724 Duke of Modena .... 726 " Crucifixion " de las Monjas of San
Placido 727
Portrait of Don Adrian Pulido Pareja taken by the King for the
original 729
Portraits of Pulido Pareja in Eng- land ...... 730
Portraits of dwarfs . . . 73 1 Maria Barbola . . . .731
Nicolasito Pertusano . . . 731 " Bobo de Coria " .... 732
XV111
CONTENTS.
PACK
" Nino de Ballccas " . . . 732 Revolts in Catalonia and Portugal. 732 Northern journey of the Court . 733 Aranjuez ..... 733
Views of Aranjuez, by Velazquez . 735 Visit to Cuen^a, Molina, and Zara-
goza 735
Pedro Aponte .... 737 Jusepe Martinez .... 737 Don Henrique de Guzman, alias Julian de Valcarcel, adopted son of Olivares ..... 740 His portrait painted by Velazquez 741 Last portrait of the Count-Duke . 743 Fail of Olivares .... 743 Remembered by the Grand Inquisi- tor and Velazquez . . . 744 Excursions to Aragon . . 745
Taking of Lerida . . . 745
Portrait by Velazquez . . 745
Death of Queen Isabella . • 745 Her last portrait by Velazquez . 746 Portraits of Infant Don Balthazar
Carlos 746
" Surrender of Breda," or " Cuadro
de las Lanzas " . . . . 748 Unsuccessful portrait of the King . 750 Portraits of Quevedo and others . 751 Second journey to Italy . . . 752 Genoa . ... 753
Vandyck . . . . -753
Castiglione . . . . -754 Giovanni Ferrari . . . 754
Giovanni Carbone . . . -754 Milan .... -754
Ercole Proccaccini .... 754
Padua 754
Venice 754
Bologna .... -755
Alessandro Tiarini . . . -755 Colonna and Mitelli . . -755
Modena 755
Correggio . . 756
Parma 756
Florence 756
Pietro da Cortona . . . -757
Carlo Dolce 757
Salvator Rosa 757
Naples 757
Rome . . ... 758
Innocent X. . . . . . 758
Velazquez paints the Pope . -758 Other portraits, and that of Pareja 759 Elected into the Academy of St.
Luke 760
Social life ..... 760 Velazquez's opinion of Italian art.
as preserved by Boschini . .761 The King impatient for his return
to Spain 763
Homeward journey . . . 763 Arrives at Madrid, and is made
Aposcntador-mayor . . . 764 Rejoicings at Court at the birth of
the Infanta Maria Margarita . 765 Christening ..... 765 Grand bull-feast .... 766
Cane-plays 768
Occupations of Velazquez . . 768 Favour with the King . . -769 Reputation at Court . . . 769 Picture of "Las Meninas" . . 769 Philip IV. dubs Velazquez knight
of Santiago 773
Name given by Luca Giordano to
the picture 773
Portraits of Queen Mariana, and
children 774
Costume ...... 774
Miniature . . . . -775
Infanta Maria Margaret . . 775 Infant Don Philip Prosper . . 775 Velazquez at the Escorial . . 776 Embassy of Ma.rechal Grammont . 777 Velazquez attends him in his visit
to the royal galleries . . . 777 Installed as knight of Santiago . 778 Peace of the Pyrenees . . . 779 " Isla de los Faisanes " . . . 779 Velazquez sent to the Bidasoa . 780 Erects a pavilion on the isle . . 781 Duties of the Aposentador . . 783
CONTENTS.
Royal progress
Baggage of the Infanta .
Rejoicings on the road .
Ceremonials at Fueuterrabia .
Conferences on the Isle of Phea- sants
The courts of Spain and France .
Velazquez
Pomps and rejoicings
Philip IV.'s homeward progress .
Burgos
Valladolid
Arrival at Madrid ....
Rumours of the death of Velaz- quez ......
Illness ......
Will
Death
Funeral honours ....
Interment in the church of San Juan
Epitaph
Death of the wife of Velazquez
His family
PAGE
783 Family picture .... 797 7&1 Character of Velazquez . . . 798
784 Portraits of Velazquez . . . Soi
785 ! Notice of some of the works of
Velazquez 802
7S6 " Las Hilanderas " .... 802
787 ''St. Anthony and St. Paul" . 803
788 Their legend ..... 803
788 Picture 804
790 " Coronation of the Virgin " . . 805
79° " St. Francis Borgia entering the
790 ' Jesuits' College "... 806
791 j " El Orlando muerto " . . . 808 ! " El Pretendiente "... 809
79 J ! Various works . . . .810
792 ' Picture of the " Boar Hunt " in the
793 Pardo.; now in London . .811
793 Landscapes 814
793 : Sketches Si 6
; Velazquez compared with Rubens 817
793 His various range of powers . .818^
794 Sacred subjects .... 818
796 His "Venus" 819
796 Verses of Quevedo . . . 822
CHAPTER VI.
REIGN OF PHILIP II. 1556-1598 — (concluded).
; NDALUSIA-
" La mejor ticrra de Esparia La, qne el Betis baiia," — 1
now began to vie in the arts with Castile ; and the painters of Seville and Cordoba, although unknown at Court, and unsunned by royal favour,
to rival their more fortunate brethren, who were winning crosses and pensions at Toledo and Madrid. ! Shut out, by their remote position, from courtly patronage, they had, however, the magnificent Church to cherish and reward them. Through the southern cities flowed into Spain great part of the wealth of the Indies, refreshing their sacred treasuries with its golden tide. On the banks of the Guadalquivir
1 Ortiz tie Zuuiga, Annnlcs rfc Scvilla. fol. Madrid, 1677, ]>. 532
VOL. Tl. A
CH. Vt.
Artists of Andalusia.
362
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
en. vr.
Painters.
Anton Peroz.
Juan
Bautista C'anipana.
Luis do Vareras.
rose many a sumptuous church, and many a proud Chartreuse ; and prelates and chapters were never weary of devising new embellishments for their ancient Cathedrals.
To the records of the Chapter of Seville, Cean Berrnudez was indebted for the names of various artists of reputation in this reign, which, otherwise, would long ago have perished with their works ; of these masters, Anton Perez, who painted for the Cathedral from 1548 to 1564, seems to have been one of the most famous. The Flemish painter, Campana,1 left behind him at Seville a son named Juan Bautista, who had been his scholar, and who was employed with other artists in the restoration of the Monument for the Holy Week in 1594.
Amongst the Andalusian artists of whose merits the world is still in a condition to judge, the first place must be given to Luis de Vargas, the best painter of the Sevillian line from Sanchez de Castro to Velazquez. Born at Seville in 1502, he early devoted himself to painting, of which he acquired some knowledge from Die«;o de la Barrera.2
o o
Vargas stood, therefore, fifth in artistic descent from that patriarch of painting, Sanchez de Castro, although he was born before the veteran's death. According to the usage of the Sevillians, he at first
1 Supra, chap. iii. p. 130.
2 Supra, chap. ii. p. 1 1 :.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
363
painted on "sarga" — a loose-textured cloth, some- what like bunting — heraldic devices for naval en- signs, and fanciful designs to serve as curtains for the church-altars during Holy Week. The colours, well moistened with water, were applied to the cloth without any previous preparation, and, when dry, were washed over with a thin gum, or a very liquid paste ; and the materials being cheap, and the dimensions of the works large, this sort of paint- ing was held to be an excellent exercise for the tyro, giving freedom to his hand and boldness to his style. Dissatisfied, however, with the modes and masters of Seville, Vargas early passed into Italy, where, on the sole evidence of his style, the critics have placed him in the school of Perino del Vaga. If this be the fact, and if Cean Beramdez be correct in assuming 1527 as the date of his arrival in Italy, he may have been present at the sack of Home ; and, perhaps, followed Perino to Genoa, under the safeguard of the Dorias. All that seems certain is that his foreign travels and studies occupied twenty-eight years,1 and that he returned to Seville about the middle of the century.2
1 rachceo, p. 118.
2 Palomino has a story, in which, as usual, lie is followed by Cumber- land, that Vargas returned to Seville after a seven years' absence, but finding himself outdone by Campafm, went back to Italy for seven years more, and .so "fu6 el Jacob de la Pintura, quo fue su hermosa Kaquel " (torn. iii. p. 386). It is unlikely, however, that either the story or the simile would have escaped Pacheco, who lived near the time of Vargas, had the facts of the one permitted of the use of the other.
CII. VI.
Goes to Italy.
REIGN OF PHILIP IT.
CII. VI.
Works at Seville. Portrait of Fray Fernando do Cen- tre ras.
Devotional
pictures in the cathedral.
In the sacristy of chalices iu the Cathedral of Seville, there hangs a small portrait, by Vargas, of the good monk Fernando de Contrcras, of the order of Mercy, the "Apostle of Seville," whose staff was accepted in Barbary as a security for the payment of large ransoms, and who was laid in his shroud, by noble ladies, in I548.1 The pale counte- nance of the holy man bears evidence of the gentle- ness of his nature, and the austerities of his life ; the picture is well executed, and is inscribed " V. S. D. P. Ferdin* de Cotreras. Sacerdos Ilispal. Captivor. Redemptor. ex vivo adumbratus. ob. an. 1545, a Ludov. de Vargas an. 1541." The error in the first date perhaps diminishes the credit of the second. But if Vargas really painted this portrait in or before 1541, he must either have done so in Italy, or he must have returned to Spain several years before the time fixed by Cean Bermudez. From the records of the Chapter of Seville, that diligent historian gathered that Vargas painted his first work for the Cathedral in 1555. This was the beautiful picture of the " Nativity," which still forms the altar-piece of the little chapel dedicated to that event. The Virgin-Mother might have been sketched by the pure pencil of Rafael ; the peasant who kneels at her feet, with his offering of a basket
iz de Zuiiiya, Ann ales dc Sevilla, ]>p. 494-5, 504.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
365
of doves, is a study from nature, painted with much of the force and freedom of the later masters of Seville ; and many of the accessories, such as the head of the goat dragged in hy a shepherd, and the sheaf of corn and pack-saddle which lie in the fore- ground, are finished with Flemish accuracy. The picture is signed " Tune disceba Luisius de Vargas.1'1 He next painted some frescoes in the church of St. Paul, and in the old Sagrario of the Cathedral — now no longer existing. In the court of the Casa de Misericordia he executed a large fresco, representing the " Last Judgment," in which Cean Bermudcz praises the figures of the Redeemer, the Virgin, and the Apostles, and deplores the destruction from the effects of the weather of the righteous and wicked multitudes. His finest work now at Seville was painted in 1561 on the subject of the "Temporal Generation of Our Lord," and is the altar-piece of the chapel of the Conception. It is a sort of holy allegory, representing the human ancestors of the Infant Saviour, adoring him as he lies in the lap of the Virgin. In the foreground kneels Adam, "the father of us all," concerning one of whose legs there is a tradition that Perez de Alesio, an Italian painter, declared that it was worth the whole of a colossal " St. Christopher," which he himself had executed, in another part of the church. Hence the picture is popularly known as the " Gamba ; " it is signed
OH. VI.
Giiniba.
366
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
€11. VI.
Frescoes.
On tho GiniKla.
" Luisius de Vargas faciebat 1561;" and the altar is adorned with saints and other subjects by the same hand, forming a collection of seven pictures in all. Amongst these is the portrait of Don Juan de Medina, precentor of the Cathedral, which was an admirable likeness, and used to cause the idle boys that then, as now, loitered in the aisles, to collect round the original, as the good man said his prayers near the spot.1 Buried in the darkest nook of the dim Cathedral, these interesting paintings can be seen only on festival days, when the chapel is blaz- ing with waxen tapers. On the outer wall which encloses the court of orange-trees, Vargas executed a fresco, once of great excellence and renown, but now a mere shadow — " Christ going to Calvary," commonly called " The Christ of the Criminals " (d Cristo de los azotados), because it was the custom for condemned malefactors on their way to the place of punishment to pause before it, and pray a parting prayer. On the restoration of the beauti- ful tower of the Cathedral, he painted, between 1563 and 1568, in its Moorish niches, a series of Sevillian saints and martyrs and other sacred subjects. He was probably at work on his lofty scaffolding, in 1565, when the Flemish artist,
1 Palomino, toin. iii. p. 387.
2 A notice of this picture will be found in Ortiz de Zuiliga, Annales de Serilla, p. 624.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
367
George Hoefnaeshel, one of the earliest of sketch-
O O 7
ing tourists, made his drawing of the Giralda.1 Of most of these frescoes, which were executed, says Pacheco, on a preparation of ochre of Castilleja — no trace whatever remains ; the showers and sunshine and the whitewash of centuries have passed over them, and they are gone. Only on the north side, in the lower niches, may be seen the faded and often-repainted ruins of " Stas. Justa and ilufina," " Sts. Isidore and Leandcr," and the " Annunciation of the Virgin," beneath the latter of which frescoes is placed the black marble slab, bearing the canon Pacheco's Latin record of the restoration of the tower.2 The virgin martyrs of Seville are repre-
1 See Braun et Uogenburg, Cirilates orb is Icrrarunt, fol. Colon. 1581, where two views of it are given, one of them with an opening to show the ascent, which is erroneously represented as a staircase instead of a series of inclined planes. The niches immediately beneath the bells are too short, and the frescoes, which are indicated, arc mere heads instead of full-length figures.
2 There is a rare old print of the Giralda (of which I had great dillicnlty in procuring a much-injured impression at Seville) about 33 inches high by i2j wide, in which these paintings are carefully and correctly given. The view takes in the north and east sides of the tower, and adjoining the east side there is a wall and horse-shoe archway, no longer existing. On each side of the tower hover ten Murillo-like cherubs bearing scrolls each inscribed with a Latin distich, illustrative of the history of the building ; and beneath in the foreground an eagle holds in his beak a larger scroll, bearing the name of the artist "Tortolera," to the right in looking at it, witli these verses : —
" Orbis prodigium ccrnis, spectator, udcsso Ilispulis est index turri.s ot ipsa deeus. Siste grudum templumque scies tanqiuun nnguc leonem Urbs templam turns semper in orbo micmit."
There is a large print of the Giralda upheld by Sta. Kufina and Sta.
OH. VI.
368
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Stas.
Justa and Rufina sus- tain the Giralda in a storm.
Death. Character.
sented, according to the ancient usage,1 bearing in their hands the Giralda, to commemorate its mira- culous preservation in a storm which laid low great part of the city. In the roar of the tempest, says the legend, a voice was heard crying near the top of the tower, " Down with it, down with it," to which another voice made answer, "It cannot be, for Justa and Rufina are upholding it." The holy potters of Triana having thus foiled, by his own confession, the Prince of the powers of the air, became thence- forth the patronesses of the " very noble and very loyal city." 3
Vargas died at Seville in 1568, with the repu- tation of a great painter and a good and amiable man. To a natural modesty and kindness of dis- position, he added that sincere and fervent piety, not uncommon amongst the artists of the age, and so well befitting one whose daily calling lay amongst the sublime mysteries of religion, and required him to fix his contemplations on things above. After
Justa, 36 inches high by 27^ wide, published at Seville and Paris, and probably engraved at the latter place in 1760, in which the frescoes of Vargas are still given, as they likewise are in the folding plate, No. VI., in Dillon's Travels through Spain, 4to, London, 1780, facing p. 309.
1 See supra, chap. iii. p. 144.
2 Historia, Antiguedades y Grandezas de la muy noble y muy leal Ciudad de Se villa, por el Licenciado Don Pablo de Espinosa de los Monteros, Presbytero, hijo de la misma Ciudad, fol. Sevilla, 1627, part i. fol. 54-
3 The additional title "unconquered " was granted in 1843, after Espar- tero's short bombardment.
REIGN OF PHILIP II. 369 |
|
his decease, there were found in his chamber the scourges with which he practised self-flagellation, and a coffin wherein he was wont to lie down in the hours of solitude and repose, and consider his latter end. Notwithstanding these secret austerities, he was a man of wit and humour withal ; as appears by his reply to a brother-painter who desired his opinion of a bad picture of " Our Saviour on the Cross." " Methinks," answered Vargas, " he is saying, ' Forgive them, Lord, for they know not what they do.'" As a painter, Vargas is remarkable for the grandeur and simplicity of his designs, and for the purity and grace of his female heads ; for correct- ness of drawing and agreeable freshness of colour. We are hardly perhaps in a condition to form an adequate estimate of his power ; his easel pictures are few, and it was probably to his frescoes, now so dim and defaced, that he trusted for fame.1 Dean Cepero, at Seville, possesses four small figures of saints, painted by him in black and white, on panel, and once the furniture of an |
CII. VI. |
Austeri- ties. Playful humour. Stylo and merits. |
|
1 Dr. Franz Kugler (Handbuch der Kunstgeschichte, 8vo, Stuttgart, 1842, p. 798) justly notices Vargas as " eincn vorziiglich geistreichcn und talentvollen Nachfolger Raphels," but he errs in saying that he may be studied " in seinen zalilreichen Bildern, die sich in den Kirchen von Se villa vorfinden." It is to be regretted that this able critic has given somewhat less than a page and a half to his dissertation on Spanish art under Charles V. and Philip II. |
37°
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Antonio do Ariian.
altar ; they are full of grace and spirit, though destitute of colour, and the draperies are dis- posed with a masterly hand. In the collection of Lord Francis Egerton, in London, there is a full length of " St. John Baptist," a fine and pleasing picture from the Orleans gallery, and attributed to Vargas.1 The Baptist, unencumbered with any drapery, is seated on a rock in the desert ; in one hand he holds a cup, and in the other a cross of reed. His well-turned limbs deserve the praise bestowed on certain children painted by the reputed master of Vargas, Perino del Vaga, of which Vasari observes, " they seem of real flesh and blood." The dark blue landscape in the distance, adorned with a round antique temple — somewhat like that of Vesta — displays his familiarity with the manner of the Roman schools and the fine features of Roman scenery.3
Antonio de Arfian was a native of Triana, a suburb of Seville, then overshadowed by the strong towers of the Inquisition, separated from the city by the stream of the Guadalquivir, and peopled
1 Vasari, torn. iii. p. 359.
* Dr. "Waagen (Works of Art and Artists in England, I2ino, London, 1838, vol. ii. p. 81) considers it doubtful, and says that a duplicate of this picture exists in the King of Bavaria's gallery, where it is ascribed to Giulio Romano.
3 [A " Virgin and Child," by Vargas, from the Galerie Espagnole of the Louvre, is in the author's collection at Keir, and was exhibited in the Art Treasures Collection, Manchester, in 1857, No. 240.— ED.]
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
371
chiefly by gipsies. Like Vargas, his early practice in art was obtained by painting " sargas " l for the merchants who then exported vast quantities of devotional daubs to America, or for sale in the weekly fair held in the parish of All Saints, and known as " la Feria." The prices in this mart, like the purchasers, being of the lowest class, the artistic wares exposed were necessarily, for the most part, of a very humble order; and, indeed, "a picture of the Fair" ("pintura de la Feria"} was a proverbial expression for a bad picture. Still there wTas hardly a Sevillian painter of fame during the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, who had acquired the use of his pencil at home, but had brought to this market his first clumsy saints and immature Madonnas. On the return of Vargas from Italy, Arfian enrolled himself amongst his scholars, and under the instruc- tions of that fine master acquired a style of drawing which was neither practised nor appreciated in the fair. Obtaining the notice of the Chapter, he was employed, with one Antonio Ruiz, who is said also to have studied under Vargas, to paint for the Cathedral the chief retablo of the old Sagrario, a task accomplished in 1551. The meagre records of his life furnish us with only one other date — that of 1587, when he painted the " History of St. George "
1 Supra, p. 363.
CIT. VI.
"La Feria."
Assisted by
Antonio
liuiz,
372
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
OH. VI.
and by Alonso do Arfian.
,) uan
Jin.uti.sta Vazquez.
for an altar in the parish church of St. Mary Magda- lene, in which he was assisted by his son, Alonso de Arfian. The time of his death, like that of his birth, is unknown, but he probably lived to a good old age. In fresco painting he was esteemed the best successor of Julio and Alessandro l whom Andalusia had produced, until the arrival of Vargas from Italy ; but none of his works in this style has been preserved. He was the first Sevillian artist who painted landscape and perspective backgrounds for the bas-reliefs which he was employed to colour ; an invention which he practised with great success in the convent of St. Paul, where, to a pair of altar- pieces — bas-reliefs on the subjects of the " Conversion of the patron Saint" and the "Visitation of the Virgin," — he added a distant prospect with figures, which appeared to be carvings like the rest. In colouring the draperies of statues, he likewise intro- duced certain technical improvements, of which he gave the first examples in the Jesuits' convent, and for which he is commended by Pacheco.
Juan Bautista Vazquez was a Sevillian artist of repute, both in sculpture and painting. The latter branch of art he studied under Diego de la Barrera, the early master of Vargas, and the former he acquired at Toledo, where he practised it
1 Supra, chap. iii. p. 130.
REIGN OF PHILIP II. 373
on. vi,
for several years, working in the Cathedral with Vergara the elder, and some of the ablest sculptors of Castile. Returning, in 1560, to his native Seville, he there executed several carvings for the Cathedral, of which the most important were the bas-reliefs of the " Creation of the World," the " Fall of our first Parents," and their " Expulsion from Paradise." In 1568 he painted an altar-piece for the chapel of Our Lady of the Pomegranate, then exist- ing in the court of orange-trees. It represented the Virgin in a homely dress, nursing the infant Jesus, who took from her own hand an opened pome- granate, and held in his own a linnet beautifully painted. For the high altar of the church of St. Mary Magdalene, he executed some excellent carv- ings, afterwards removed to make way for some poor novelties. In 1579 he went to Malaga, to design for the Manrique family a chapel and altar, in the Cathedral there, to which he likewise con- tributed some good sculpture. He was an artist of considerable genius, and did much to banish that ancient stiffness and timidity of style which still lingered in the schools of Andalusia.
Alonso Vazquez was born in the romantic
n T-, i Vazquez.
mountain town oi Ilonda, and learned painting in the school of Arfian at Seville. Under his instruc- tions he passed through the usual apprenticeship of painting " sargas," and at length rose to the execu-
374
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
en. vi.
Paints the Life of St. Raymond for the Convent "do la Murcod."
tion of frescoes and oil-pictures. For the Cathedral and the convents of St. Francis and St. Paul he painted a variety of works, no longer existing. In the Museum of Seville may be seen a few pictures, fast rotting- in their frames, part of the series executed by him for its cloister, which was then the property of the friars of the order of Mercy. They represent passages in the life of St. Raymond, the faithful confessor, who, having rebuked the vices, eluded the vengeance of King Jayme the Conqueror, by crossing the sea from Majorca to Barcelona, his own cloak serving him for a boat and his staff for a mast.1 Vazquez was one of the artists chosen by the city of Seville to paint the great catafalque erected in the Cathedral, at the time of public mourning for the death of Philip II., and he died at Seville — not as Palomino pretends, in 1650, but most probably about the middle of the reign of Philip III. Pacheco speaks in admiration of his picture of "L)ives and Lazarus," in the collection of the tasteful Duke of AlcaM. He describes the luxurious appointments of the rich man's table — the vessels of silver, glass, and porcelain — as painted with perfect verisimili- tude, praises a felicitous copper fiask in a wine-
1 He accomplished the voyage in less time than the steamer now takes, for, says Villegas, "el santo varou, con este nnuvo inoclo do navegar habiendo salido de la isla de inafiana, a mcdio dia llego a Barcelona." — Flos Sanctorum, ]>. 690.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
375
ing " The Virgin visiting Elizabeth."
Although
somewhat hard in its outlines, this composition is very graceful in design, and pleasing in colour and expression ; and it partakes considerably of the manner of Pedro Campana, to whom it has some- times been attributed. In the side compartments of the altar there are various smaller works of Ville- gas, representing "San 1)1 as " and the "Baptism of
cooler, and approves of the guests, as in no respect unworthy of the brilliant banquet spread before them.
Luis Fernandez painted at Seville with great credit about 1580. None of his works now exists, nor has any record been preserved of their subjects or sites ; but his name deserves to be remembered for the sake of his scholars, Herrera, Pacheco, and the Castillos, who became, in the next century, the masters of Velazquez, Cano, and Murillo.
Pedro de Villegas Marmolejo, was born at Seville in 1520, and, from the grace and beauty of his style, is supposed to have studied painting at Home. He seems to have rather affected Flemish models, and his dryer and harder compositions resemble at a humble distance those of Memling. His works are very rare, a circumstance which will be re- gretted by all lovers of art who are acquainted with his fine picture in the Cathedral of Seville, the altar-piece of the chapel of the Visitation, rcpresent-
CH. VI.
Fernandez.
Pedro do
Villegus
lojo.
376
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CII. VI.
Friend of
Arias Montano.
Christ," " St. Sebastian " and " St. Roquc ; " above, in the arch, there is an "Infant Jesus in glory;" and immediately beneath the Visitation are some small portraits touched with a sparkling and animated pencil. He likewise painted, for the Hospital of the Lazarines, without the walls of Seville, " St. Lazarus," in pontifical robes — a picture which Cean Bermudez considered equal to the best work of Campana. The church of San Lorenzo possesses an " Annunciation " by him, and a " Virgin and Child," adorning the altar, near which the painter, who lived to the good old age of seventy- seven, lies buried. His tomb bears this inscription from the learned pen of Arias Montano :—
DEO VIVENTIUM.
PETRO VILLEG^E MARMOLEJO HISPALEN.
PICTORI SOLERTISS. MORIB. INTEGERRIM.
SENSU ET SERMONE OPPORTUNISSIMO.
ANNOR. LXXVII.
ARIAS MONTANUS AMIC. VETER. UNI SOLI EX TESTAMENTO FOS. VIATOR FACEM VOVETO M. PEREZ ARCIIITECTUS AMICITI^E ERGO
INCIDEB. A CIIR. N. CIOIOXCVII.
Villegas enjoyed, as this epitaph records, the intimate friendship, and has elsewhere been honour- ably mentioned in the writings, of Arias Montano, whose learning and worth aroused the envy of Jesuits, and whose great Polyglot Bible, known as
REIGN OF PHILIP II. 377
His Spanish biographers suppose that he went to
the Polyglot of Antwerp, was fiercely attacked as CH. vi. heretical by various Salamantine doctors of that order. He defended himself, however, with signal success before the Inquisition and the Pope, and died at Seville in peace and honour, the year after his friend. It was probably on account of their intimacy that Pacheco — who was a violent partisan of the Jesuits — depreciates the artistic powers of Villegas, and sneers at the praises of Montano, "who," he says, "extolled the merit of a painter that, living or dead, was never much spoken of."
Pablo de Cespedes, painter, sculptor, and archi- tect, poet, scholar, and divine, and equally an orna- ment of the arts and the literature of Spain, was born at Cordoba in 1 538. His father, Alonso Cespedes, was descended of a noble Castilian family, once settled at Ocana, and the name of his mother, who was a native of Alcolea de Torote, was Olaya de Arroya. Pablo was born and brought up in the house of his father's maternal uncle, Francisco Lopez de Aponte, Canon of Cordoba, where he received a learned education. At the age of eighteen, in 1556, he was sent to the University of Alcala, and there, whilst pursuing the usual studies of the place, devoted him- self to the acquirement of Oriental languages.
Italy at an early age, and that he had learned some- thing of art before going thither. But at this point
VOL. II. B
Visits
378 REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. vi. | they are at fault, being either ignorant of the time when his travels began, or discreetly silent as to facts, which have since been supplied from the records, not of an Italian academy, but of the Spanish Inquisition. From these mysterious sources we gather that he was in Rome in February 1559, engaged in conducting certain negotiations for the Archbishop Carranza de Miranda, of Toledo, who then stood charged with heresy before the Inquisi- tion of Valladolid.1 On the I7th of that month he addressed a letter to the prelate, informing him how his business stood at the Vatican, in which he in- cautiously reflected on the conduct of the Inquisitor- General Valdez, and the Holy Office — an offence which no Inquisitor-General ever forgave. This document, and others of his letters, and drafts of replies to them, were afterwards found, on the seizure of the primate's papers ; he was therefore denounced by the tribunal, and but for his fortunate absence, would have followed his correspondent to prison.2 It is probable that he did not venture himself in the dominions of Spain for many years, nor until he had covered his sins with the protecting robes of the Church.
Meanwhile he applied himself with great energy to the study of art, and the name of " Cespade " or
1 Supra, chap. v. p. 312.
" Llorente, Itiquisicion de Espafia, torn, iv. p. 167.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
379
" Paolo de Cordoba," as he was called by the Italians, became distinguished amongst both painters and sculptors. Cean Bermudez is of opinion that he was instructed in painting by one of the scholars of Michael Angelo ; whilst Ponz and Lanzi reckon him to have been a disciple of Federigo Zuccaro.1 He was employed to execute some pictures for the church of S. Carlo in the Corso ; 2 in the church of Aracceli he painted, in fresco, some cherubims over the burial-place of the Marquess of Saluzzo ; and in the church of the Trinita de Monti a series of prophets, and some passages from the life of the Virgin, which were generally admired for the grandeur of their style. His most famous piece of sculpture was a head of Seneca, which he executed in marble, and fitted to an antique trunk ; — a work received with universal applause, and honoured with this nattering inscription, " Victor il Spagnuolo." Of this head he carried a clay model to Cordoba, where casts of it were long common in the studios ; and one of these fell into the hands of Palomino.
Few men have ever excelled Cespedes in versatility of talent and in the variety of his accomplishments. Italy had not seen his like since the days when Leonardo da Vinci dreamed his dreams of archi-
CH. vi.
1 Ponz, torn. xvii. p. 14. Lanzi, torn. ii. p. 117.
2 See the article on "Cespaclc," in L'Abeccdario Pittdrico, 4to, Napoli, *733> by Pellegrino Ant. Orlaucli, a Carmelite friar of Bologna.
at
Pictures.
sculptures.
Versatility of genius.
38o
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CII. VI.
Learning.
Friend of Carranza de Mir- anda, Arch- bishop of Toledo.
lecture and alchemy, discoursed of chemistry and optics, charmed the court of Ludovico Sforza with his own songs sung to the music of his own lyre, drained the marshes of the Adda, and painted his matchless "Last Supper," in the Dominican convent at Milan. Whilst his pencil and his chisel were thus obtaining for him the suffrages of artists and men of taste, his learning recommended him to the regard of the best scholars of Rome. The few notices of his life, furnished by his own writings, inform us that he there frequented the house of Tommaso del Caballero, who had a collection of Grecian vases and sculpture ; and that he visited Naples and Florence, and perhaps others of the Italian cities, to examine their works of art and remains of antiquity.1 To the magnates of the Church, the confidential friend of the Archbishop of Toledo cannot have been unknown. That un- fortunate Primate, the most illustrious victim ever hunted down by the Inquisition, arrived at Eome in May 1567, and lived in a sort of dignified im- prisonment in the Castle of St. Angelo. There, doubtless, Cespedes was his constant and welcome visitor, and may have attended the old man in those walks which he was allowed to take in the gal- leries overhanging the Tiber, and commanding the
1 'Fragmentos de Obras de Pablo de Cespedes" — printed by Cean Bennudez in his Diccionario, torn. v. pp. 291, 306, 314.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
noble scenery of the city and the Campagna.1 Gre- gory XIII. seems to have been favourably disposed towards his prisoner, and to have condemned him chiefly out of subserviency to foreign influence ; 2 he was certainly touched by the humility with wilich he received his sentence ; for he offered him his own litter to carry him to the churches of the seven stations, a part of the prescribed penance of his heresy. Death soon relieved the venerable prelate of his superb mitre, which had been to him a crown of thorns ; and it is a pleasing thought, that it may have been as a reward of fidelity to a fallen friend, that the Pope soon afterwards conferred upon Cespedes a canonry in the Cathedral of Cordoba.
He returned to Andalusia after an absence of many years, and took possession of his preferment on the yth of September, 1577, with the full appro- bation of the Cordobese bishop and chapter. For the next few years the new canon appears to have been much occupied in the duties of his office. In 1583, he w-as employed in drawing up a new calendar of the saints and martyrs of Cordoba ; a pious work, in which he had for a coadjutor the good and learned Doctor Ambrosio de Morales, who, five years afterwards, erected, at his own cost,8 the quaint monument to these holy men of old, which
1 Llorente, torn. vi. p. 187. - Supra, chap. v. p. 312.
3 Ponz, torn. xvii. p. 40.
CH. VI.
Returns to Cordoba.
Assists A. Morales in making a calendar of Cordobeso saints.
382
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Paintings.
Essay on the Catho dral.
still exists in front of the Episcopal palace. Never- theless, he found time for both painting and litera- ture. For the Cathedral he executed, amongst other works, a large picture of the "Last Supper," which was held to be his masterpiece, and was long famous throughout Andalusia ; and to the altars and cloisters of the Jesuits' College he furnished a variety of paintings on Biblical subjects. He wrote a learned essay on the antiquity of his Cathedral, proving that that famous temple of Mahomet and Christ stood on the site of a still more ancient temple of Janus ; and he discussed the question with Juan Fernandez Franco,1 a great antiquarian of Andalusia, displaying his accurate knowledge of the Arabic tongue, and of its influence on his native Castilian. He composed a tract on the Temple of Solomon, in which he maintains that the Corinthian architecture had its origin in that celebrated edifice, and asserts that the idea of the column of that order, with its bold and leafy capital, was suggested by the graceful palm-tree of the East. He likewise wrote a poem on painting, in the stanza of Ariosto, the most elegant and delightful of his works, which, if indeed it ever were complete, has come down to us only in fragments.
1 Whose writings remained in MS., after the fashion of Spain, until ! 1775. when a portion of them was published by Lopez de Cardenas, at Cordoba, in his work, entitled Franco Ilustrado. Ponz, toin. xvi. p. 264.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
383
Cespedes had a residence at Seville, where he was accustomed, for many years, to spend his vaca- tions, and probably found a more intellectual and congenial society than Cordoba could afford. Here he seems to have kept his collection of antiquities and works of art, for he mentions, in one of his essays, the loss of a little Egyptian figure " sculp- tured in black stone, and graven with hieroglyphics " which he had left at Seville, in the care of a servant who was carried off by the plague. And here he enjoyed the converse of his friend Arias Montano, like himself an Orientalist, a classical scholar, an antiquarian, and a churchman. The last vacation that he passed here was in 1603, when his young friend, Pacheco, who has preserved the few existing notices of his life, was engaged in painting the story of Icarus and Daedalus, in the cabinet of the Duke of AlcaM. Of this work, which was executed in distemper, the painter-canon expressed his high approval, and remarked that distemper, in his opinion, was the method of painting chiefly used by the ancients.
Pacheco has recorded that Cespedes twice visited Rome. If this implies that he made two journeys thither from Spain, it is probable that the second was undertaken between 1583 and the close of the century. In 1604 he composed his "Dis- course of Ancient and Modern Painting and Sculp-
CH. VI.
Residence at Seville.
I Friendship | with A. ' Montano.
Second visit to Italy.
384
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Literary works. " Discurso de lacom- paracion do la antigua y moderna pintura y escultura."
ture," by the desire of his friend, the historian, Pedro de Valencia, to whom it is addressed, and who had himself written a panegyric on painting. Castilian critics consider this essay to be the best prose work of Cespedes, on account of the agree- able nature of its subject, and the purity of its style. It was written, he tells us at the outset,1 during his recovery from an intermittent fever, which had well-nigh brought him to the grave ; and it consists chiefly of recollections of his early studies. Lamenting that numerous duties leave him little time for classical reading — " still," says the artist-scholar,2 "I do read somewhat of Pindar, for whom I have ever had a special admiration, and into whom I can dip never so lightly, but I find some correct and glowing picture, worthy of the grand Michael Angelo." He illustrates various stories from Pliny, by pleasant anecdotes of the Italian painters ; of Titian and his portrait of a Duke of Ferrara, to which, when it was placed at a window, the passers-by doffed their hats, taking it for the living prince ; and of Peruzzi of Siena, and his Cupids, painted on a cornice, which Titian himself asserted to be in relief, until he had ascertained the contrary by means of a long stick.3 His descriptions of many of the famous pictures,
" Fragmentos " (quoted above), p. 273. 3 Ibid. p. 282.
- Ibid. p. 275.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
385
sculptures, and mosaics of Rome are agreeable and accurate, and his criticisms display a generous appreciation of the merits of other artists. Of Michael Angelo's statue of Moses he remarks that it would speak, were it not that the Prophet did not care to expose his infirmity as " a man of a siow tongue." Like all men of true genius, he values the relics of "the rude forefathers" of art, and in mourning over the fate of a favourite " Virgin," painted in fresco, probably by some By- zantine hand, on a pillar of the church of S. Maria, in Trastevere, he rebukes his fellow -citizens of Cordoba for allowing to go to ruin certain paintings of a similar kind, which the Moors had spared, in their antique church of San Pedro.2
The few years which remained of his life were passed at Cordoba, and were divided between the duties of his calling and the exercise of his pen and pencil. He left behind him a treatise of Perspective, of which no fragment remains ; and a very few months before his death he wrote a long letter to Pacheco, which that author has in part preserved, on the various modes of painting known to the ancients. He died on the 26th July, 1608, when Spain lost one of her best artists, antiquaries, and scholars, and the city and
i " Fragmentos," p. 310, "Si no habla cs porno parecer tartamudo." Compare Exodus, chap. iv. v. 10. - Ibid. pp. 294, 295.
CH. VI.
Close of his life.
386
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Bequests to the Cathedral.
Artistic merits.
Cathedral mourned over a worthy citizen and canon. Amongst the mazy Moorish aisles of that strange and beautiful temple, which his feet had so often paced, and his genius had so long adorned, he was buried near the altar of St. Paul ; and on the slab which covered his dust, the Chapter inscribed this epitaph, worthy of imitation, for its brevity and truth : —
PAVLVS DE CESrEDES IIVJVS ALMJE
ECCLESLE PORTIONARIVS, riCTVR^
SCVLTVRJ2, ARCHITECTVR^E, OMNIVMQVE
BONARVM ARTIVM, VARIARVMQVE
LINGVARVM PERITISSIMVS, HIC SITVS EST.
OBIIT ANNO DOMINI MDCVIII
SEPTIMO KALENDAS SEXTILIS.
From the books of the Chapter Cean Buramdez learned that Cespedes left two annual sums of 7,500 maravedis to the Church, for charitable purposes, and that each canon might say two masses for his soul. To the entry which recorded his death, this note had been added by some friendly hand — " Gran pintor y arquitecto, cuyas grandes virtudes ennoblecieron nuestra Espana"
Although -Cespedes practised both sculpture and architecture, his fame in these branches of art rests only on tradition, being justified by no exist- ing monument of his skill. As a painter, the contemporary reputation which he enjoyed is
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
387
proved by an anecdote of Federigo Zuccaro, whose modesty, as the previous chapter has shown, was not too largely developed. On being applied to, to paint a St. Margaret, for the Cathedral of Cordoba, he for some time refused to comply, asking where Cespedes was, that his countrymen were sending to Italy for pictures.1 The Italian, indeed, owed his countenance and support to the Spaniard, on whose style, in the opinion of some critics, he had exercised a strong and injurious influence. "Had Cespedes," says Ponz,2 "been the friend and follower of Rafael, as he was of Zuccaro, he would have been one of the greatest, as well as the most learned, of painters." Some of his best pictures were executed for the Jesuits' College of St. Catherine, at Cordoba. For the high altar of their church, of which he made the design, he painted " The Burial of St. Catherine," the virgin-martyr of Alexandria, whose remains were borne through the air by angels to a tomb in the deserts of Mount Sinai. Palomino praises the grandeur and harmony of this composition, into which were introduced the figures of Our Lord, the Virgin, and St. John. " St. Catherine on the Wheel," and her " Decollation," and several other sacred subjects, were also fur-
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 409. Bernini used nearly the same words when shown Perrault's design for the palace of the Louvre.
2 Ponz, torn. xvii. p. 14, note.
CH. VI.
Anecdote of Federigo Zuccaro.
i Pictures.
388
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
" Last Supper."
Anecdote
respecting
it.
nished by Cespedes to this altar, which was re- moved in the eighteenth century, to make way for a wretched modern retablo,1 when the pictures seem to have been destroyed or lost. In the " Con- taduria " or counting-room of the Cathedral of Seville, there is a picture by Cespedes, representing "Abraham offering up his Son." It is well coloured, and Isaac is evidently modelled after one of the boys in the group of Laocoon. His allegorised "Virtues" and "Cherubs" in the chapter-room are works of little value. The Cathedral of Cordoba still possesses his famous " Last Supper," though in so faded and ruinous a condition that it is impos- sible to judge fairly of its merits. Palomino extols the dignity and beauty of the Saviour's head, and the masterly discrimination of character displayed in those of the Apostles. To the jars and vases in the foreground, there hangs the tale that whilst the picture was yet on the easel, these accessories, by their exquisite finish, engaged the attention of some visitors, to the exclusion of the higher parts of the composition, and to the great disgust of the artist. " Andres ! " cried he, somewhat testily, to his ser- vant, " rub me out these things, since, after all my care and study, and amongst so many heads, figures, hands, and expressions, people choose to see nothing
1 Called by Pouz (torn. xvii. p. 59), "un solenme mamarraclio de hojarascas."
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
389
but these impertinences ; " and much entreaty and properly-directed admiration was needed to save the devoted pipkins from destruction,1 It would seem that the canon's temper was easily ruffled by this sort of idle criticism, for a friend, whose por- trait he was sketching in black chalk, remarking one day that the work was not a successful likeness, received this hasty and rather unreasonable reply— " Are you not aware that it signifies little now-a- days, whether a portrait is like or not ? it is enough, my good sir, if it prove an effective head." To his pencil we are perhaps indebted for the portrait of his friend Morales, with a book in his hand, engraved by Muntaner, and for the portrait of himself, which is here reproduced from the engraving by Engui- danos.2 At Aston Hall there is what is called a portrait of Cespedes by Alforo — a bust — a handsome man with grey hair, but not at all like the engrav- ing.3 In the Louvre there is a portrait of Cespedes,
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 408. More than two centuries afterwards the same kind of applause vexed Washington Allston, a painter of the New World. His fine composition representing Jeremiah dictating to the scribe his prophecy against Jerusalem, contained a pot, which attracted far more attention than the prophet, among the vulgar herd of an American exhibition room. Dr. Chaiming told Mrs. Jameson that one of his countrymen, after gazing his fill, retired from the picture ejacu- lating, "Well! he ivas a cute man that made that jar." See Mrs. Jameson's graceful and entertaining Memoirs and Illustrations of Art, Literature, and Social Morals, I2mo, London, 1846, p. 201-2.
- Both amongst the Rctratos de los Espan-olen Ilustrcs.
8 See infra, chap. xiv.
CH. VI.
Impatience of criti-
Fortraits.
39°
CH. VI.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
Poem, "De la Pintura."
at an earlier age, with light hair and moustachios, said to be executed by himself.1 As a painter, Cespedes was careful and laborious, and never put any composition on canvas without having first executed an elaborate cartoon of the full size. His sketches, generally in black and red chalks, were rare, and highly prized by collectors. Cean Ber- mudez considered his drawing grand and graceful, his figures spirited, and remarkable for their care- fully-studied anatomy, and commends him for his skill in fore-shortening, for his effects of light and shade, and truth of expression, and, above all, for his ready invention, which rendered it unnecessary for him to borrow the ideas of others. His school produced Antonio Mohedano, an eminent fresco painter, and we shall meet with some of his disciples amongst the painters of the next reign.
The poetry of Cespedes was no less excellent than his paintings, and is now the surest foundation of his fame. No trophy remains of his " victorious " chisel ; his best pictures have perished or are decay- ing ; his antiquarian theories are forgotten ; but the fine fragments of his poem on painting are embalmed in the literature of Castile. These were first published in 1649, in the treatise of Pacheco, whence they have since been transferred to various
1 Galerie Espagnole, No. 61 [sold in 1853].
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
391
collections of poetry ; and they were again reprinted in 1800, in the Dictionary of Cean Bermudez, with a new arrangement of the stanzas, which has been adopted by the last editor, Quintana. Pacheco does not inform us if the poem was ever completed, or if more of it than he has printed was in his possession ; Quintana concludes, from certain gram- matical errors, halting lines, and faulty expressions, that it was never finished or revised by the author ; but it is impossible to say what has been lost, or what may be hidden in careless, turbulent Spain. All Castilian critics, however, agree in esteeming as very precious the portion which remains ; Lopez de Sedano1 considers it, in style and versification, as one of the best didactic poems in the language ; Cean Bermudez prefers it to the poetical treatise of Dufresnoy in Latin, and those of La Mierre and Watelet in French ; while by Quintana 2 it is called the graceful Georgic of painting, and Ces- pedes the happiest of the Castilian followers of Virgil.
The first book opens with an inquiry into the origin of painting, of which the earliest examples are discovered by the poet in the works of creation. The colouring of the earth, sky, and sea, and all
1 Parnaso Espafiol, 9 tomes, sm. 8vo, Madrid, 1768-78, torn. iv. Indice p. xxiv. - Tesoro del Parnaso Espanol, 8vo, Paris, 1838, p. 3.
CH. VI.
Opinions of
Spanish
critics.
Analysis. Book I.
392
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Creation of man.
that is therein, is adduced as a proof of the antiquity of the art, and of the lofty skill of the divine "Painter of the world." The crowning labour of the sixth day, and the production of the master- piece, man, is described in two beautiful stanzas :—
" Un mundo en breve forma reducido, Propio retrato de la mente eterna, Hizo Dios, qu'es el hombre, ya escogido Morador de su regia sempiterna ; Y 1' aura simple de inmortal sentido Inspiro dentro en la mansion interna ; Que la exterior parte avive y mueva Los niiembros frios de la imdtren nueva.':
" Vistiolo de una ropa que compuso En extremo bien hecho y ajustada, De un color hermosisirno, confuso Que entre bianco se muestre colorada. Como si alguno entre azucenas puso La rosa, en bella confusion rnezclada ; 0 d' el indio marfil transflora y pinta La limpia tez con la sidonia tinta."
Another world, embraced in briefer span,
His own eternal mind pourtraying there,
The Almighty made, and call'd the creature man
His everlasting kingdom's chosen heir ;
With limbs all motionless and cold and wan
The image lay, till pure celestial air
Came breathing through its bosom from on high
And woke the soul to immortality.
Around the graceful form a robe was thrown, Of curious woof and delicately bright, With colours manifold and mingl'd shown Through the clear texture blushing into light,
UliUlllUJJJJIlllUilJlUlllUlillUlillM
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
393
CH. VI.
Like flow'rs in beautiful confusion grown, Where roses blend with lilies silver-white, Or the pure grain of Indian ivory Suffus'd with Sidon's rich and regal dye.
The poet next takes a survey, of which little i Principles
j and imple-
remains to us, of the principles of painting, exhorts i ments of
j painting.
the student to be industrious, and describes the necessary implements of the art with the precision of a mechanic and the grace of a poet. In some of his rural sketches, the bard of fields and bees has scarcely been more felicitous ; for in the hands of genius even a brush, a maulstick, or a palette, will " discourse eloquent music."
Sera entra todos el pincel primero En su canon atado y recogida Del blando pelo del silvestre vero (El bdlgico es mejor y en mas tenido) : Sedas el jabali cerdoso y fiero Parejas ha de dar al mas crecido : Serd grand e 6 mayor, segun que fuere Fonnado d la ocasion que se ofreciere.
Un junco, que tendra ligero y firme Entre dos dedos la siniestra mano, Do el pulso en el pintar se afirnie, Y el tenido pincel vacile en vano : De aquellos que cargo de Tierra-firme Entre oro y perlas navegante ufano De dvanoo de marfil, asta que se entre For el canon, hasta que el pelo encuentre.
Demas un tabloncillo relumbrante Del arbol bello de la tierna pera, 6 de aquel otro, que del triste amante Imitare el color en su madera :
VOL. II.
Pinceles.
Brochas.
Tiento.
Astas de los Pin- celes.
Tablilla.
394
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Pencils.
Brushes.
Maul-stick.
Handles for pencils.
Palette.
Panegyric on ink,
Abierto por la parte de clelante Do saiga el grueso dedo por defuera : El en asentards por sus teiiores La variedad y mezcla de colores.
His pencils first demand the painter's care, Of various size for various use design'd, And form'd of quills in which the silken hair Of silvan creatures he must closely bind (The best in Belgian forests make their lair) ; For brushes used in works of coarser kind The surly wild boar's stubborn back is rough "With store of bristles, wiry, long, and tough.
Take then a reed, held light yet firm between
Two fingers of the feebler hand, to be
A prop whereon the dexter wrist may lean,
And wield the pencil from all wav'ring free ;
Most fitting handle for the brush, I ween,
An ivory shaft or shaft of ebony,
Fix'd in the quill until it meets the hair,
And brought from far with pearls and ingots rare.
Next from the sweet-pear's variegated stock Your palette shape, with surface smooth and shining, Or from that other tree wrhose wood doth mock The sad and woe-blanch'd cheek of lover pining ; Pierce then a hole in front, wherein to lock Your thumb, the tablet to its place confining, While on its polished plane the paints you fix, And various shades in nice gradation mix.
A bottle of ink being useful in the studio, Cespedes thence takes occasion to pronounce an eloquent panegyric on that useful fluid, which has so often been true to its trust when brass and marble have shown themselves treacherous. Painter, sculptor, and poet, he speaks as one having authority
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
395
to adjust the precedence of the arts ; and although CH. vi.
the fame which he enjoyed in his own day had been
chiefly won by the pencil and the chisel, his ripe
judgment awards the palm to that nobler faculty
of song, which has upheld his name, although the I and poetry.
Jesuits and their stately shrines are fallen, and
will still preserve it when the great mosque of
the Caliphs shall be lost amongst the ruins of
Cordoba.
Tiene la eternidad ilustre asiento En este humor por siglos infinites : No en el oro, 6 el bronce, ni ornarnento Pario, ni en los colores exquisites : La vaga fama con robusto aliento En el esparce los canoras gritas Con que celehra las famosas lides Desde la India a la ciudad de Alcides.
I Que fuera (si bien fue segura estrella Y el hado en su favor constante y cierto) Con la soberbia sepultura y bella De las cenizas del esposo muerto La magnanima reyna I1 j Si en aquella Noche oscura de olvido y desconcierto La tinta la dexara, y los loores De versos y erudites escritores ? 2
Tinta.
1 Artemisia, wife of Mausolus, King of Caria.
2 In a similar strain writes old Bishop Amyot— a contemporary of Ces- pedes — in his address to his readers, " II n'y a ny statues, ny coulonnes, ny sepultures magnifiques, qui puissent combattrc la duree" d'ime his- toire eloquente." Les Vies des Hommes Illustres, par Plutarque, translatees par Maistre Jaques Amyot, Abbe" de Sainct Corneille de Compiegue, &c., 8vo, Paris, 1567, torn. i. p. n.
396
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Ink.
Book II. Art of
design.
Los soberbios alcazares alzados
En los latinos montes hasta el cielo,
Anfiteatros y arcos levantados
T)e poderosa mano y noble zelo,
Por tierra desparcidos y asolados,
Son polvo ya, que cubre el yermo suelo
De su grandeza apenas la meraoria
Vive, y el uombre de pasada gloria.
Eternity its noble seat doth hold In this thin fluid for undying time, And not in Parian sculpture, bronze or gold, Nor in bright colours, beauteous and sublime ; Here fitful fame, in voice robust and bold, Rings out for ever the sonorous chime That celebrates the fields of old renown From utmost Ind to great Alcides' town.
For who could now have known and where had been (E'en with a happy star and favouring fate) That monument superb, the high-soul'd Queen Rear'd o'er the glorious ashes of her mate, Memorial of her love ? Unknown, unseen, Lack'd there of ink its being to relate, And o'er oblivion's gloom to pour the day Of thoughtful lore and a recording lay.
The palaces so lofty-tower'd that were Builded by Power and noble Toil to heaven Triumphal arch and amphitheatre, High-hung upon the Latin mountains seven, Lie prostrate now and scattered everywhere, Crumbl'd to dust, with barren soil o'er-driven, With scarce a feeble memory left thereon Of grandeur past, and name of glory gone.
The second book treats of the theory of design. Of the stanzas which apply to the human figure two only exist ; and the want of the rest is more to be lamented on account of the splendour of the
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
397
succeeding passage, describing how the horse ought to be painted, " which," says Sedano, " excels all other parts of the poem in spirit, exactness, and force." The great English poet of the same age, who wrote for the world and all time, has hardly sketched the steed of his Adonis in more vivid verse ; nor has the pencil of Velazquez been more happy in depicting the prancing charger of Olivares. The meadows of Cordoba, where pastured the three hundred Arab-descended brood-mares of the Crown, afforded to Cespedes fine opportunities of studying his noble subject, which he does not appear to have neglected. The following picture faithfully adheres to the distinguishing points and properties of the Andalusian horse ; l and anticipates the description of our English Newcastle. Of the Spanish steed, " that thrice noble, high, and puissant prince " of the manege says that "he is the noblest horse in the world, and far the wisest, strangely wise beyond any man's imagination ; the most beautiful that can be, for he is not so thin-ladylike as the Barb, nor so gross as the Neapolitan, but between both ; of great courage and docile, hath the proudest walk, the proudest and best action in its trot, the
CH. VI.
How to paint the horse.
1 Ponz (torn. iii. pp. 103-147) has a tedious disquisition on the decay of the Spanish breed of horses, in the course of which he notices the horses of England, and devotes a note (p. 136) to the horse-races which he saw "al pueblo de New Marquet."
William, Duke of
Newcastle, on the Spanish horse.
398
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Simetria del ca- ballo.
loftiest gallop and the swiftest careers, and is the ! lovingest and gentlest horse, and fittest for a king in a day of triumph."
Que parezca en el ayre y movimiento La generosa raza, do ha venido Saiga con altivez y atrevimiento Vivo en la vista, en la cerviz erguido : Estribe firme el brazo en duro asiento Con el pie resonante y atrevido, Animoso, insolente, libre, ufano, Sin teiuer el horror de estruendo vano.
Brioso el alto cuello y enarcado Con la cabeza descarnada y viva : Llenas las cuencas, ancho y dilatado El bello espacio de la freute altiva : Breve el vientre rollixo, no pesado, Ni caido de lados, y que aviva Los ojos eminentes : las orejas Altas sin derramarlaa y pare j as.
Bulla hinchado el ferveroso pecho Con los musculos fuertes y carnosos : Hondo el canal, dividira derecho Los gruesos quartos limpios y hennosos : Llena 1'anca y crecida, largo el trecho De la cola y cabellos desdefiosos : Ancho el giieso del brazo y descarnado : El casco negro, liso y acopado.
1 Nciv Method and Extraordinary Invention to dress Horses, and work them according to Nature ; as also to perfect Nature by the subtlety of Art, which was never found out but by the thrice noble, high, and puissant Prince, William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle, &c., &c., fol., London, 1667, pp. 49, 50. In the French edition of the work, fol., Anvers, 1658, amongst Diepenbeke's plates, there is a print (No. 7) of "Le Superbe Cheval de Spaino," with a view of Welbeck.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
399
Parezca que desdena ser postrero, Si acaso caminando, ignota puente Se le opone al encuentro ; y delantero Preceda d todo, al esquadron siguiente : Seguro, osado, denodado y fiero, No dude de arrojarse a la corriente Rauda, que con las ondas retorcidas Resuena en las riberas combatidas.
Si de lejos al arma dio el aliento Ronco la tronipa militar de Marte, De repente estreiuece un movimiento Los miembros, sin parar en una parte : Crece el resuello, y recogido en viento, Por la abierta nariz ardiendo parte : Arroja por el cuello levantado El cerdoso cabello al cliestro lado.
In air and action let the horse display His sire's old pedigree and generous breed, And move with lofty step, alert and gay, And quick bright eye and courage good at need, With limbs well-knit to bear him on his way And eager hoofs resounding in their speed : High-mettl'd, frolicsome, and free, and proud — Nor scar'd by shrill alarms or clangour loud.
Arch'd and high-crested be his neck of pride,
Lively his head, and free of flesh, and clean,
Full his eye-sockets, and expanding wide
The glossy space of his bold front between ;
Be there no hungry hollow in his side,
Nor cumbrous fat his short round paunch demean ;
Set well aloft be each large fiery eye,
His equal ears not droop'd, but carried high.
Free be the play of breathing in his breast, Fervid and cloth'd with flesh and muscles strong, His comely quarters bright and sleekly dress'd, Halv'd by the track that sinks the spine along,
CH. VI.
Symmetry of the horse.
40O
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Horses of the Mar- quess do Priego.
Perspec- tive, &c.
Bulky his thigh, long mane upon his crest Wave scornful ; let his sweeping tail be long, And large the sinewy arm that bears him up, His black hoof smooth and hollow like a cup.
Disdaining to be hindmost, though the path Lie o'er some giddy bridge untried, yet never Such gallant steed dismay or terror hath, But onward still he leads the squadron ever, Dauntless and daring all in quenchless wrath ; Nor halts ere plunging in the furious river, In foamy flood, and whirling eddies pouring, 'Twixt the lash'd banks, its battling waters roaring.
And if the martial clarion from afar
To arms with summons hoarsely-sounding call,
Straightway his frame and members quivering are,
Not in one part, but equally in all :
Well pleased he snuffs the deadly blast of war,
Fierce snortings from his fiery nostrils full,
And o'er his neck's right side the mane doth fly,
From his uplifted crest toss'd scornfully.
"Such," continues the poet, "was Cyllarus, the war-horse of Castor, such were the steeds of terrible Mars, and those that w7hirlcd the car of Achilles, coursers never excelled save by the breed of my good lord, the great Marquess of Priego," — head of the noble Andalusian house of Aguilar, which had long been famous for presenting fine horses to the sovereign, and of which the honours and lands have passed into the ducal family of Medina-celi. Per- spective, foreshortening, and the art of copying, are next descanted on in due order, and the fragment
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
401
closes with ardent aspirations for the advancement and perfection of painting.
Antonio Mohedano was born in 1561. Accord- ing to Cean Bermudez, he was the son of a magis- trate of Antequera ; but in a record found near the close of last century, in an image of St. Peter, which he had gilt for the church of Lucena in 1590, he is called an inhabitant (vecino) of the first of these towns, and a native (natural) of the second.1 He was the first scholar who resorted to the house of Cespedes, on that master's return to Cordoba in 1577, and there he early showed great talents for drawing, which he improved by painting " sargas," and the leathern hangings for rooms, which were then in general use. Having seen the frescoes of Julio and Alessandro, at Granada, and those of the Perolas, at El Viso, his admiration led him to copy many figures from those celebrated works, and to adopt that style of painting, in which he at length became one of the most successful artists in Anda- lusia. His most important frescoes were those in the great cloister of the Franciscans, at Seville, in
1 See the Cartas Espatiolas, for August 9th, 1832. The image "de San Pedro, de la Iglesia mayor," was repainted in 1788, when a little box was taken out of it, containing a record, from which it appears that it was carved at Granada, in 1590, by Pablo de Rojas, for the Brother- hood of San Pedro, and " dorada con las limosnas extraordinarios de los cofrades por Antonio Mohedano, and Juan Vazquez de Vega, pintores, vecinos de Antequera y naturales de esta villa."
CH. VI.
Conclu- sion.
Antonio Mohedano.
Works at Seville.
402
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
At Cor- doba.
vi. I which he was assisted by Alonso Vazquez,1 and i which, with the exception of four pieces on the " History of the Cross," had unfortunately fallen victims to the destroying influence of time and weather, and to the presumptuous restorations of a bungling monk, before the commencement of the present century. In the Sagrario of Cordoba Cathedral he also, with the Perolas, painted some frescoes on scriptural subjects, now no longer exist- ing. He bestowed great labour on the composition and execution of his works, never painting without careful designs, and patient studies of the living model ; and his draperies were always painted from a lay figure which he had constructed for himself. His oil pictures were reckoned less happy than his frescoes, yet it is supposed that he executed those works on canvas with which Cardinal-Archbishop Nino de Guevara adorned the ceiling of a hall in his palace at Seville in 1604, and which were some- times attributed to Vargas. It has not been re- corded where Mohedano chiefly resided ; and it is possible that he may have moved from city to city, and from convent to convent, halting wherever he found occupation for his pencil. His last years, however, were spent at Lucena, where he painted the pictures of the high altar for the principal
1 Supra, p. 372.
REIGN OF PHILIP II. 403 |
|
church, and where he died in 1625. As a painter, his reputation must now rest on tradition, and on |
CH. VI. |
the praises of Pacheco, as his frescoes are ruined, |
|
and his easel pictures forgotten. He was likewise |
Pootry. |
a man of letters and a poet, and two of his love- |
|
sonnets, of little interest, have been preserved in |
|
the Anthology of his friend, Pedro de Espinosa, |
|
who also printed, in the same collection, a sonnet |
|
in his honour.1 |
|
Bias de Ledesma was a successful imitator of the frescoes of Julio and Alessandro, of whom no trace |
Bias do Lodesma. |
now remains but the honourable mention which |
|
Pacheco makes of his name. |
|
Diego de Salto was an Augustine friar of Seville, who took the vows in 1576, and employed his leisure in illuminative painting on vellum. An |
Painters of illumina- tions. Fr. Diepo do Salto. |
esteemed "Descent from the Cross" in this style, |
|
painted by him, was in the collection of the Duke |
|
of Alcala, and he is highly commended by Pacheco. |
|
Cean Bermudez praises the drawing and colouring |
|
of his works, of which, however, the general effect |
|
was somewhat harsh. |
|
Francisco Galeas, an excellent painter of illumi- nations, was born in 1567, at Seville, where he |
Fr. Fran- cisco Galeas. |
studied the law, and for some time practised as an |
|
1 Flores de poztas ilustres de Espana, pp. 60, 92, and 159. 4to, Valladolid, 1605. The three sonnets are quoted by Cean Bermudez. |
404
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Pedro de Raxis and brothers.
advocate. Growing weary, however, of the legal robe, he entered the Sevillian Chartreuse of Sta. Maria de las Cuevas, in 1590. His virtues and abilities there gained him the post of prior and of co-visitor of the province of Castile, and he was afterwards promoted to the priory of Cazalla — a dignity which, however, he resigned in two years, choosing to return to his pleasant convent on the banks of the Guadalquivir. He died there in 1614, his end being hastened, it is said, by vexa- tions caused by the jealousy of his fellow Carthu- sians, who buried him beneath an epitaph — " the last of miserable remedies " l — which lauded his piety and learning, his patience and forbearance. The Chartreuse possessed two of his miniatures, representing "Our Saviour dead" and "rising," and some illuminations in books, which were executed with great clearness and beauty.
Pedro de Raxis was a painter of some note at Granada, who was supposed to have studied in Italy. He flourished about the end of the sixteenth century, and painted the "Transfiguration" and " Our Lady of the Conception," for the convent of San Jeronimo, and various pictures of the life of the Virgin, for the Minim Fathers and for the friars of Sacromonte. He is supposed to have had two
Sir H. Wotton, BeU^uics, 8vo, London, 1685, p. 310.
REIGN OF PHILIP II. 405
brothers, likewise painters, but of less merit ; to | CH. vi. them were attributed some pictures in the convent of barefoot Carmelites, whereof the most remarkable represented St. Cosmo and St. Damian amputating the leg of a white patient, and miraculously supply- ing its place with a dusky limb cut from a negro. This, no doubt, is the picture which hangs in the great Soda de Propendis of the Museo at Granada, and which the keeper says is by Cotan, who could paint far better. The white patient lies on a bed, having the black leg fitted on by two saints and two assistants, who are, very naturally, much surprised at the operation. The black man lies on the floor (with his head to your right hand, the reverse way from the other man), done with and asleep. He has put his best — or white leg foremost.
Cesare Arbasia1 was a native of Saluzzo in Piedmont, and a scholar of Federigo Zuccaro. The time and cause of his coming to Spain have not been recorded ; and the first mention of him there is that he painted, in 1579, the frescoes in the chapel of the Incarnation, in the Cathedral of Malaga, and likewise an oil picture of that mystery, which was afterwards placed in the canons' vestry. In 1581 he was paid 3,000 ducats for certain works, by the Chapter of Cordoba ; and in 1583 he painted
1 Lanzi, torn. v. p. 366.
Foreign artists. Cesare Arbasia.
406
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Mateo Perex; de
Alosio.
Fresco of St. Chris- topher in Seville Cathedral.
in fresco, on the walls of the Sagrario, the martyrs of that city. He likewise assisted the Perolas, in 1586, in the frescoes at El Viso.1 Returning to Italy, he became one of the original members of the Roman Academy of St. Luke, established in 1 593-95 ;2 and in the municipal palace of Saluzzo he executed some frescoes, for which he was pensioned. On the authority of a note on a chalk portrait, Cean Bermudez concludes that he died in 1614.
Mateo Perez de Alesio was an Italian painter, who for several years enjoyed high favour at Seville. His Spanish biographers say that he was born at Rome, and studied there in the school of Michael Angelo ; and that he brought with him to Seville a collection of sketches of that master's works, which were greatly admired by the artists. He was, in consequence, employed by the Chapter to paint in the Cathedral, near the door which leads to the Lonja, a gigantic St. Christopher, in fresco. To look upon an effigy of this saint was held to be a charm against contagious diseases ; 3 and it was the custom to represent him of colossal dimensions, as well, perhaps, that he might the more surely attract the eye, as in accordance with the legend, which
1 Supra, chap. v. pp. 344, 345.
2 Lanzi, torn. ii. p. 115.
3 Vies dcs Saints, i2mo, Paris, 1837, p. 392.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
407
relates that, taking his stand at a ferry, he was enabled, by his strength and lofty stature, to supply the place of a boat or a bridge ; and that when carrying our Saviour across the swollen river, he grew miraculously taller as the stream deepened around him.1 The "St. Christopher" of Alesio, though somewhat faded by time, has kept his place, and from his ancient wall still
" stares tremendous, with a threatening eye,
Like some fierce tyrant in old tapestry ; " 2
he might fearlessly wade in five-fathom water, with any burden on his back, for his height is thirty- three feet, and his leg measures a yard across at the calf.3 A stout palm-trunk serves him for a staff, and on his shoulder sits the Infant Saviour. In the foreground, a parrot of splendid plumage, and on the farther bank of the river, a hermit bearing a lantern, and a smiling landscape were to be seen, ere the dust and the incense-fumes of centuries had rendered them invisible. This Goliath of frescoes was painted in 1584; it was executed with great care from many drawings, and from a cartoon of the same size, long kept in the Alcazar at Seville ; and
CH. VI.
1 Supra, chap. ii. p. 94. Old Warner does not mention the latter incident, hut Captain George Carleton had it from a hermit who lived near Vittoria. Memoirs, 8vo, Edinburgh, 1808, p. 452.
2 Pope's Essay on Criticism.
3 Juan de Butron, Discursos Apologeticos, p. 121.
408
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Alesio prefers the " Gamba " of Vargas to his own St. Chris- topher.
Italian ac- count of his life.
the artist was said to have received for it 4,000 ducats. Although time has injured its effect, and pictures, pigmy by comparison, have eclipsed its glory, it is worthy of preservation, not only for its merits, but for the sake of the taste and candour of the painter, who greatly admired the style of Vargas, and is recorded to have exclaimed, of a well-fore- shortened leg in an altar-piece by that master, " Piu vale quella gamba che mio San Christoforo ! " * For the high altar of the church of Santiago, Alesio painted that stout saint on horseback, mowing down the Moors in the field of Clavijo ; and in 1587, another "St. Christopher" for the church of San Miguel. His Titanic pencil was not unknown even westward of the rock of Lisbon. Around the church of the Augustine friars, in the city of Lima, hangs, or once hung, an immense canvas, reaching from the dome to the floor, whereon he had depicted their patron saint, holding in his hands a sun, from whence light was radiated upon other doctors of the Church. The painter of all these wonders engraved some of his own works, of which a " San Roque " was esteemed the best ; and he died at Rome in 1600.
The Italian account of Alesio differs somewhat from that current amongst Spanish writers. Lanzi
1 Supra, p. 365.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
409
considers him to have been identical with Matteo de Lecce — an imitator, but not a scholar, of Michael Angelo — who painted, in the time of Gregory XIII. (1572-1585), some frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, opposite to a part of the " Last Judgment," chiefly remarkable for their moderate merit and pre- sumptuous position. He afterwards practised his art at Malta, and passed thence to Spain and the Indies, picking up in his travels the Castilian name of Perez. Having acquired considerable wealth by trade, he squandered it in searching for treasure, and died in extreme poverty.1 Amongst his works at Malta was a series of oil paintings or frescoes, representing the blockade of the island by Solyman, and its defence by the good knight, Giovanni di Valetta, in 1565, which adorned the palace of the Grand Master, and were afterwards engraved by Lucini.2
Portugal, a land not prolific of artists, sent to Andalusia two painters during this reign. Of these, the first was one Vazquez, who painted for the
1 Lanzi, torn. i. p. 144, and torn. ii. p. 316.
2 Disegni dclla Guerra assedi et assalti dati dall'armata Turchesca airisola di Malta I' anno MDLXV. dcpinti nclla gran sola de Palazzo di Malta da Matco Perez de Alcccio et hora intagliati, da Antonio Francisco Lucini, Fiorentino. Fol., Bologna, 1631. Sixteen plates, including the title-page, and a leaf filled with portraits of Grand Masters. The views, generally bird's-eye views, of Malta, Gozo, and of the town of Valetta, are interesting. The volume is dedicated, by the engraver, to Cardinal Antonio Barberiui.
VOL. II. D
CH. VI.
Works at Malta.
Vazquez the Portu- guese.
410
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Vasco Per- eyra.
church of San Lucar de Barrameda, a " Descent from the Cross " and a " Martyrdom of St. Sebastian." Both were on panel, and displayed some knowledge of anatomy, notwithstanding their antique stiffness of design ; the latter bore this signature — " Vasquez Lusitanus tune incipiebam, anno 1562." Vasco Pereyra was residing in Seville in 1594, when he was chosen by the Chapter to restore the fresco of Vargas, on an external wall of the Cathedral, known
O J 7
as the " Christ of the Criminals." l He also assisted in preparing the decorations used in the Cathedral on occasion of the service on the death of Philip II. in 1598, and was reckoned one of the best of the many artists there employed. In the convent of St. Paul he painted the decollation of that apostle in competition with Alonso Vazquez and Mohedano ; 2 and he executed, for the library of the sumptuous Chartreuse, pictures of the four Doctors of the Church, and some esteemed altar-pieces for other convents, now destroyed or forgotten. Don Aniceto Bravo of Seville possesses a long low picture, on panel, of the " Nativity of Our Lord," which is signed " Vaccus Pereira, Lusitanus, faciebat, A° 1579." In the centre of it is seated the Virgin, with her new-born babe, and on either side approach to adore her the shepherds of Bethlehem and the
Supra, p. 366.
- Supra, p. 401.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
411
Magian Kings ; and, although it is not noticed by Cean Bermudez, this work completely justifies his opinion, that Vasco Pereyra drew with some skill, but that his colouring was dry and harsh.
In this reign Andalusia was not without artists distinguished in sculpture. Juan de Maeda, sculptor and architect, was the scholar and assistant of Diego de Siloe, who left him his drawings and many of his plaster models ; he held the post of master of the works — first in the Cathedral of Granada, and afterwards in that of Seville. For the latter Cathedral his son Asensio is supposed to have executed the marble sculptures which adorn the antechamber of the chapter-room. Bartolomd Morel was an artist of fine and various genius. He cast in bronze the statue, 14 feet high, of Faith bearing a banner, which serves as the weathercock of the great Seville belfry, and also as an emblem — worthy of Voltaire, although devised by an Archbishop and Inquisitor-General — of the changeableness of human belief, " blown about by every wind of doctrine." The large and beautiful bronze candlestick — known as the Tenebrario, branched like that of Solomon's Temple, and still an ornament of Seville Cathedral — was also the work of Morel, as well as the elegant lectern in the choir. In casting the candlestick he was assisted by Pedro Delgado, a scholar of Antonio Florentin, who carved several images which were
CH. VI.
Sculptors. Juan de Maeda.
Asensio de Maeda.
Bartolomd Morel.
Pedro Delgado.
412
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Cepeda.
Pablo de Roxas.
Artists of Valencia.
highly esteemed in the churches of Seville. The Captain Cepeda, whilst serving in the army in Italy, had learned the art of sculpture, which he practised at Cordoba. In 1580, some young goldsmiths of Seville having agreed to present an image of " Our crucified Lord " to the Convent of Mercy in their city, employed Cepeda to make it; and the figure being finished to their satisfaction, they paid him handsomely for his work, and for his moulds, which were broken, according to agreement, and sunk in the Guadalquivir. This Crucifixion was executed in a sort of paste, that it might be easily borne in processions ; the modelling showed considerable skill, although the attitude was too violent to belong to the Meek One "who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows," and "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself ; " but it had suffered much from age and use in the days of Cean Bermudez. Pablo de Roxas was a sculptor, who learned his art from one Rodrigo Moreno, at Granada, and became famous in Andalusia, about the end of the sixteenth century. One of his most celebrated works was a crucifix, executed for the Count of Monteagudo ; but his best claim to the consideration of posterity rests on the fact that he was the master of Martinez Montanes, the famous sculptor of Seville.
The city of Valencia, so full of beauty and delight, says the local proverb, that a Jew might there forget
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
Jerusalem,1 was equally prolific of artists, of saints, and of men of letters. Its fine school of painting first grew into notice under the enlightened care of the good Archbishop, Thomas of Villanueva. Illustrious for birth,2 piety, and benevolence, and admitted after his death to the honours of the Roman Calendar,3 this excellent prelate, once a favourite preacher of the Emperor Charles V.,4 became a favourite saint of the south, rivalling St. Vincent Ferrer, and receiving, as it were, a new canonisation from the pencils of Valencia and Seville. There were few churches or convents, on the sunny side of the Sierra Morena, without some memorial picture of the holy man, with whom almsgiving had been a passion from the cradle, who, as a child, was wont furtively to feed the hungry with his mother's flour and chickens, and, as an Archbishop, lived like a
1 Carletou's Memoirs, 8vo, Edinburgh, 1808, p. 178.
2 He was of the house of Villanueva de los Infantes. See his life by Quevedo y Villegas, Obras, n tomos, 8vo, Madrid, 1790-4, torn. iii. p. 249. It has also been written by many other Castilian petns, and is given at great length in Les Flcurs des Vies dcs Saints rccucillics par llibadcncira, Du Val, Gautier, et Friard, folio, Rouen, 1655, torn. ii. p. 266. Don Quixote in his discourse with the traveller Vivalda (Don Quiz., p. i, chap. 13), names the "Villanuevas of Valencia" amongst the Roman Scipios and Colonnas, the Moncadas of Catalonia, the Palafoxea of Arragon, the Guzmans of Castile, and other noble houses to which his adorable Dulcinea did not belong. The Archbishop's portrait is engraved in Ponz, torn. iv. p. 130.
3 A multitude of miracles (for which see Les Flcurs dcs Vies dcs Saints) having been wrought at his tomb, he was canonised by Pope Paul V. in 1618, as St. Thomas the Almoner.
4 Quevedo, torn. iii. p. 262.
CH. VI.
Arch- bishop Thomas do Villa- nueva.
414
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Painters. Vicente Joanes (Macip).
mendicant friar, and, being at the point of death, divided amongst the poor all his worldly goods, except only the pallet whereon he lay. These pic- torial distinctions were due not only to his boundless charities, but also to his munificent patronage of art, which he employed, not to swell his archiepiscopal state, but to embellish his Cathedral, and to instruct and improve his flock.
Of the painters who flourished under his aus- pices, Vicente Juan Macip, commonly called Juan de Joanes, was the most distinguished, and may be considered the founder and head of the Valencian school. From the record of his burial, in the parish register of Bocairente, it appears that he was born in 1523; and it is supposed that his native place was Fuente de Higuera, a village embosomed amongst the hills which divide Valencia from Murcia. Nothing is known of his early life, but from the rude state of contemporary art in the province, it is probable that his chaste and elevated style was the result of study in Italy. Palomino, who erroneously calls him Juan Bautista de Juanes,1
1 Pal., torn. iii. p. 394. M. Viardot, I know not on what authority, says that his " veritable nom etait Vicente Juan Macip." Musces d'Es- pagnc, &c., p. in. That the real name of Joanes was Macip is proved by Cean Bermudez in his notice of the painter in the Colcccion Lito- grafica de Cuadros del Bey de Espafta, No. xxiii., 3 torn. fol. Madrid, 1826, where he cites a document thus signed by his son, " Vicente Juan Macip." Macip is a well-known surname at Valencia, and so also is
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
a name by which he was for long popularly known, asserts that he died, in 1596, at the age of fifty-six, and was the scholar of Rafael, whom he surpassed, although that master died in 1520. But if he was neither the disciple nor the superior of Rafael, he was, at least, his successful imitator, as appears in his " Holy Family," in the Sacristy of the Cathedral of Valencia, noticed by Cumberland,1 in which the figure of the Infant Saviour is designed after the babe of the famous " Madonna of the Fish," and, in his "Christ bearing His Cross," in the Queen of Spain's gallery,2 which recalls the " Christ " of the " Spasimo."
After his return from Italy, as Cean Bermudez supposes, he married Geronima Comes, and es- tablished a school of painting at Valencia, where he chiefly resided, although his profession some- times led him to other towns of the province. From the frequency of his works in that part of Spain, and their rare occurrence elsewhere, it is probable that the best part of his life was spent in his native district. Being a man of a grave
Juan, which is borne by a noble family which still uses the arms, an eagle sable on a field or, found in the picture of the burial of St. Stephen (p. 425), from whence the artist's portrait has been taken for this work. It is, therefore, probable that both the father and son, called (p. 429), Juan Vicente, bore the same name, Vicente Juan Macip.
1 Anecdotes, vol. i. p. 145.
" Catdlogo, No. 165. [Edition of 1889, No. 763.]
CH. VI.
Return from Italy. Marriage.
416
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Works only for the
Church.
Devout- ness.
Works.
and devout disposition, his fine pencil was never employed in secular subjects, nor in the service of the laity, but was dedicated wholly to religion and the Church. Cumberland, in 1782, doubted if any of his pictures were even then in lay hands.1 With this pious master, enthusiasm for art was inspiration from above, painting a solemn exercise, and the studio an oratory, where each new work was begun with fasting and prayers. His holy zeal was rewarded by the favour of the doctors and dignitaries of the Church. For the Archbishop he designed a series of tapestries, on the Life of the Virgin, which were wrought for the Cathedral in the looms of Flanders. He was largely employed by the Chapter, and for most of the parish churches of the city ; and many of his works adorned the monasteries of the Carmelites, Dominicans, Jesuits, Franciscans, and Jeronymites. The orders which he received were more than he could execute ; being engaged to paint a "Last Supper" for the refectory of the noble convent of- St. Dominic, the panel, which he had prepared for that purpose, remained still untouched at his death, twenty years after- wards.
He was also honoured by commands, far higher than those of abbots and archbishops, and which
1 Anecdotes, voL i. p. 141.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
were amongst the highest marks of heavenly favour that could be given to the devout artist. On the evening of an Assumption-day, the Blessed Virgin revealed herself to Fray Martin Alberto, a Jesuit of Valencia, and commanded that her picture should be painted, as she then appeared, attired in a white robe and blue mantle and standing on the crescent- moon ; above her was to float the mystic dove, and the Father Eternal was to be seen leaning from the clouds, whilst her Divine Son placed a crown upon her head. To execute this honourable but arduous task the Jesuit selected Joanes, whose confessor he was, and described to him with great minuteness his glorious vision. The first sketches were, how- ever, unsuccessful ; and the skill of the painter fell short of the brilliant dream of the friar. Both, therefore, betook themselves to religious exercises, and to their prayers were added those of other holy men. Every day the artist confessed and communi- cated, before commencing his labours ; and he would often stand for whole hours with his pencils and palette in his hand, but without touching the divine figure, until his spirit was quickened within him by the fervency of his prayers. His piety and perseverance at last overcame all difficulties ; and he produced a noble picture of Our Lady, exactly conformable to the vision, which long adorned the altar of the " Immaculate Conception " in the Jesuits'
CH. VI.
The Virgin appears, and
orders her picture to be painted.
Joanes is chosen ;
he is at
first
baffled,
but in the end suc- ceeds.
4i8 REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. vi. Convent, and became famous amongst artists for its excellence, and amongst friars for its miraculous powers. In Valencia it enjoyed the title of "La Purisima," and was widely known by an engraving ; after the expulsion of the Jesuits it remained in their church till the War of Independence. It is now (1849) in the Chapel of the Communion in the Church of los dos Juanes or San Juan del Mer- cado, a large chapel running parallel to the high altar, separated from the church, and almost an inde- pendent church. It occupies the central place in the chief retablo. The picture exactly answers the description given above — only the crown is held by both Father and Son. The Virgin's head and face are lovely — perhaps the happiest effort of Joanes — but it is difficult to make out the details, the chapel being very dark, and the picture covered with a glass placed a good way from the surface. On each side the Virgin are a variety of objects to which she is supposed to be compared in the Canticles and other mystical books of Scripture. There is an indifferent engraving by M. Gamborino, 1 796, in which scrolls with Latin legends have been added to all these emblems. The picture itself has only the scroll under the Holy Ghost inscribed " Tota pulchra es, arnica mea, et macula non est in te."
1 Song of Solomon, iv. 7.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
419
Gamborino's burin gives no idea whatever of the soft yet stately beauties of the face, which is even worse caricatured in the trumpery small print by "T. L. Engs- (Enguidanos ?) a expensa de su Esclavitud." The fame of Joanes, although great in his own countiy, does not appear to have reached the Court ; and his pencil, like that of Morales, was wanting to the Escorial. He was at Bocairente in 1579, painting the "Four Doctors" for the high altar of the parish church, when he was attacked by a severe illness. On the 2oth of December he made his will, and died on the day following. His body lay in that church, in the tomb of Miguel Ferre, till 1581, when it was re- moved, according to his own desire, to the church of Santa Cruz, at Valencia, and interred there in the first chapel on the right.1
The style of Joanes, like his character, was grave and austere. If Rafael were his model, it was the Rafael of Perugia. Whilst his contemporaries, El Mudo and El Greco, were imbuing Castilian art with the rich and voluptuous manner of the Vene- tian school, he affected the antique severity of the early Florentine or German masters. In his large compositions he has much of the stiffness of Van
1 Manuel de Forastcros en Valencia, p. 60. When I was last at Valencia, in April 1845, this church was completely gutted, and either about to be pulled down, or very extensively altered.
CH. VI.
Joanes not known at Court.
Death.
Style.
42O
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Conception of Our Lord's counte- nance.
Eyck or Hemling,1 whom, however, he equals in splendour of colouring, and in vigour and variety of invention. As Rafael has never been rivalled in painting the Blessed Virgin, so Joanes deserves to be called the peculiar painter of her Divine Son. His conceptions of the Saviour are bodied forth in one of the most beautiful types of the male counte- nance ever formed by the pencil. Leonardo da Vinci himself was less happy in his treatment of that magnificent subject ; had he finished the head of Christ in his matchless " Cena," he could hardly have surpassed the noble delineations of Joanes. In the hands of Roman artists, the Saviour is too often little more than a beautiful Apollo, copied from the marbles of Greece ; at Venice, a noble personage of the blood of Barberigo or Contarini ; while in the later and feebler school of Bologna His beauty sinks into effeminacy, and the Man-God into a mere mortal Adonis. Joanes, with higher thoughts and finer skill, has taken his idea of Our Lord from the poetry of Solomon, the history of the Evangelists, and the visions of St. John. In his " Christ," the ineffable mildness of expression be- longing to Him "whose voice was sweet and His countenance comely, who would that little children
1 [The orthography now generally accepted is Memling, but is more probably Memlinc. — ED.]
REIGN OF PHILIP II. 421
should come unto Him, and whose banner over CH. vi. His people was love," is united with the majesty
I
which befitted that mysterious Being " who walked amidst the golden candlesticks, whose face was like the sun shining in his strength, and His voice like the sound of many waters, who hath the keys of death and hell, and shall come to judge the world in the glory of His Father." His lofty brow and deep brown eyes are full of dignity and power ; benevolence plays on the delicately-formed lips ; and the whole face, of more than mortal beauty, is winning as was that of St. Francis de Sales, on which infants delighted to gaze, and women looked with involuntary love. Joanes' finest pictures of the Saviour are at Valencia ; and they, for the most part, represent Him in the act of dispensing the holy elements, with the wafer and the cup, or one or other of them, in His hands. Perhaps the best is that in the Museum, and formerly in the church of the Franciscans, whose insignia, the five wounds, still appear on the rich frame. The background of the picture is gilt ; the brown hair and beard of Our Lord are painted with all the minuteness of Morales ; l He wears a robe of a violet colour, pecu- liar to Joanes, and a red mantle ; and in His right hand He holds up a sacramental wafer, and in His
1 Supra, chap. v. p. 270.
422
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
" El Santo Caliz."
Holy
Chalice at Valencia.
left is the cup. This cup of agate,1 mounted with gold, and enriched with gems, is believed to be the identical vessel used by the Saviour Himself at His Last Supper ; it once belonged to the convent of San Juan de la Pena, and is still the pride of the Cathedral treasury, and it is well known in Spain
as the "Holy Chalice" of Valencia.2 Joanes has frequently painted it ; and it is so often to be found
1 Journal d'nn Voyage en Espac/ne, 4to, Paris, 1669, p. 244, written by the Abbe Bertaut de Rouen, who was in Spain in 1659, with the embassy of the Marechal de Grammont ; and Ponz, torn. iv. p. 64.
2 The Dissertation Histtirica del Sagrado Caliz en qite Christo S°f N° consagrd en la noche de la Cena, el qual sc vcnera en la Sc.1 Met? Iglesia de Valencia, por D. Agustin Sales, Presbitero, &c., 4to, Valencia, 1736,
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
423
in Valencian pictures, that a woodcut of it, copied from the authentic engraviug executed by Frauo. Jordan in 1806 from the drawing of Vicente Lopez, may be acceptable as a mark of the school. In the same Museum there is a second " Christ," once in the Dominican convent, of nearly equal merit ; the Cathedral possesses another, with the background plain, in the chapel of San Pedro ; and two others may be seen in the Royal Gallery at Madrid, one of them with the ''Holy Chalice." The collection of Marshal Soult, at Paris, had a noble "Ecce Homo," torn from the chapel of St. Francis Borgia, in the Cathedral of Valencia.1 Another " Ecce Homo," by Joanes, full of his peculiar devotional feeling, is in England, in the collection of Sir Claude de Cres- pigny, Bart.
The " Assumption of the Virgin," which alone, of seven pictures painted by Joanes for the Augus- tine friars, has found its way into the Museum of Valencia, is a fine composition ; from a stone coffin the blessed Mary soars upward, with a ministering angel floating on either hand, while another pair of angels support her feet ; and the heads are full
contains its full and authentic history, and is an admirable piece of clerical trifling and solemn twaddle. In particular, read chap. ix. of lib. i. p. 104, where he demonstrates that Judas Iscariot cannot possibly have profaned this sacred cup with his false lips.
1 Noticed in M. T. There's paper on the " Galerie Soult " in the Revue de Paris, 27th September 1835, p. 213.
CH. VI.
" Assump- tion of the Virgin " in the Museo at Val- encia.
424
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
" Baptism of Christ," &c. , in the Cathedral, j
Pictures on the Life of St.
Stephen in Royal Gallery at Madrid.
of lofty expression, and worthy of a prayer-guided pencil. The Cathedral likewise has, hanging near the font, an excellent but much injured picture of the " Baptism of Christ," who bows His head to the desert-preacher with admirable humility and devotion ; and its Sacristy, a " Good Shepherd," bearing a lamb on His shoulders, painted in a very pleasing manner. The same Sacristy also boasts his fine " Holy Family," in which llafael has evidently been imitated, and the " Conversion of St. Paul," which Ponz, with little reason, calls one of the best works of Joanes.1 The latter picture is of small size; although the colouring is brilliant, the outlines are unusually hard ; the saint wears a suit of mail, like a trooper at St. Quentin, and his white horse, wallowing in a flood of light, is very badly drawn.
Amongst the most important of the existing works of Joanes is the series of six pictures, formerly in the church of St. Stephen at Valencia, now in the Queen of Spain's gallery,2 on the life of the first Christian martyr. The first, which is supposed to have been executed by a scholar of Joanes from his design, represents the saint receiving ordination from the hands of St. Peter; the two next illus-
1 Ponz, torn. iv. p. 44.
2 Catdlogo [1843], Nos. 334, 336, 337, 196, 197, 199— according to the chronological order of the subjects. [Edition 1889, Nos. 1 137 and 749-53.]
VICENTf JUAN MACIP
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
425
trate his "Dispute with the chiefs of the syna- gogue," and the others, his " Going to execution," " Stoning," and " Burial." These pictures, although hard in outline, are full of movement and various character. The rage of the baffled Jewish doctors, and the grinning ferocity of the mob flocking to the scene of bloodshed, are depicted in a grotesque and somewhat exaggerated style ; but they contrast finely with the angelic serenity of the martyr, and the melancholy calmness of Saul, who walks by his side, "consenting unto his death," from a sin- cere, though erring conviction of duty. The most pleasing picture in the series is the "Burial of the Saint." Many of the figures and countenances of the weeping brethren who lay him in the grave are beautiful and touching ; and in the group on the left there stands a man in black attire whose face is supposed to be a portrait of the painter. " The Last Supper," in the same gallery,1 is likewise an excellent specimen of the powers of Joanes. It contains many fine heads ; but that of the traitor Apostle is most striking, for the vigour of its fiendish expression. His " forehead villanous low " is shaded by locks of " the dissembling colour," : popularly known in Spain as " Judas-hair ; " J he
CH. VI.
1 Catdlogo [1843], No. 225 [edition 1889, No. 775].
2 As You Like It, act iii. sc. 4, 1. /.
3 Doblado's Letters from Spain, Svo, London, 1822, p. 289. The
VOL. II. E
426
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
The
" Cena " in the ch. of St. Nicolas at Valencia.
sits with his back half turned, and his face, seen only in profile, recalls the Judas of Titian's Escorial "Cena." "The Last Supper" is the subject of the most delightful of Joanes' works, which, had the graver made it known to the world, would have placed him very high on the roll of fame. It was painted for the Valencian church of San Nicolas, where it still exists, in a small retablo within the rails of the high altar. The picture is about four feet wide by two high, and the figures, which are necessarily of small size, are finished with exquisite delicacy. Our Lord wears the usual violet robe ; on His bosom leans the beautiful head of the be- loved disciple ; and, by the excitement which pre- vails amongst the company, it appears that He has just announced that " one of them should betray Him." On the table smokes the paschal lamb, roasted whole ; and the cup is of the common goblet shape, and not the "Santo Caliz." With even more than Joanes' usual richness of colouring, this picture is quite free from the hard outline which often injures his works ; everything is grace- fully rounded, and the general effect smooth, soft, and harmonious. His " Coronation of the Virgin,"
popular prejudice against red hair, pelo bermejo, is expressed in the Castilian proverb, " De tal pelo, ni gato ni perro." Nunez, Befranes, fol. 32. See also Quevedo, El Gran Tacano, cap. iii. ; Obras, 6 torn. 4to, Madrid, 1772, torn. i. p. 77.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
427
in the Royal Gallery of Spain,1 is a remarkable specimen of miniature painting. On a small oval panel, of which the greatest diameter does not exceed nine inches, he has contrived to congregate an innumerable number of figures, representing the heavenly host attending upon her whom the Roman Church calls its Queen, and finished, for the most part, with singular distinctness of detail.
In portraiture, the great Valencian master has ! seldom been excelled. Here he has fairly earned the praise of his countryman, the licentiate Gaspar Escolano,2 who declared that he surpassed all the Spanish painters of his day, and was a match for the best artists of Italy. In the Sacristy of the Cathedral of Valencia there hangs his precious portrait of St. Thomas of Villanueva/ robed and mitred, whose pale and noble face accords with the gentleness of his nature ; and also a portrait of a later prelate, who was likewise canonised, the blessed Juan de Ribera, Archbishop and Viceroy of Valencia. This great churchman, born of an Andalusian family illustrious for taste and munificence, was the founder of the College of Corpus Christi at Valencia; his
1 Catdlogo [1843], No. 112 [edition 1889, No. 758].
- Historia de la Insigne y Coronada Ciudad y Reyno de Valencia, 2 toinos, fol., Valencia, 1610-11, torn. i. , coluna, 1131.
3 The engraving by Noseret and Carmoiia, in the Espaiioles Ilustres, seems to be taken from this picture.
CH. VI.
Miniature painting.
Portrai- ture.
Portraits of Archbishop St. Thomas do Villa- nuova, and "el beato " Archbishop Juan de Ribera.
428
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CII. VI.
Study of a Franciscan Friar.
face is grave and intellectual, but, as might be expected, the " beato Juan," a zealous persecutor of the unhappy Moriscos,1 wants that angelic mildness of expression that makes so winning the features of St. Thomas the Almoner. Both prelates, how- ever, have that dignity of presence which becomes their high station, and which Philip II. required as a necessary qualification in those whom he raised to the mitre.2 The " St. Francis de Paula," once in the convent of Capuchins at Valencia, and now . in the Museum,3 is an admirable study of a begging friar, taken, no doubt, from one of the best models which the city afforded, in the days when cowled and tonsured heads were frequent amongst its motley crowds. The Saint, an old man in the brown frock and hood of the order, leans on his staff, and ex-
1 There being in his diocese 391 towns and villages, and 17,086 houses, inhabited by peaceable and industrious Moriscos, this " excellence Patri- arca aplicb con todo el esfuerco posible su mauo a la nunca bien celebrada empresa, con que aun hasta oy se ve aplaudido por toda la Europa, de procurar el destierro de todos aquellos Barbaros."- — Vida y Virtudes de Don Juan de Ribera, Patriarca de Antioquia, &c., por Fr. Juan Ximenes, 4to, Roma, 1734, p. 66.
2 Porreiio (Dichos y Hechos, p. 156) has a story, that when the Court was at Palencia, the Diocesan, Don Pedro Martinez, a man more remark- able for learning and sanctity than for his person and deportment, coming to kiss hands, was lightly spoken of by the Queen's ladies as a "funny little bishop" ("quo donoso Obispillo ! "'), an expression which gave great offence to the King, and resolved him to appoint no prelate without having first seen him.
3 It is now (1849) in the Church of San Sebastian, having been re- moved thither by the Cofradia de la Terca- Orden de San Francisco de Paula, by whom it was claimed, and who established their title to it.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
429
tends his hand for alms, his mendicant profession being also expressed by the word " CHARITAS," in- scribed in gold letters on the panel ; his noble head and magnificent beard are highly finished, and may have brought, by their venerable appearance, many a contribution to the wallet, when the original friar went his rounds amongst the olive-farms and wine-presses of the " Garden." In the background, on the banks of a river, is seen a fortress-convent, with turrets and loopholes, needful on a coast ex- posed to the forayers of Barbary, and, beyond, there are green fields and wooded uplands. The finest portrait by Joanes is one in the Koyal Gallery at Madrid, that of "Don Luis de Castelvi," 1 a per- sonage of a handsome countenance and stately presence, wearing a rich dress and plumed cap of black velvet, with the cross of Santiago on his breast and holding a small book in his right hand. This excellent picture is coloured with great splen- dour, and for its force of character, and felicitous ease of execution, it might pass for a work of Kafael himself.
Joanes left a son, Juan Vicente,2 whom he taught to paint, and who imitated his style, without inherit- ing much of his genius. It is uncertain whether
1 Catdlogo [1843], No. 169, [edition 1889, No. 754].
2 Supra, p. 414, note i.
CH. VI.
Don Luis deCastelvf.
Juan
Vicente
Joanes.
43°
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Dorotea and Mar- garita Joanes.
any work of this artist still exists ; but Cean Bermu- dez supposes that he may have been the author of various pictures, like those of the high altar of the Cathedral at Segorbe, which were attributed to his father, but were hardly worthy of his reputation. The date of his death is unknown ; but a parchment, found in a statue of the Virgin forming part of the religious furniture of the convent of the Carmen, now the Museum, recorded that he was employed to gild that image in 1606. He had two sisters, Dorotea and Margarita, who were likewise painters, and displayed better skill ; their best works were some pictures in the church of Santa Cruz, which adorned the chapel where their father was buried.
Although Spain has produced many devout artists, clerical as well as laic, to Pedro Nicolas Factor1
1 The life of Factor was published five years after his death, by his friend Fray Cristobal Moreno, who was a member of the same Franciscan order, and professes to have been a witness of many of the wonders which he relates ; it was entitled Libro de la Vida y obras maravillosas del siervo de Dios el bienaventurado Padre Fray Pedro Nicolas Factor, 8vo, Alcala, 1588. If this date is right, there must have been a second edition in 1588, for I saw at Toledo, in the library of the Cathedral, a copy, sm. Svo, Alcala de Henares, en la casa de Juan Gracian, 1587, thirteen preliminary leaves, including title — paging ou one side only, beginning with 1. 6, and going on to 1. 222, when there come six leaves of tabula, &c., at the end. ! An Italian translation, by Fra Timoteo liotouio, was printed at Koine i in 1590, sm. Svo. The Spanish text was reprinted with additions by Fray Josef Eximeno, 4to, Barcelona, 1618, which is the edition I have taken as my authority. There is an Epitome de la Vida, Virtudcs, y Milagros del B. Nicolas Factor, sacado de la vida quc cscrivio P. Christ. Moreno, por el R. P. Fr. Josef Beltran. La impresion sm. 8vof Valencia, 1787, with a portrait engraved by Cuco, and a preliminary
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
alone have the honours of canonisation been ac- corded. His father, Vicente Factor, was a native of Sicily, and by trade a tailor ; and, coming to Valencia to seek his fortunes, he there fixed his abode, and married Ursula Estafla.1 The first fruit of this union was a son, named Bautista, who afterwards became a grave and learned doctor of law at Xativa ; the second was Pedro Nicolas, who was so called because he was born on St. Peter's Day, 1520, and because his father regarded St. Nicolas with peculiar devotion. This auspicious birth took place in a house adjoining, and afterwards taken into, the church of the Augustine convent,2 and in a chamber occupying the spot where the Host was afterwards kept.3 In honour of the event, the tailor and his wife were wont, in after years, to wash the feet of twelve poor men and a priest every St. Nicolas's Day, and give them a meal, and two reals each, in money.4 The saintly and artistic tendencies of
notice of the convent of Sta.* Maria de Jesus. Another appeared in the same year, Vida del B. Nic. Factor, por el R. P. Fr. Joaquiu Compafiez (afterwards Archbishop of Valencia), 4to, Valencia, 1787, very finely printed, and with a fine portrait, drawn by J. Camason and engraved by J. Ballester.
1 Moreno, p. 25.
2 The nunnery of Sta. Tecla. On the wall of the church, in the Calle de Luis Vivis (antes de la Soledad), and close to where it joins the Calle del Mar (in which the door of the church is), is a black marble slab with the words graven on it, " Entc ex cl lit gar dc la casa donde nacio el beato Nicolas Factor."
3 Moreno, p. 26. 4 Ibid. p. 27.
CH. VI.
El Beato Fray Pedro Nicolas Factor.
432
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Precocious piety and genius.
Turns
Franciscan
monk.
their second son soon began to develop themselves. Whilst yet a child, he took great delight in fasting ; his parents' oratory was his favourite haunt, and to make little altars and images of saints his favourite pastime.1 Neglecting his lessons one day at school, the fact was maliciously pointed out, by another boy, to the master, whose leathern thong, which served him for a birch, immediately descended on the shoulders of the future saint, and called forth, not only renewed application, but a display of Christian meekness very rare amongst boys or men ; for the sufferer, as soon as the pedagogue's back was turned, instead of doing battle with the traitor, humbly kissed his hand, and thanked him for his good offices.2 His food and clothes were frequently given to the poor, and much of his time was spent in the hospitals, and in attendance on the sick, especially those affected with leprosy and other loathsome diseases.3 Meanwhile he prosecuted his theological studies with great ardour ; and he also acquired a knowledge of painting, although the name of his master has not been recorded. His father, who seems to have thriven by the needle, wished to set him up in trade as a dealer in cloth, and even offered him 1,000 ducats for this purpose; but the monk being strong within him, he resisted
1 Moreno, p. 29.
2 Ibid. p. 30.
3 Ibid. p. 33.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
433
the parental entreaties, and entered the Franciscan CH. vi. Convent of Santa Maria de Jesus,1 a quarter of a league distant from Valencia, in his seventeenth year.2 There he became distinguished during his noviciate for his rigorous observance of the rules of the order, and he took the final vows on the first Sunday of Advent, 1538. His life was henceforth devoted to the earnest discharge of all the duties, and to the practice of every austerity which, in the eyes of his country and Church, could elevate and adorn the character of a mendicant friar.
As soon as he was of sufficient age, he received Takes
> T • i I priest's
priest s orders, and was ordained a preacher at the i orders at
r . Chelva.
Franciscan convent at Chelva, a house not unknown
to legendary fame. In its garden no sparrows were j Legend of
. ° the convent
ever seen, although the adjacent walls swarmed with garden. them, because in former times a pious gardener monk, whose pot-herbs had suffered, and whose soul was vexed, by their depredations, had prayed for their perpetual banishment.3 Amongst the
1 For an account of the remarkable ecstasies and raptures of the friars, and of the mysterious lights which flared over the convent at night, see the Advertencias al lector prefixed to Beltran's Epitome of Factor's life, especially p. vii.
2 Moreno, pp. 37, 38.
3 Ibid. p. 47. The village of Castalanos in La Alpuxaras was also said to be fatal to "gorriones." They not only did not breed or haunt there, but have been known to fall dead as they flew over the houses. L. de Marmol Carvajal, Hist, de la Ecbelion y Castigo de los Moriscos, 2 torn. 4to. Madrid, 1797, torn. i. p. 308.
434
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Love of self-discip- line.
groves, too, of this garden, was a cave, called the Cave of Martyrs, because it had been the favourite oratory of two religious, who were afterwards put to death by the infidels of Granada.1 In these sparrowless shades Factor spent much of his time ; and in this cavern, being unable to discipline him- self to his own satisfaction, he caused a novice to flog him until his body was lacerated and empurpled to his heart's content.2 His zeal for his own flagel- lation was extraordinary. When he held the post of master of the novices, who were twenty- two in number, in the Franciscan convent of Valencia, reversing the usual position of novice and master, he frequently caused them to flog him by turns, ordering one to give him a dozen lashes for the twelve apostles, another fifteen for the fifteen steps of the Temple, and the rest other numbers on similar pretexts, until he had received chastise- ment from them all.3 If compelled to inflict the scourge with his own hands, he accompanied the strokes with a solemn chaunt.4 In the choir, at the altar, and in the pulpit, he was equally unwearied in the performance of his sacred func- tions. Being a good musician, his services were
1 Moreno, p. 44.
2 Ibid. p. 44. The novice, says Fr. Christoval, "dexavale su cuerpo llagado, y cardenalado y el Padre Nicolas mny contento."
3 Ibid. p. 59. 4 Ibid. p. 63.
REIGN OF PHILIP II. 435
highly valued in the musical parts of worship ; l CH. vi. and his fame for sanctity attracted many people
powers.
to the church where he officiated. Whilst engaged in public or private prayer, he frequently fell into ecstasies or raptures, sometimes of long duration, in which he was so unconscious of material things that sceptical bystanders sometimes thrust pins into his flesh without exciting his attention thereby.2 As a preacher, his eloquence and earnestness gained Pulpit
• T f eloquence.
him a high reputation. In the pulpit his tace oiten became radiant with supernatural light ; and on one occasion, a hen and chickens straying into the church, stood motionless at his feet, as if he had been another St. Anthony, " which," says his biographer gravely, " all men took for a miracle." : His humility was so great, that he would frequently Humility. lie down in the cloister, or even in the street, to kiss the feet of the passers-by.4 His charity was charity. unbounded, and he was rarely seen with any other clothing than his brown frock, because he could not refrain from giving away the tinder-garments with which his friends provided him ; 5 and one of his few recreations was to stand, ladle in hand, at his convent door, dispensing soup and " olla," and spiritual counsel to the mendicant throng.6 No
1 Moreno, p. 107. - Ibid. pp. 133 and 225. 3 Ibid. p. 121.
4 Ibid. p. 63. 5 Ibid. p. 74. 6 Ibid. p. 75.
436
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Hatred of women.
Tempta- tions by women- demons.
Loves to paint the Passion of Our Lord.
Visits to other Con- vents.
saint in the calendar ever fasted more rigorously, or more rigidly went barefoot, and dieted on bread and water.1 Like his great chief, St. Francis de Paula, he was a determined woman-hater ; 2 but in spite of his labours, his mortifications, and his prayers, he was sometimes, like other holy men, tempted by demons in fair seducing shapes. His severest trial of this kind took place in his own cell on a St. Ursula's night, when he was in great danger of being worsted, had not that Virgin- Martyr appeared in a flood of glory, and scared the tempter away,
In painting, his favourite subject was the Passion of Our Lord, on which he endeavoured to model his own life, and which sometimes so powerfully affected his fancy, that he used to retire to solitary spots amongst the hills to meditate on it with tears.3 He painted many representations of this religious mystery, in his own convent of Santa Maria de Jesus, where the greater part of his life seems to have been spent. He frequently, however, visited other religious houses, especially those to which he was guardian, as those of Chelva, Vail de Jesus, and Gandia.4 For these establishments he executed pictures, sometimes in fresco, and
1 Moreno, p. 53. 3 Ibid. p. 109.
2 Ibid. pp. 38, 39. 4 Ibid. p. 94.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
437
not unfrequently illustrated and explained by pious verses of his own composition.
His reputation for sanctity having spread far and wide, on the establishment of the royal con- vent of Barefooted Nuns at Madrid, in 1559, its founder, the Infanta Juana, with the consent of the King, appointed him confessor to the sister- hood. For this nunnery, rich in relics presented by princes and popes, he executed a picture of " Christ at the Column." But the ceremonial and distractions of a court-life soon vexed his austere soul, and led him to determine on returning to the quiet of his Valencian cloister. With his staff in his hand and his loins girded for the journey, he passed the avenues of the Prado and the gate of Atocha, and turned aside to offer up a parting prayer in the stately church dedicated to the Virgin of Atocha, one of the oldest and holiest effigies in Castile. As he knelt at her splendid shrine, beneath its lamps of silver, where so many crowned heads, before and since, have bowed, it is recorded that the image miraculously ad- dressed him in these words, "Fray Nicolas, why dost thou depart and forsake the brides of my Son ? " (Porque te vas, y dexas solas las esposas de mi Hijo f) Amazed and terrified by the por- tent, the poor confessor remained speechless and trembling, until the Virgin, who seems to have
CH. VI.
Appointed Confessor to the royal convent, " de las Desca^as," at Madrid.
Addressed by the Virgin of Atocha.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Return to Valencia.
Journey to Catalonia.
Return.
Death.
spoken merely to try his faith, reassured him by adding, " Go in peace ; " ( Vete en buen hora),1 which he accordingly did, and arrived safely be- neath the shade of his native palm-trees in the garden of Valencia.
The remainder of his life was spent, for the most part, at the convent of Sta. Maria de Jesus, where he painted in the cloister the " Triumph of the Archangel Michael," enriched the choir-books with illuminations, and became more and more distinguished for spiritual gifts amongst his fellow- friars, frequently holding mysterious colloquies with the image of Our Lady, and " shining forth in miracles and holiness, like the sun amongst stars." :
In April 1582 he undertook a journey to Catalonia, where he resided for eighteen months, visiting the various convents and preaching in the principal cities.3 On his return to Valencia, in November 1583, he was seized with a fever, which, acting on a frame already exhausted by labour and privation, carried him off on the 23rd December, in the sixty- third year of his age. On his deathbed he displayed the same humility and devotion, and enjoyed the spiritual distinction for which he had been remark- able through life ; his last wish was to be buried
1 Moreno, p. no. Goncalez Davila, Grandezas de Madrid, p. 286.
2 G. Escolano, Historia de Valencia, torn. i. col. 949 and 1129.
3 Moreno, p. 243.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
439
in a dunghill, and the midnight before his decease sounds of celestial music proceeded from his cell.1 His body, being laid out to public view, was visited by the Grand Master of Montesa, many of the nobles, and all the clergy of Valencia ; 2 and relics of the dead friar were so eagerly sought for that a poor student, under pretence of kissing his feet, actually bit off two of his toes,3 before the corpse was consigned to its sumptuous tomb in the chapel. All his sayings and doings were diligently chronicled; and his friend Fray Cristoval Moreno despatched a monk to Catalonia to collect the particulars of his last journey,4 which were afterwards recorded in the life published in 1588 by authority of the Patriarch Juan de Bibera. Numberless examples were there cited of his prophetic and miraculous powers, in which he rivalled his friend, Luis Beltran, who likewise became a saint of great fame at Valencia. Hearing a report of the King's death during the sitting of the Cortes at Moncon in 1563, Factor is said to have retired to his cell, and, after inflicting grievous self-chastisement, to have received a com-
1 Moreno, pp. 249-50. 2 Ibid. p. 256.
3 Ibid. p. 257. So a lady-in-waiting of Queen Isabella the Catholic bit off the second toe from the left foot of San Isidore el Labrador. But, after committing this pious theft, she found herself mysteriously detained in the church, from which she was unable to move until she had dis- gorged the precious morsel. — Villegas, Flos Sanctorum, p. 848.
* Ibid. p. 219.
CH. VI.
Estima- tion.
Miraculous and
prophetic powers.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Canonisa- tion.
munication from heaven that the report was ground- less, as it turned out to be.1 The victory at Lepanto and the death of Queen Anna were announced by him at Valencia at the very time that these events were taking place, the one in the Gulf of Corinth, and the other in the capital of Spain.2 Countless sick persons were restored to health through his prayers ; and by virtue of a lock of his hair a hosier's wife at Barcelona obtained a safe and easy delivery, and a rector of the same city was cured of gout in his legs.3 Witnesses were found to make oath that they had seen on the friar's hands the stigmata, or marks of the nails, like those of Our Lord and of St. Francis de Paula.4 These and similar prodigies at length obtained for Factor the honours of canonisa- tion from Pope Pius VI., who, on the iyth August 1786, declared him a " beato," or saint of the second order. In 1787, a medal, bearing his head, was struck in his honour, at Valencia, by the Royal Academy of San Carlos ; and in 1789 a small en- graving of the new saint was executed by Moles.5 "Factor's pictures," says Cean Bermudez, "al-
1 Moreno, p. 141. 2 Ibid. p. 143. 3 Ibid. p. 237. 4 Ibid. p. 108.
5 It is entitled " Effigie del B. Fr. Nicolas Factor," and represents the Virgin appearing to him ; from it is taken the annexed woodcut. A portrait of Nicolas Factor formerly hung (perhaps still hangs) in the claustro principal alto at the Escorial. See Description Artistica, del Real Monast. de S. Lorenzo del Escorial, por Fr. Damian Bermejo ; sm. Svo, Madrid, 1820, p. 231.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
441
though somewhat poor in colouring, displayed con- siderable skill in drawing ; " and they were full of that devotional expression and feeling that belongs to the pencil that speaks out of the fulness of a pious
CH. VI.
Merits as a painter.
heart. Unhappily none of his works is now known to exist, either in the Museum of Valencia or in the Royal Gallery at Madrid ; perhaps none of them has survived the fall of the convents. The Char-
Works.
VOL. II.
442
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
OH. VI.
Writings in prose,
and verse.
treuse of Portacceli formerly possessed one of them, a " Virgin and Child," presented to the monks by Factor himself; in the staircase of the convent at Chelva hung a "Christ at the Column;" and his own convent had another, and also a "Virgin and Child," which the Valencian Academy of San Carlos appointed as the subject of a prize-engraving in 1 789. Ponz esteemed the "Triumph of the Archangel Michael," in the cloister of Santa Maria de Jesus, as the painter's best work, praising it as worthy of the school of Michael Angelo, and deploring the injuries which it had sustained from time and neglect.1
Moreno has preserved some fragments of Factor's writings, in both prose and verse. The former con- sist chiefly of letters 2 addressed to nuns, of which the longest is a religious rhapsody, relating the story, and extolling the chastity, of St. Ursula.3 There is likewise a curious Spiritual Alphabet4 (Abecedario E spiritual), in which each letter begins a name or title of the Supreme Being, as — A, Amor mio, B, Bien mio, C, Oriador mio, and the like. The verses are devotional hymns on the " Love of God," the
i Ponz, torn. iv. p. 130. 2 Moreno, pp. 234-5.
3 A letter of Factor's written to a nun, and filled with prescriptions for spiritual medicine, will be found in the Cartas morales, militares y civiles, recogidas y publicadas, por D. Gregorio Mayans y Siscar, 5 torn. Svo, Valencia, 1773, torn, ii. p. u.
4 Moreno, pp. 327-352.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
443
"Union of the soul with God," and similar subjects, of which the following stanzas, taken from the first- mentioned poem, and bearing considerable resem- blance to many pious effusions in our own language, may serve as a specimen : —
Salamandria soy de fuego Mi vida toda es de amor, El transformarse es su juego For amor con el mi amor ; Vivo como ardiente azero, Con el que amo mas que a mi, De amores ay que me muero Vive lesus siempre en mi.
Del Evangelista digo Que es muy fino enamorado, Pues Christo le fue el abrigo En su pecho reclinado : Sirviole alii de copero, Quando le saco de si, De amores ay que muero Vive lesus siempre en mi.1
Like Factor, Nicolas Borras was the son of a tailor, and a member of a religious order. He was born at Cocentayna, in 1530, and the names of his parents were Geronimo Borras and Ursula Falco. A natural taste for painting led him to the school of Joanes, at Valencia, where he became the most eminent of that master's disciples. Having taken orders, he was appointed to a cure of souls in his
1 Moreno, p. 21.
CH. VI.
Fray
Nicolas
Borras.
444
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Becomes a Jeronymite friar.
Works at Gandia.
native town, where, however, he continued to paint with diligence and increasing credit. The Jeronymites of Gandia employed him to execute the pictures for the high altar of their church ; and, during his residence in their convent for this purpose, he seems to have been so pleased with their society and mode of life, that he would accept no other payment for his labours than the habit of the order, which was conferred upon him in 1575. He took the final vows on the nth of December, 1576, and continued to reside with his new brethren for three years. Being a man of scrupulous piety and austere habits, he was then allured for a while to the Franciscan monastery of San Juan de la llivera, near Valencia, where he hoped to find a more perfect discipline amongst the barefooted Capuchins. Their way of life, however, was probably not to his mind, for he soon returned to Gandia, and the fold of St. Jerome. The rest of his life was spent there, and chiefly de- voted to the embellishment of the convent. Twelve altar-pieces in the church, the painted vaults of the choir and principal chapel, and the pictures which covered the walls of the chapter-house, cloister, refectories, and oratory of the grange, attested for several ages the industry of this indefatigable friar, : and led the unfrequent stranger to wonder how one man could have painted so much and so well. Besides his own time and skill, Fray Nicolas devoted
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
445
considerable sums of money to the service of the convent, employing, at his own expense, sculptors and gilders in its decorations, and otherwise con- tributing to the credit and comfort of his brethren. For these benefits his name was enrolled amongst the benefactors of the society, and, whilst he was still alive, fifty masses were appointed to be said yearly for his soul. He died, at the age of eighty, in 1610, at his beloved convent, where his memory was long held in honour.
Notwithstanding the multitude of his works at Gandia, he found time to paint for many other churches and convents in the kingdom of Valencia. The Cathedral of its capital possessed some of his productions in the chapel of San Vicente Ferrer ; and the splendid Jeronymite convent of San Miguel de los Reyes, the pride of the fair city, likewise contained several ; amongst which, hanging in the prior's cell, was a portrait of Borras himself in the act of adoring the Virgin, and, in the cloister, a picture of " Christ at the Column," painted at the convent in 1588. At Aldaya, in the parish church, there existed — perhaps still exist — as adornments of the altar of St. Stephen, some of his works, which were so good as to be sometimes attributed, even by artists, to the pencil of Joanes. The Museum of Valencia is richer in the pictures of Borras than in those of any other master ; it contains about fifty of
CH. VI.
Works
in Cathe- dral of Valencia,
at Aldaya,
in Museum of Val- encia.
446
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Cristobal Llorens.
them, mostly on panel, and brought from the Jerony- mite convent at Gandia. His style bears a general resemblance to that of Joanes ; his outlines are usually somewhat hard, and his colouring, though pleasing, is colder than his master's. The " Christ bearing His cross," in this Museum, once in the convent of San Miguel de los Reyes, is not unworthy of Joanes ; and in " The dead Saviour in the arms of the Eternal Father," the two heads are noble studies, executed with great care. The large com- position of many figures, representing the "Archangel Michael driving Souls into Purgatory and Hell," is full of action and variety ; in the lower abyss is seen a woman whose graceful and undraped form more resembles the handiwork of an Italian student of the antique than of a Spanish friar ; and on the brink kneels a white-robed monk with a shorn head and fine countenance, in whom Borras is supposed to have pourtrayed himself. " The Last Supper " is also worthy of notice ; the heads are, many of them, striking, and the table accessories are painted with great minuteness, especially the loaves, and a long- necked flask of thin green glass containing red wine, of shapes which still belong to the bread and bottles of Valencia.
Cristobal Llorens was a painter of good repute at Valencia towards the close of the sixteenth century. For the conventual church of San Miguel de los
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
447
Reyes he painted the histories of St. Mary Magda- lene and St. Sebastian, which long adorned their altars ; but it is uncertain whether these, or any other of his works, still exist. His name is not to be found in the catalogue of the Queen of Spain's gallery ; nor is any picture attributed to him in the Museum at Valencia.
Cristobal Ramirez was a skilful painter of illumi- nations, who visited the Escorial and entered the King's service in 1556, but afterwards returned to Valencia, his native city, and there executed the greater part of his works. Removing to the Escorial in 1577, he died a few days after his arrival, leaving two sons and a daughter, whom the King took under his protection. Amongst the books illumi- nated for the Escorial, by Ramirez, were the " Oficio di difuntos" the " Intonario" and the " Brevario nuevo in cantoria."
The age of Philip II., and of the great artists to whose lives and labours these three chapters have been devoted, may be considered as the bright noon- tide of Spanish art. In architecture Spain never again produced a Toledo or an Herrera ; Juni was never excelled in sculpture ; and the three great national schools of painting were never again repre- sented by contemporary chiefs like El Mudo and El Greco, Vargas and Villegas, and Joanes. In each year of this reign, the love of art was spreading
CH. VI.
Cristobal Ramirez, painter of illumina-
Public taste in the age of Philip II.
448
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
The Court, Alcazar, and Trea- sury of Madrid.
itself more widely over the Peninsula. The Court vied with the Church in sumptuous buildings and tasteful decoration. The Alcazar of Madrid, and the contiguous buildings of the Treasury,1 were the
constant resort, and sometimes the home,2 of artists ; and, in the collections of painting and statuary which they contained, were rivalled by few royal residences in Europe. From the galleries of the palace, crest-
1 The old Alcazar of Madrid, of which the woodcut view is taken from the present "Plaza de Mediodia," occupied the exact site of the new palace of the Bourbons ; and the long flat-roofed building adjoining, knoAvn as the Casa del Tesoro, stood on a portion of the space which now forms the " Plaza Oriental del Palacio." The woodcut is taken from the plan of Madrid, in the Thcatrum in quo visuntur illustriores Hlspanioa urbcs, aliccque ad orientem ct austnuti civitatcs celebriores. Amstel. ex off. J. Janssonii, folio. A curious volume, without date, containing a selection of the plates and letterpress of Braun and Hogenberg's work, in which, however, this plan does not occur.
2 Supra, chap. v. p. 278.
REIGN OF PHILIP II. 449
ing the steep declivities on the north-western side of the capital, the royal or noble stranger who looked forth over the Manzanares and the brown plains beyond, might descry on the distant slopes of the Guadarrama, the mighty Escorial, the creation of the monarch and one of the wonders of the age. " Time and I," Philip was wont to say, " against two ; " l and certainly his patience and perseverance, at least in the promotion of the arts, did not go un- rewarded. The grandees and higher nobility were not slow to follow the example of the Court. At one time or other, pleasure or the service of the State usually led the heads of the great houses to Italy and refinement. From Milan or Naples, from Venice and the Courts of the Pope or the Grand Duke, viceroys and ambassadors returned to Castile with enlarged minds and repaired fortunes, with a love of painting and an improved taste in architec- ture, to amuse their retired leisure by constructing stately palaces in their hereditary towns, or by creat- ing Italian villas, with their terraced gardens and cypress groves, on the bare bosom of the neighbour- ing hills.
Antonio Perez, Philip's favourite minister, and one of the most remarkable men of the age of Shakespeare and Cervantes, was the model of an
1 " El tiempo y yo para otros dos."— Porreao, p. 329.
CH. VI.
The no- bility.
Secretary
Antonio
Perez.
450 REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
accomplished Castilian gentleman. This versatile statesman, whose mind was adorned with every gift and endowment, whose life was a romance chequered with every kind of adventure, who won the hearts of women and the confidence of men with equal ease, and could pass from the bower of the Princess of Eboli to discuss theology and canon-law with the Nuncio, had a taste no less refined in the arts than in literature. As the favourite of Philip II., he must have enjoyed ample opportunities of improving the knowledge of art which he had acquired abroad ; he doubtless often accompanied his master in his visits to the Escorial, and in morning lounges in the studios, and perhaps may have assisted at the con- sultations in the royal cabinet of architecture.1 The Viceroys of the dependent kingdoms, and even the allies of the crown, knowing the tastes of the power- ful secretary, sought to secure his favour by oiferings of the most precious things which their dominions afforded. In his spacious house at Madrid, pulled down after his disgrace, and in his villa without the walls, he emulated the refined splendour of the Orsini or Colonna. His floors were tesselated pave- ments from Naples, his hangings the fine tapestries of Flanders, his cabinets were incrusted with the pietre dure of Florence, and his furniture formed of
1 Supra, chap. iv. p. 205.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
45 i
the costly woods of the Far West. The fairest efforts of the Italian pencil, the Virgins of Rafael and the Goddesses of Titian, met on his walls ; and his private apartments, furnished with couches of cloth of gold, and every appliance of luxurious ease, were adorned with voluptuous pictures and erotic marbles, the gifts of the reigning head of the house of Medicis.1 The tendency of his taste is shown by the allusions to art which occur here and there in his curious letters, written in penury and exile, when thrown aside, " like a sucked orange," 2 by the master whom he had ruled.
Juan Perez Florian, a gentleman of the King's chamber, and knight of the order of Christ, wras like- wise a patron of art, and used the pencil for his amusement with considerable skill.
The policy adopted by Philip in his later years, on the fall of the Eboli party, by keeping the ncbility aloof from Court, may have aided in the diffusion of taste in the provinces. Displeased by the advance- ment of a Moura or an Idiaquez to that favour which seemed the hereditary right of the Silvas and Men- dozas, many of the great families were content to
CH. VI.
Juan Perez Florian.
Diffusion of taste in the provinces.
1 Bermudez de Castro, Antonio Perez, pp. 53, 59, 60, 118, 122.
- Segundas Cartas de Ant. Perez, 24mo, Paris, 1603, fol. 191, where be records a saying of the old Duke of Alba, that kings " usan de los hom- bres como de naranja, que la buscan por el zumo, y en sacandosele, la arrojan de la mano."
452
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Duke of Alba.
His castle at Alba de Tormes.
enjoy their uninvaded dignity in their rural domains. Thither they carried with them their courtly habits and pursuits, and arts and letters shared their leisure with the chase. Villas, palaces, and convents be- came the playthings of the great ; and while some grandees reared pompous piles for themselves and their heirs, others, whose pride was more tinctured with piety, would imitate the royal monk of the Escorial, and build for St. Francis or St. Jerome. If these edifices were not always in the purest archi- tectural taste, they were, for the most part, superb in materials and decorations. Halls and chapels were panelled and ceiled with the marbles of Biscay and the rich woods of Honduras ; altars and sideboards blazed with plate that Cellini and Tobbia might have looked upon with jealous eyes ; and the fountain in the court, or the alleys of the garden, were garnished with sculptures worthy of the lordly dwellings on the Arno or the Brenta.
Fernando, Duke of Alba, the scourge of Flanders, and the conqueror of Portugal, in the intervals of war and diplomacy, was a munificent patron of litera- ture and art. At the town whence his ancestors took their ducal title, he greatly embellished his noble palace, which, although it is now but a ruined shell on its " pleasant seat " by the Tormes, stands in imperishable beauty in the sweet verse of the
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
453
Castilian Sidney.1 Here he employed one Tommaso, of Florence, to paint a gallery in fresco, and he formed a collection of pictures and marbles ; and here, by order of his son, some of his military ex- ploits were commemorated in the frescoes of Granelo and the younger Castello.2 At La Abadia, amongst the chestnut-covered hills of Estremadura, the same Duke had a country-seat — once an abbey of the Temple — long famous throughout Spain for the ex- tent and beauty of its gardens on the hanging banks of the Ambroz. In this chosen retirement he spent great part of the evening of life ; and he embellished its grounds with fountains and balustraded terraces, of which the ornamental sculptures were executed at Florence by Camilani. Here Lope de Vega, who wrote his "Arcadia" at the suggestion of the Duke, was frequently a guest in an actual Arcadia ; and he has celebrated in song the groves and alleys, the fantastically-shorn myrtles, and the fountains and statues "wherein all Ovid stood translated into
CH. VI.
Country house at La Abadia.
1 In the fine passage of Garcilasso's second Eclogue (Obras, p. 63, 24ino, Madrid, 1817), beginning —
" En la ribera verde y deleytosa Del sacro T6rmes, dulce y claro rio " —
[See Wiffen's translation, sin. 8vo, London, 1823, p. 239.]
A description of the palace will be found in Ponz, torn. xii. p. 297 ; and,
of its present condition, in the Handbook [1845], P- 5^4 [third edition,
1855, p. 528].
2 See supra, chap. iv. p. 233.
454
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Palace of Duke Alvar Bazan Mar- ques de Santa- Cruz at El Viso.
Palace of Duke of Infantado at Guadala- jara.
bronze and marble." : The favourite seat of the great Alba, overgrown with myrtle, is still pointed out ; but time and the destroying Gaul have made the fair scenes on which he loved to look a wilderness of desolation ; the terraces and stairs are broken down, the pavilions in ruins, and the lower garden is under the plough, and its site marked only by a solitary memorial cypress.2 Alba had also a palace at Seville, of Moorish design, and of great extent and splendour. At El Viso, on the Manchegan side of the Sierra Morena, the stout Admiral —
" Gran Marques de Santa-Cruz, famoso Bazan, Achilles siempre victorioso " 3 —
reared a magnificent palace, from designs by Castello, the Bergamese,4 where a variety of classical histories, as well as his own naval exploits against the Turk and the Portuguese, formed the subjects of many good frescoes by Cesare Arbasia, and by three in- genious brothers, Perolas of Almagro.5
The great house of Mendoza, equally distinguished in arms, in diplomacy, and in letters, had its chief seat at Guadalajara, in a vast and sumptuous palace,
1 See the quotations in Ponz, torn. viii. p. 28, where these gardens are described with great prolixity.
2 Handbook [1845], p. 555 [third edition, 1855, p. 501].
3 Lope de Vega, Laurel de Apolo, Silva ii. — Obras, torn. i. p. 27.
4 Los Aryuitectos, torn. iii. p. 8. 6 Ponz, torn. xvi. p. 55.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
455
which was early remarkable for its extensive library,1 and under successive Dukes of Infantado became rich in works of art, and gave frequent employment to artists. The Maecenas of the northern provinces was the head of the once royal house of Arragon, the Duke of Villahermosa, who possessed a fine palace at Zaragoza, and a villa in the vicinity. From Italy this grandee brought a scholar of Titian, one Paolo Esquarte, who embellished his halls with a variety of paintings, and with a series of portraits of his ancestors, copied from uncouth originals, and executed with great spirit. The painter, dying in the Duke's service, left a considerable estate to his daughter, who had married a citizen of Zaragoza. The mansions of the Silvas at Buitrago, the San- dovals at Denia, the Beltrans de la Cueva at Cuellar, the Pimentels at Benevente, and many other ancient seats scattered amongst the valleys and vegas of the Peninsula, were noble abodes that might compare with the contemporary manor-houses of Kent and the seigneurial castles of Touraine.
The Church, which had fostered the infancy of the arts, was still the most constant and munificent patron of their prime. The princely revenues of royal abbeys and archiepiscopal sees were still freely
CH. VI.
1 See Pr61ogo to the Memorial de cosas notables compuesto por Don Yuigo Lopez de Mendoea, Duque quarto del Infantado. Folio, Guada- lajara, 1564.
Palace and Villa of Duke of Villaher- mosa at Zaragoza.
Paolo Esquarte.
The Church the great patron of art.
456
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Juan de Ribera Archbishop of Val- encia.
Chapter of Seville and the Arch- bishop de Valdes.
expended in erecting ecclesiastical buildings, and in furnishing them forth in all the luxury and pomp that befitted the splendid ritual of Rome. In this age arose many a sumptuous church, and many a Carthusian palace, not always, perhaps, in the purest taste, but of which the ruined walls and grass-grown cloisters still astonish the traveller in Valencia and Andalusia. To the ancient temples and convents each year added some fair chapel or glittering altar. It was a prelate of this age, the beatified Archbishop Juan de Ribera, who founded and built the fine college of Corpus Christi, at Valencia. To an abbot of this age, Geronimo Hurtado, the Bernardines of Valdeiglesias were indebted for the grand stalls of their choir, which employed the sculptor Leon for ten years, and were reckoned the finest in Castile.1 At Seville, the Chapter finished the glorious chapel-royal of the Cathedral, where lie enshrined the body and the sword of St. Ferdinand ; the Archbishop de Valdes, with the aid of the architect Ruiz, the painter Vargas, and the sculptor Morel, adding a hundred feet to the height of the Moorish tower, embellish- ing its niches with frescoes, and crowning it with a colossal statue of Faith bearing a banner, left it the most beautiful belfry in the world. To this reign
1 Supra, chap. v. p. 358.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
457
may be referred many of the finest chapels and choirs, rich in precious woods and marbles, cande- labra of bronze, and lustres of rock-crystal, and enclosed within light and lofty screens of iron arabesque-work ; the most gorgeous painted glass ; and fairest monuments of the illustrious dead, which time and France has spared to the noble temples of Spain. And wrhile the Iberian Church was thus glorious at home, she shone forth with almost equal splendour on her new and vast empire beyond the Atlantic. The second Cathedral of Mexico l was a contemporary edifice with that of Valladolid ; and whilst the builders were still at work on the metropolitan church of learned Salamanca, another Cathedral was rising from the bosom of the virgin forest at Merida of Yucatan.2
The goldsmiths of this reign were not inferior in skill and reputation 3 to the earlier craftsmen, whost cunning hands had rendered famous the plate of Cordoba and Valladolid. Juan d'Arphe not only maintained the credit of his family by many beauti- ful works in gold and silver, but obtained consider- able distinction by the pen and the graver. Born at Leon, in 1535, he learned drawing from his
1 Los Arquitectos, torn. iii. p. 71.
" Id. p. 67. See also Stephens' Iwuleids of Trave-l in. Yucatan, 2 vols. 8vo, 1843, v°l- i- PP- 76-78. 3 Supra, chap. iii. p. 194.
VOL. II. G
CH. VI.
Gold- smiths.
Juan d'Arphe.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Custodias at Avila,
and at Seville.
father, Antonio d'Arphe, who afterwards sent him to study anatomy at Salamanca. Thence he went to Toledo and Madrid, to examine the works of Vigarny, Bermguete, and Becerra ; and the observa- tions which he made upon the sculptures of these masters caused him to adopt in his own practice a rule of drawing which gave to the male figure ten times and one-third of the length of the face. Settling at Valladolid, on the death of his father, he soon became distinguished in his profession. His first work of importance was the silver Custodia of the Cathedral of Avila, which was begun in 1564, and installed with great rejoicings in the church in 1571. It contained about 277 marks1 of silver, and cost 1,907,403 maravedis. It was six feet in height, and consisted of six storeys, supported on pillars of the Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite orders, and enriched with bas-reliefs and statuettes. In 1580, the Chapter of Seville having determined to furnish their Cathedral with a Custodia, which should be worthy of the church itself, and unequalled in Spain, invited all the most ingenious silversmiths to send in designs for the proposed work. D'Arphe's plan2 being preferred to those of the other com-
1 The Castilian mark of eight ounces.
2 The woodcut given opposite is a reduced copy of that in the Varia Commensuracion, Liv. iv., tit. 2, ch. v., p. 291. It resembles, in general effect, the Custodia of Seville, and was probably the design which d'Arphe most approved.
IMA . A
II IX - ',— 1. •. ,:, •'-•..'. j. O
DESIGN FOH A. CUSTODIA BY J. D'AKPHE.
To face page 458.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
459
petitors, he was employed to execute it in silver, and after seven years' labour, completed the beautiful piece of plate which is still one of the glories of the city. It is twelve feet in height, and of a round form ; the storeys are four in number, and each supported on twenty-four columns, which are of the Ionic order in the first, and Corinthian and Composite in the rest ; between the columns stand a variety of little statues, and the base and cornices are profusely embellished with bas-reliefs, wreaths of foliage, and other appropriate adornments. Within the area of the first storey there was originally a seated figure of Faith, with a chalice and banner, for which a " Virgin of the Conception " was substi- tuted, in 1668; in the second, was the shrine for the Host, and in the third and fourth, representa- tions of the Church triumphant, and the Most Holy Trinity ; and the edifice was finished with a small dome, and a cross, replaced by a small statue of Faith, in 1668, when some other slight additions were made, which raised the weight of silver in the whole to 2,174 marks. The price paid to d'Arphe is not mentioned by Cean Bermudez. In 1587, the year when his labours were ended, he published a description of his work,1 which he dedicated to the
1 It is printed by Cean Bermudez, in his Diccionario, torn. i. p. 60. There is another Description de la Cnstodia de la Catcdral de Srvilla, by La Torre Farfan, in the Columbian Library of the Cathedral. It is still
CH. VI.
460
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Custodiaa of Cathe- drals of Burgos,
and of Val- ladolid.
Assisted by Lesmes Fernandez de Moral, in the Cus- todias of
Chapter. In this paper, he extols the " marvellous temple " of the Escorial, and the sober majesty of its design, as the highest effort of modern architec- ture. The same love of simplicity is displayed in the Custodia itself, for its ornaments are, for the most part, scrupulously pure, and, excepting some pillars wreathed with foliage, it has little that would have pleased the fanciful plateresque architects of the last reign, or offended the severe eye of Toledo or Herrera.
Whilst this work was in progress, d'Arphe lived at Seville, and there executed the more delicate portions of another Custodia for the Cathedral of Burgos, which, when finished, weighed eleven arrobas,1 and cost 235,664 reals, or about ^2,429 sterling. Returning to Valladolid, he completed, in 1590, the Custodia which still exists in that Cathedral; its weight of silver wras 282 marks, and the principal subject of the sculptures the expulsion of our first parents from Paradise. With the assist- ance of his son-in-law and scholar, Lesmes Fernandez de Moral, he afterwards made Custodias, smaller in
in MS., and seems to have been written after the modern alterations, for which see the Handbook [1843, P- 254 '•> l%55> P- ^82]. The vases for i flowers which surround the base, one being put opposite each of the bases, are most elegant. Farfan calls them jarras esqnisitas, and says they belonged to the old design. I have ordered a pair of them to he copied by a Seville silversmith. He says they weigh 2\ Ibs. (1859). 1 The itrrobn weighs twenty-live pounds.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
461
size, but not less exquisite in workmanship, for the Cathedral of Osma, and St. Martin's church at Madrid. These elegant pieces of plate, which, as well as the Custodia of Burgos, fell a prey to the French, bore a general resemblance in shape and design to the Custodia of Seville. D'Arphe was appointed by Philip II. to the post of Assayer of the Mint at Segovia, and was employed to make seventy-four small copper busts of saints, at the price of 1,000 reals each, to adorn the reliquaries at the Escorial. lie likewise made for the king a silver fountain, inlaid with gold, and adorned with figures of Jupiter and the Elements, and a silver ewer, with chasings representing Bacchus, Pallas, and Orpheus.1 The date of his death is not pre- cisely known ; but it probably took place early in the seventeenth century, at Segovia or Madrid.
The last of the d'Arphes was certainly one of the ablest artists who ever confided his conceptions to the precarious keeping of the precious metals. Being the Herrera of plate architecture, his silver structures are less rich in effect than those of his grandfather ; and his Seville Custodia, with its columns and classical cornices, does not dazzle and delight the eye like the gorgeous pinnacled shrine of Henrique at Toledo. But his figures, being larger, display
CH. VI.
1 Los Arquitcctos, tom. iii. p. 104.
Cathedral of Osma, and St. Martin's church at Madrid.
Appointed Assayer of Mint.
Death.
Merits as an artist.
462
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Writings.
" Quila- tador."
"Do Varia
Commen-
suracion."
more skill in sculpture, and his bas-reliefs and wreaths of flowers and foliage are unrivalled in elegance and grace. lie was the author of an esteemed treatise on the value of metals and gems, entitled, " Quilatador de la plata, oro y piedras," and printed at Valladolid, in 1572, 4to, with a de- dication to Cardinal Diego de Espinosa, Bishop of Siguenza, and some engravings on wood.1 Accord- ing to the fashion of the age, the occult virtues of precious stones are carefully noted ; the diamond 2 is said to be effectual against poisons and panic, and the ruby3 against noxious atmosphere and dis- content; the emerald4 is held to cure the falling sickness and prevent poverty, and the sapphire 5 to promote chastity, for which reason, says d'Arphe, it is the favourite gem of Cardinals and prelates ; people suffering from quartan agues and mortal wounds are advised to swallow molten pearls and milk,6 and horsemen to wear the turquoise,7 which has the property of rendering a fall from the saddle harmless. He likewise wrote a book on the art of design, with many engravings, of which those representing various pieces of Church-plate are interesting as memorials
1 This edition is now very rare ; the title contains a wood-engraving of the Cardinal's arms, then follow three leaves of licenses, dedication, and prologue ; and seventy-two leaves of matter, including the index. The book was reprinted in 8vo, Madrid, 1598.
~ Quilatador, fol. 41. 3 Ibid. fol. 45.
<• Ibid. fol. 48. s Ibid. fol. 55.
6 Ibid. fol. 61. 7 Ibid. fol. 67.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
463
of d'Arphe's lost works.1 The title of the work is " De Varia Commensuracion para la Esculptura y Architectural folio, Sevilla, 1585-7; on the reverse of the title-page is the artist's portrait in profile, with a hat and spectacles ; and it is dedicated to Don Pedro Giron, Duke of Ossuna, the famous and eccentric Viceroy2 of Naples.3 It is divided into four books, the first treating of geometry, the second of human anatomy, the third of the anatomy of the lower animals, and the last of architecture, which includes works in silver and gold. The argument of each chapter is given in a stanza of eight verses, some of which are curious ; and those which treat of the female form show that d'Arphe, during his resi- dence in Andalusia, had studied the points of its women, with their " small plump hands and feet,"
" Pies y nianos pequenos y carnosos," 4
as carefully as Cespedes had studied the points of
CH. VI.
1 A woodcut of one of these, a portable Custodia (Custodia portatil), taken from p. 293 of the Madrid reprint, 1795, of d'Arphe's book, forms the tailpiece to this chapter ; another has been already given at p. 458.
2 Query — his father, who was also Viceroy of Naples.
3 The first edition is rare, but the book has often been reprinted. The edition in folio, Madrid, 1795, with Don Pedro Enguera's mathematical additions, and fac-similes of the original plates, is called the seventh. There is a still later edition, by Don Josef Assensio y Torres, in two torn., folio, Madrid, 1806, with many new plates, and an appendix on heraldry ; in which, however, d'Arphe's poetical arguments to the chapters are omitted.
4 Lib. ii., tit. 3, p. 167. A specimen of these rhymed summaries may be found in chap, iii. p. 195, note i.
464
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Engrav- ings.
Francisco Alvarez.
its horses. lie engraved the portrait of the poet, Alonso Ercilla, for the edition of the " Araucana," published in 4to, Madrid, 1590; and to him have likewise been attributed the plates in Ilernando de Acuiia's translation ^ of " Le Chevalier delibere," the curious anonymous poem of Olivier de la Marche. These woodcuts bear the signature f^ \ they first appeared in the edition of the book published at Salamanca, in 1573, and they were likewise found in the edition published at Madrid in I59O.2 He is said also to have formed a collection of armorial bearings, which is mentioned by Argote de Molina, who, perhaps, used some of the drawings for the heraldic illustrations of his " Nobleza de Andaluzia," folio, Sevilla, I588.3
Francisco Alvarez was goldsmith to Queen Isabel of the Peace, and a worthy contemporary of the d'Arphes and Becerrils. His best work was a Custodia, executed, in 1568, for the corporation of Madrid, consisting of two storeys, of the Corinthian and Composite orders, each supported on eight columns, and differing from others, inasmuch as it
1 El Cavallero dctcrminado'. En Salamanca, en casa de Pedro Laso. 1573. A rare 4to of 119 leaves.
2 4to, en casa de Pedro Madrigal, with which is usually found the Adicional Cavallero determinado, por el mismo autor, 4to, Madrid, 1590 ; title and one preliminary leaf, and fol. 27, paged on one side. The woodcuts in the edition of Antwerp 4to, 1591, seem to have been, in part, borrowed from those of J. d'Arphe.
3 Los Arquitcctos, torn. iii. p. 102.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
465
contained in its second storey a second structure of similar design, within which was placed the vessel of the Host, richly gilt and sparkling with diamonds. This Custodia was embellished, as usual, with bas- reliefs and statues of beautiful workmanship ; it was reckoned the finest piece of Church-plate in the capital, where it was kept in the town-hall, and was carried forth once a year in the procession of Corpus.
Francisco Merino flourished at Toledo, where he - is supposed to have been the disciple of the elder Nicolas Vergara, the sculptor. His first important work in silver was the feretory, designed by Vergara, for the body of St. Eugenius, first Archbishop of Toledo, whose charmed carcase, after lying for many ages at the bottom of a French lake, found its way to St. Denys, and finally to Toledo, being sent by Catherine de Medicis as an appropriate present to Philip II. This silver coffer was six feet in length, and weighed 248 marks ; it was richly adorned with scrolls, coats of arms, emblematic figures, and bas- reliefs, one of which represented the Saint's solemn entry into his metropolitan church, "attended by the King and Don Carlos, the grandees of the realm, many prelates, clergy, and friars, and such an array of guilds with their ensigns, so many crosses and banners, so great a blaze of light and expenditure of wax, that the like had not been in the memorv
CH. VI.
Francisco Merino.
Feretories for the bodies of St. Eu- genius
466
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
and Sta. Leocadia.
Custodia of Baeza.
Various celebrated works in silver and gold,
of man."1 In 1587, the corpse of the Toledan Virgin-martyr, Sta. Leocadia, which had been carried, several centuries before, to Flanders, by some devout Christian fugitive, being brought back from exile and presented by Philip II. to the Cathedral, was reverently committed to a similar shrine of silver, executed by Merino, from the designs of the younger Vergara. This feretory was smaller than that which held the Archbishop ; it was little more than three and a half feet long, and weighed 2 1 7 marks ; but it did not contain the whole saint, for the Cathedral already possessed one of her limbs, a jewel which, of course, had its separate casket. The Cathedral of Baeza is said to have once possessed a Custodia wrought by Merino, and he competed, in 1579, with Juan d'Arphe,2 for the honour of executing that of Seville, when, although unsuccessful, he was paid by the Chapter 1,000 reals for his design. He died, it is believed, in, or soon after, 1594.
By the labour and skill of artists like these, the treasuries of the Church were becoming each year more splendid. In the great Cathedrals, and in the temple of the Escorial, each newly-acquired relic, the bone of a Saint, the body of an Innocent of Bethlehem, or a thorn from the Saviour's crown, was placed in a shrine of gold or silver, or gilt bronze,
Villegas, Flos Sanctorum, p. 616.
Supra, p. 457.
REIGN OF PHILIP II. 467 |
|
of exquisite design and workmanship, and often en- riched with gems. Amongst the more remarkable of these pieces of ecclesiastical luxury, were the tower |
CH. VI. |
at tho Escorial, |
|
of gold and jasper, which contained a muscle of St. |
|
Lawrence, bearing the marks of the gridiron and the |
|
fire, the first relic of the Escorial ; the elegant temple |
|
in the same collection containing the " wise, mature, |
|
and grave head of St. Jerome ; " l the silver statue and Valencia. and chair of St. Vincent Ferrer,2 and the little statue |
|
of St. Michael formed of diamonds,3 in the Cathedral |
|
of Valencia. At the festivals of Easter, Corpus, or |
|
the Immaculate Conception, these gorgeous and re- |
|
vered objects were exposed to view in the churches, |
|
on the altars, or in vast temporary monuments,4 amidst |
|
solemn music, clouds of rich incense, and the soft |
|
lustre of innumerable tapers ; or they were carried, |
|
wreathed in flowers and beneath embroidered cano- |
|
pies, through the holiday streets— |
|
" En las ventanas alfombras |
|
En el suelo juncia y ranios" — 5 |
|
and throngs of joyous people, proud of these Palladia |
|
of their cities, and exulting in their |
|
" — Gay religion, full of pomp and gold." 8 |
|
1 Fr. F. de loa Santos, Description, fol. 33, 34. 2 Carletou's Memoirs, pp. 241-2. 3 Ponz, torn. iv. p. 43. 4 Supra, chap. iii. p. 124. 5 Romance of the Cid, beginning "A su palacio de Burgos." 6 Paradise Lost, B. i., 1. 372. |
468
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Solemni- ties in the Cathedral of Seville, on the death of Philip II.
The Monu- ment,
and its de- corations.
The Church displayed its magnificence, and gave large employment to artists in the funeral rites per- formed in honour of Philip II. in the principal Cathedrals of the kingdom. The most splendid of these services was that which took place on the 25th of November, 1598, in the Cathedral of Seville.1 In the centre of the church, between the high altar and the choir, rose a stately monument, 44 feet square and 41 feet in height, without counting the steps on which it stood, designed by Juan de Oviedo, knight of Montesa and master of works to the city. It was an edifice of three storeys, each supported on eight columns, of which the lower were Doric and those above Ionic and Corinthian ; betwixt the Doric columns were altars dedicated to the favourite saints of Seville and Philip ; and, be- twixt the rest, allegorical figures of Wisdom, Pru- dence, Clemency, Truth, Justice, and other virtues, discerned by the Chapter, but invisible to the eye of histoiy, in the character of the departed prince. The cornices were also painted with allegorical de- vices ; the second storey contained the cenotaph, and had, at its four corners, four pyramids in memory of Philip's four Queens ; within the third storey was a statue of St. Lawrence, and above the whole was
1 Espinosa de los Monteros, Historia de Sevilla, fol. 111-118, where a full account of the whole may be found, and all the fulsome Latin in- scriptions.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
469
a dome supporting an obelisk, topped by a burning en. vi. phoenix, and lost in the vast depth, which it nearly fathomed, of the vaults above.
From this soaring structure, branched off on either Galleries. hand to the doors leading to the Lonja, and court of orange-trees, arched galleries decorated with paint- ings and many inscriptions in Latin verse, illustrating the glories of the past reign. Amongst these were { Painting*. duly celebrated the victory at Lepanto, and the Morisco war in Granada, wherein the infidels were very unjustly allegorised as deer fleeing before the Christian eagle of Austria ; and one curious subject, affording great scope for the display of Andalusian assurance, is recorded, but unfortunately without any description, under the name of the " Reduction of England." The materials used in this monument were chiefly timber and canvas, and the cost of con- struction was upwards of 15,000 ducats ; the columns and walls were coloured in imitation of brown stone, the bases, capitals, escutcheons of arms, wTeaths, and draperies in imitation of bronze, and the heads and limbs of the figures, of white marble. Vasco Pereyra, Alonso Vasquez, Perea,1 and Juan de Salcedo Artists. were the chief artists employed in the decorations, in which they were assisted by many younger artists,
1 Perea is mentioned by Espinosa de los Monteros, but not by Ceau Bermudez ; he may be identical with lr. Pereyra.
470
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
CH. VI.
Cere- monial.
of whom Pacheco and some others rose to distinc- tion in after years ; Delgado was the principal sculptor, and under his direction the statue of St. Lawrence and eighteen others were modelled by Martinez Montanes, who became the Juni of Seville. The consumption of wax, in lighting up this pile and its galleries, amounted to 4,992 pounds, without counting 4,000 tapers, each weighing half-a-pound, which were distributed to the clergy on the eve of the service, and on the morning of its celebration.
Then around this superb monument, the centre of a sea of human life flowing far into the dim aisles, in the grandest of Gothic temples, amidst a blaze of light and the majestic swell of organs, stood the dignitaries of the Church, apparelled in all their bravery, the whole priesthood of the city, and the friars of all the orders, chanting in solemn chorus the requiem of the royal dead. Time and fate never provided a more august occasion or a nobler stage ; man, "splendid in ashes and pompous in the grave," * has rarely made mightier preparations for a funeral ceremonial, than were met at these obsequies of Philip II. ; which, nevertheless, are now chiefly memorable for the facts that, during their perform- ance, a poor disabled soldier, an obscure unit in
1 Sir Thos. Browne's Hydriotaphia ; Worlds, 8vo, London, 1835, vol. iii. p. 494.
REIGN OF PHILIP II.
471
the throng, one Miguel Cervantes, was accused of brawling in the Cathedral,1 and that he has recorded these solemnities in a sonnet.2
CH. VI.
Cervantes.
1 Loekhart's Life of Cervantes, in his edition of Motteux's Don Quixote, ! vol. i. p. 33, 8vo, Edinburgh, 1822, where he erroneously states that : Philip II. died at Seville.
- Entitled Al tumulo del Rey en Scvilla, quoted in Los Arquitectos, torn. iii. p. 167, where this monument is described.
CHAPTER VII.
KKILJN Otf PHILIP III. 1598-1621.
HILIP III., a good-na-
CII. VII.
His cbar-
tured man, who but for his cruel expulsion of acter- his Morisco subjects, might have passed for a good king, and in spite of that act of folly and injustice, enjoyed the title of the " good "
amongst the "old Christians" of Castile,1 inherited something of his father's taste, but was wholly desti- tute of his energy and talent. The old King showed that he had formed a just estimate of his son's char- acter, when he described him as fitted rather to be
1 Cespcdes y Menescs, I Fist or in <fc Doi>, Felice IV, rnj ///• las EspaKas, fol. Barcelona, 1634, ]>. i,
VOL. II. H
474
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CII. VII.
II is patron- age of art.
Anecdotes of Philip III.
ruled than to rule.1 Averse and unequal to the cares of state, and unhappy in his ministers, his reign was fatal to the power and grandeur of Spain. Nor can it be said that he much promoted the progress of art ; he invited no distinguished foreign artist to Court, nor did his patronage, though freely dispensed, call forth any native genius of a high order. His high admiration of " Don Quixote," the solitary glory of this reign, shows that he was not insensible to the beauties of literature ; and his hereditary love of art displayed itself in a predilection for drawing, which he had learned in his youth, and in the pleasure he found in watching the frescoes and decorations exe- cuted by his command in the palaces. As a man of taste, his reputation is also further supported by his remark, when informed of the fire at the Pardo, in which many fine pictures perished. " Is the Antiope of Titian saved ? " cried he ; and upon being assured of its preservation, he expressed great delight, say- ing that other pictures might be replaced, but that the loss of a fine work of Titian was irreparable. Another anecdote is related of him, which, if less conclusive as to his taste in matters of art, speaks well for his good-nature. He was talking one day with the Duke of Infantado about some pictures lately sent to the palace for his inspection ; when
1 Watson's History of the Ecif/» nf Philip III., Svo, London, iSoS, vol. i. p. 3.
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 475 |
|
that grandee, vexed that works so worthless should have been honoured by the glances of royalty, sug- |
CH. VII. |
gested that the authors of these execrable daubs |
|
should be forbidden to paint any more. "Bear |
|
with them," said his Majesty, in a spirit of tolera- |
|
tion that might have been advantageously extended |
|
to the Moriscos, " for the sake of their laudable love |
|
of art, and also because a bad picture pleases some |
|
people as well as a good one." 1 |
|
Too indolent to bestow much thought even on his amusements, Philip III., in the embellishment of his royal residences, languidly pursued the plans |
Improve- ment of the royal palace.s. |
of the late king. Like his consort, in the selection |
|
of whom he refused to have any voice,2 his best artists |
|
were, with the exception of Vincencio Carducho and |
|
Eugenio Caxes, appointed by his father. At Valla- |
Vallatlolkl. |
dolid, where he passed a great portion of his time, |
|
he enlarged the royal palace, famous for its vast size |
|
and noble gardens, but long since gone to decay. Here he appointed Estacio Gutierrez, a native of |
Estacio Gutierrez. |
the city, his painter, with a monthly salary of twenty |
|
ducats. He made several improvements at the |
The Pardo. |
Pardo, as well before as after the fire, which on the |
|
fatal night of the i3th of March, 1604, destroyed |
|
the principal apartments of the palace, and the |
|
woodwork of the roof and towers, the fine collection |
|
1 Carduclio, Dialogox, fol. 200. - Watson's I'liilip III., vol. i. ji. 4. |
476
IU<;iGN OF PHILIP III.
en. VIT. ! of portraits by Titian, More, and Sanchez Coello,
and many other works of art, which far outweighed
; any accession of treasure received during this reign
by the royal galleries. The building was repaired,
and in some respects improved, by the architect
Artists em- Francisco de Mora, at the cost of 80,000 ducats.
ployed
there. For a fresco in the Queen's gallery, painted by
Patricio Caxes, Philip chose the singular subject of " Joseph and Potiphar's wife," an adornment little flattering to the pious Queen Margaret, and convey- ing a moral which has been signally disregarded by her successors. Carbajal, the Caxes, the Carduchos, Geronimo Mora, Juan de Soto, and other artists of whom little beyond their names has survived, were likewise employed in the fresco decorations of the
Litigation restored palace.1 Some of them had a Ions; dispute
between
the artists wjth the Board of Works and Woods (Junta de
and the \
Board of OLrcis ij Bosqucs] as to the price of their labours ; the inspectors on one side having valued the work done at upwards of 60,000 reals, while those on the other estimated it at about half that sum. The matter was finally referred to Pierre Ilorfelin, a French painter, settled at Zaragoza, whose award, though not recorded by Cean Bermudez, seems to
1 The woodcut of this palace is taken from No. xi. of a series of fifty - five small views in Spain and Portugal, etched, in 1665-8, by Louis Mourner, and noticed by Dumesnil, Peintre-Graveur Franqais, 6 torn. Svo. Paris, 1838-42, torn. v. p. 245.
Work.-
Pierre
Ilorfelin.
REIGN OF PHILIP III. |
477 |
have given satisfaction to the Board, as he received, in 1616, 2,000 ducats for his trouble and loss of |
OH. VII. |
time. Amongst the litigants was Giulio Cesare Semin, a Genoese, who painted a good " Cruci- |
Giulio Cesare Semin. |
fixion," for the church of San Bartolome de Sonsoles |
|
at Toledo. Although employed at the Pardo, he |
|
did not hold the office of court-painter, a distinction |
|
.,- _ "' *! "****=•* ' " T. - |
|
'i ^-- :" T% |
|
ft**- slsL. i > |
|
BiKj i $$< A -*. ;* J!K^^^|^ r • -rti'^r |
|
,.^JPSHt, w jfj ^ « i •^^'iiSK^^^-fyt'S':' |
|
"•ssgp|fcp*:H |
|
which, however, was conferred, with the monthly |
|
salary of twenty ducats, on another Genoese, Lorenzo de Viana, son of Francisco, painter to Philip II.1 |
Lorenzo de Viana. |
In 1616, the King embellished the royal gardens, near Madrid, with the fine equestrian statue of himself, for which he paid the artist, Pietro Tacca, |
Statue of Philip III. at the Casa del Campo. |
4,000 ducats.2 Later in his reign, he conceived the |
|
1 Supra, chap. iv. p. 234. - Supra, chap. v. p. 320. |
47§
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
Escorial Pantheon.
Raying of Philip II.
Giovanni linttista Croscenzi.
CH. vii. design of completing the Escorial, by erecting there a royal mausoleum, which should rival the rest of the edifice in splendour ; for the founder, although he reared sumptuous monuments for himself and his father, had provided a mere ordinary vault to receive the royal dust. " I have built," he said, " for God ; my son, if he pleases, may build for his bones and ours." In 1617 Philip III., having determined upon so doing, invited the best archi- tects in Spain to send in plans, of which he chose that of Giovanni Battista Crescenzi, an Italian painter and architect, and brother of a Cardinal, who had been brought to Spain shortly before by Cardinal Zapata. His first work, which attracted the royal notice, was a well-executed flower-piece. This artist was therefore sent, in 1619, to Italy, with an allowance of 2,000 ducats for his ex- penses, and letters to the Spanish ambassadors and viceroys, to collect models and artisans ; and, during his absence, the finest jaspers and marbles were selected from the rich quarries of Spain. Returning to Madrid in 1620, with eight Italian and Flemish assistants, he had made but little pro- gress in the work when the King died, on the 3ist March, 1621. Continued for thirty-three years of the following reign, this royal sepulchre became,
1 Fr. F. do los Santos, Description, fol. no.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
479
Tba "Mes- sina " reli- quary.
Person ami portraits of Philip III.
under the name of the Pantheon, the most splendid CH. vn. chamber of the Escorial. Amongst the reliquaries of the convent, one of the finest was the gift of Philip III. It was the silver figure of a woman, somewhat less than life, wearing a crown and neck- lace of gold, and holding a golden Custodia ; and it bore the name of the " Messina," because it represented that city, by which it had been offered to the King, with its Custodia, filled with relics of the famous Sicilian saints, Placidius and his fellows, martyred by the Saracens.1
The countenance of Philip III., as depicted in his portraits, bears a considerable resemblance in feature to his father's ; in early youth it may have been pleasing, but the lips want firmness, and the eyes intelligence. That constitutional melancholy, inherited with the Spanish crowns through the blood of Juana, which drove Charles to San Yuste, and his son to the Escorial, and may be read in their pale, stern faces, is equally visible in the owlish physiognomy of their less intellectual de- scendant. He frequently sat to Pantoja de la Cruz, his favourite painter, yet no original portrait of him now exists in the Royal Gallery at Madrid. There is no doubt, however, that the fine equestrian portrait in that collection,2 painted by Velazquez a few years
1 Fr. F. de los Santos, Description, foil. 35.
2 Catulogo, 1843, No. 230 [1889, No. 1064].
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Quoen Margaret.
after the King's death, was executed with scrupulous exactness from the best original likenesses then existing.
His Queen, Margaret of Austria, was painted in 1603, by Pantoja, in a large composition of the " Nativity of Our Lord," 1 as the Blessed Virgin, a character for which her youthful bloom, fair hair, and innocent expression were well adapted, and which she was rendered yet more worthy to sustain by her piety and virtues. The Royal Gallery of Madrid possesses another portrait of her, in her quality of Queen, in a black dress and starched ruff, painted a few years later by the same hand, when her face had become fuller, and bore a considerable resemblance to that of her celebrated daughter, Anne, Queen of France. The short life of Margaret was chiefly spent in works of charity and devotion ; she would rise from bed on the coldest, darkest winter's morning, and kneel in adoration of the Host, if its tinkling bell were heard in the streets below ; she gave the chosen jewels which she had been for some time collecting for a set of ornaments, to adorn the Custodia of a favourite church ; 2 and although she does not appear to have had any strong predilections
1 Supra, chap. v. p. 319.
" Florez, Mcmorias dc fas Ecyvas Cntholicas, 2 torn. Svo, Madrid, 1770, torn. ii. p. 924. Her portrait, probably after Pantoja, may be found at p. 914.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
481
for art, her large benefactions to convents must frequently have been given in such shape as afforded employment to artists.
Don Francisco de Roxas y Saudoval, Cardinal Duke of Lerma, Philip's weak, amiable, and profuse favourite, in the midst of ministerial business and family contentions, bestowed little care or counte- nance on letters or the fine arts. Of his patronage of literary merit, the chief fact on record is that he engaged Cervantes, whose great fiction had just astonished Castile and Europe, to write an account of the bull-feasts and other holiday shows, with which the Court welcomed Howard, the English Ambassador, to Valladolid in 1605. For artists, however, he did something more. He employed Cardenas, to execute for the high altar of the con- vent of St. Paul, at Valladolid, some paintings of considerable merit. At the town of Old Castile, whence he took his ducal title, he built himself a palace, — from the designs of Francisco de Mora, — a great square pile, " of all their buildings esteemed by Spaniards next in magnificence to the Escorial," 1 which it somewhat resembled in its architecture,2 whither he retired to sing masses in his old age and disgrace. In the collegiate church at Lerma, the
1 Dunlop's Memoirs of Spain, Svo, Edinburgh, 1834, vol. i. p. 30 — one of the most agreeable works on Spanish history in our language. '- Los Aryuitectos, torn. iii. p. 131.
CH. VII.
Patrons of
art. Car- <i»iai t>uke
of Lerma.
482
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Marquess do Canolo.
Duke of Uzoda.
Duke placed a fine statue of himself by Pompeyo Leoni ; and he was buried with his Duchess beneath a sumptuous monument by the same artist, in the church of the Dominicans, at Valladolid,1 where their colossal statues of gilt bronze may still be seen in the Museum.2 A portrait of this minister, curious as a piece of clumsy and barefaced flattery, and per- haps painted by one of those daubsters who moved the spleen of Infantado,3 existed at Madrid in the reign of Olivares. Ilowel saw there " a huge Rodo- montado picture of the Duke of Lerma, wherein he is painted like a giant, bearing up the monarchy of Spain, that of France, and the Popedom upon his shoulders, with this stanza—
" Sobre los ombros de este Atlante Yacen en aquestas diaz Estas tres monarquias."
" Upon the shoulders of this Atlas lies The Popedom, and two famous monarchies." 4
The Marquess of Canete built himself a fine house at Madrid, during this reign, from the designs of Mora ; 5 and the Duke of Uzeda, Lerma's son and rival, also constructed there part of a palace, after- wards the royal council office, which was esteemed
1 Ponz, torn. xi. p. 59.
2 In the great hall ; Compendia Historico, p. 50. 3 Supra, p. 474.
4 E])iatol(K Hueliamt; p. 127 [121110, Loudou, 1678, sec. iii. letter n, p. in].
5 Los Arquitcctos, torn. iii. p 132.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
483
one of the latest and best works of the same archi- tect.1 Don Tomas Gracian Dantisco, secretary to the King, was an amateur painter of some skill. He gave the design of the lofty triumphal car which was drawn by eight mules and a hundred men through the streets of Valladolid, on the iQth of April, 1605, during the rejoicings for the birth of Philip IV., and executed the allegorical paintings with which it was adorned. Lope de Vega, in his "Laurel de Apolo," celebrates the poetical genius of Dona Laurencia de Zurita, wife of this gentleman, of whom he likewise makes honourable mention, as
" Su digiio esposo, De los cifras de Apolo secretario Como del gran Felipe." '2
Don Francisco Tejada, gentleman of the King's chamber, possessed a good collection of works of art, and was himself an ingenious amateur artist.3 The Marquess of Aula sketched and painted with spirit, and was a lover and patron of the arts. Don Gregorio Lopez Madera, knight of Santiago, and councillor of Castile, was also " touched with the spark of painting," 4 and found time for the exercise
1 Los Arquitcctos, torn. iii. p. 133. 2 Stlva i.
3 Carducho, Dial., p. 159.
4 " Tocado dc la ccntella dc la pinturn."—l.bid., p. 160.
CH. VII.
Amateur artists. Don Tom as Gracian Dantisco.
Marquess of Aula.
Don Gre- gorio Lopoz Madora.
484
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
OH. VII.
Painters of Oastilo, Pedro do Guzniim.
Francisco Lopez.
Cristobal do Vulasco.
of his pencil in the intervals of literary labour,1 and of active employment as Corregidor of Toledo, and as a royal commissioner for the expulsion of Moriscos and for the irrigation of lands in Murcia.
Pedro de Guzman— likewise called "El Coxo," the cripple — was a scholar of Patricio Caxes, and having attained some eminence as a painter, was appointed painter to Philip III., in 1601, in the place of Nicolas Granelo deceased, with the monthly salary of twenty ducats. His best works were some frescoes on the ceiling of the King's Chamber, at the Pardo.
Francisco Lopez was a painter of considerable merit, and scholar of Bartolomeo Carducho, whom he assisted in the pictures executed, in 1595, for the church of San Felipe el Heal,2 at Madrid, and destroyed by fire in 1718. Philip III. named him painter-in-ordinary, in 1603, and sent him to the Pardo, where he painted, in the King's dressing- room, some frescoes representing certain victories of the Emperor Charles V. For his friend Vincencio Carducho he etched the third, sixth, and seventh plates of his " Dialogues on Painting."
Cristobal de Velasco was son and scholar of
1 He wrote the Discursosdc la certidumbre dc las rcliquias descubiertas en Granada, fol. Gran. 1601, and the Excclcncias dc la Munarquia yrcino de Esjiana, fol. Mad. 1629, and other works.
2 Supra, chap. iv. p. 255.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
485
Luis de Velasco, painter to Philip II.1 In 1598, he painted for the winter chapter-room of the metro- politan church, the portrait of the Archduke Albert, Archbishop of Toledo, before that prince had doffed the mitre and the Iloman purple in order to wed the Infanta Isabella. In 1600 he was employed by Philip III. to paint seven views of cities in Flanders for the royal hunting-seat of Valsain. His son and disciple, Matias de A^elasco, followed the Court to Valladolid, and executed some pictures of merit, on the life of Our Lady, for the high altar of the royal convent of barefoot nuns.
Vincencio Carducho, by birth a Florentine,2 was brought by his elder brother Bartolomeo 3 to Madrid, in 1585, at so tender an age that he grew up with very slight recollections of Italy, and spoke and wrote the Castilian as his mother-tongue. " My native country," he said of himself,4 "is the most noble city of Florence ; but as my education from my early years has been in Spain, and especially at the court of our Catholic monarchs, with whose favour I am honoured, I may justly reckon myself a native of Madrid." lie received his first instruc-
CH. VII.
1 Supra, chap. v. p. 326.
2 [The Catdlorjo descriptive 6 historico, by Don Pedro do Madrazo, 1872, *ave the date of his birth as 1585, but the revised (sixth) edition, 1889, *ives 1578. — ED.]
3 Supra, chap. iv. p. 254. 4 In the preface to his Didlogos,
Matias do Volasco.
Vincencio Carducho.
486
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CII. VII.
Works at Valladolid,
Eclipsed by Velaz- quez.
tions in painting at the Escorial, from his brother, whom he accompanied to Valladolid, where he first publicly displayed his skill by painting some per- spectives in the theatre of the palace, and some battle-pieces for the Queen's tocador. In 1606 he followed the Court to Madrid, and he was sent to the Pardo. the Pardo to paint in fresco, on the dome of the chapel, the " Holy Sacrament," and the Blessed Trinity, the Virgin, and a company of holy men famous for their writings on the sacrament, and to execute the stucco ornaments of the ceiling. Having given proofs of skill at Madrid and Valladolid, on his brother's death, in 1609, he succeeded him in his place of painter to the King ; and finished some frescoes which he had left incomplete at the latter capital, changing them from illustrations of the achievements of Charles V. into representations of the exploits of Achilles.
Under Philip IV. he retained his place at Court, although eclipsed in royal favour, as well as in merit, by Velazquez, of whom, however, he has spoken with respect and admiration in his " Dialogues." In 1627, he, Eugenio Caxes, and Angelo Nardi, were the competitors vanquished by the young Sevillian in painting a monumental picture, in honour of Philip III. and his pious persecution of
1 DU'iJoijf>K, ful. 155.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
487
the Moriscos. Although much employed in the royal palaces, he found time, in 1615, to paint, with Eugenio Caxes, for the Cathedral of Toledo, a series of frescoes in the chapel of Our Lady of the Sagrario, for which they received 6,500 ducats ; and, in 1618, a variety of sacred subjects on canvas, for the great Jeronymite convent at Guadalupe, for which they were paid 2,000 ducats.
But the greatest undertaking of this assiduous painter was the series of fifty-four large pictures for the Carthusians of the Chartreuse of El Paular, which, according to an agreement made at Madrid in August 1626, were to be executed in four years, and hung in their places by the master himself, at the price of 6,000 ducats. These works, wonderful as monuments of Carducho's invention, industry, and skill, are now in the National Museum at Madrid ; two of them are mere emblazonments of the royal and Carthusian arms, with allegorical figures and wreaths of flowers ; twenty-six represent scenes from the life of St. Bruno, and an equal number passages from the history of his order.1 The great saint of Cologne—
1 Cejin Bcrmudcz spent a fortnight at the Chartreuse of El Paular, in 1780, in examining these pictures, of which he made a careful catalogue and description, from the original ISIS, given by the Prior to Cardncho for his guidance. Perhaps his paper is still iu existence ; it would be a valuable addition to the catalogue of the Museum, said to be in pre- paration.
CH. VII.
i Works for the Cathe- dral of ; Toledo, I the Con- vent of Guada- lupe, and
the Char- i treuse of i Paular.
Life of St. Bruno.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
and history of his order.
Persecuted Carthu- sians of England.
Flos ereniitarum, lumen mirabile clariun, Sidus Bruno patrum, vigor, ordo, regula fratrum, Exemplarque vise ccelestis, I'o usque sophise,1
is here depicted at many of the most remarkable points of his story, from his conversion in Notre Dame, when attending the funeral of Kaymond, the famous doctor, who mysteriously announced from his bier the fact of his own damnation,2 to the close of his saintly career in his cave in the wilds of Calabria. The two compositions on the death of Bruno are full of grace and feeling, and abound in noble heads. Amongst the works which treat of his followers, three very striking pictures represent the sufferings of the English Carthusians at our Reforma- tion.3 In two of these the scene is a prison, where, chained to the pillars, emaciated monks lie dead or dying in their white robes, and open doors give a distant view of Catholic martyrs in the hands of fierce Protestant tormentors. In the third, three Carthusians are hurried off to execution, on a hurdle dragged by horses which are urged to their full speed by their rider, and likewise diligently lashed by a man who runs by the side, like the " adelantero,"
1 Vita de S. Bruno, descritta del Padre D. Giacomo Desidcrio, monaco delfordine Cartusiano. 4to. Bologna, 1657. See the commendatory verses, supra, p. 320.
2 Ibid. pp. 13-17, where the story is told at great length.
3 Taken, perhaps, from the narrative in the Flos Sanctorum. Seo Villcgas, p. 790.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
483
or " forwarder " of a Spanish stage-coach at the pre- sent day ; some spectators look gaily on, and seem to point exultingly to the gallows and ladder in the distance. Occasionally in the series, the Blessed Virgin appears, to comfort some holy man and to relieve the monotony of male and monkish figures. In one of these cases the Mother of Mercy chases from the cell of a sleeping Carthusian a band of demons, of which one giant monster,1 with a bull's head and the mouth of a dragon, stalks away on a pair of satyr's legs, poising a hooked spear on his shoulder, and the rest flit forth in the shape of un- clean birds, or untwine themselves from the bedposts in the likeness of serpents breathing flames. In another picture, the Blessed Mary visits the cell of a monk, who immediately falls down and worships her, while, through the open portal, another monk is seen kneeling before a massy stone crucifix, which bows, the cross as well as the figure, in acknowledg- ment of his homage — a portent famous in legendary story, as that which rewarded Giovanni Gualberto for pardoning the slayer of his brother, and led him to found the convent of Vallambrosa.2
1 The painter-monk, whose pencil so vexed the Evil One (supra, chap. i. p. 32), could not have devised a more hideous form for the great enemy of mankind.
2 Spalding's Italy and the Italian Islands, sm. Svo, Edinb., 1841, vol. i. p. 136, a most able, accurate, comprehensive, and elegant work.
VOL. II. I
CH. VII.
Virgin.
Demons.
490
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Carthusian pictures not
adapted for a museum.
Like many other trophies of Spanish art, these fine works of Carducho have lost much of their significance by removal from the spot for which they were painted. Hung on the crowded walls of an ill-ordered museum, his Carthusian histories can never again speak to the heart and the fancy as they once spoke, in the lonely cloister of Paular, where the silence was broken only by the breeze as it moaned through the overhanging pine-forest, by the tinkling bell or the choral chant of the chapel, or by the stealing tread of some mute and white-stoled monk, the brother and the heir of the holy men of old, whose good deeds and sufferings and triumphs were there commemorated on canvas. There, to many generations of recluses, vowed to perpetual silence and solitude, these pictures had been com- panions ; to them the painted saints and martyrs had become friends ; and the benign Virgins wrere the sole objects within those melancholy walls to remind them of the existence of woman. In the Chartreuse, therefore, absurdities were veiled, or criticism awed, by the venerable genius of the place ; while in the Museum, the monstrous legend and extravagant picture, stripped of every illusion, are coolly judged of, on their own merits, as works of skill and imagination. Still, notwithstanding their present disadvantages of position, these pictures vindicate the high fame of Carducho, and will bear
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 491
comparison with the best history of the Carthusian ' CH. vu. order ever painted. Less elegant, perhaps, than the ' paintings, executed twenty years later, by Eustache Le Sueur, for the Chartreuse of Paris,* Carducho' s works far excel these in vigour of fancy, power of execution, and richness of colour ; draperies grander than his are seldom to be found even in the monastic studies of Zurbaran ; and few Castilian masters have ever rivalled the pensive and delicate beauty of his Virgins. These pictures are, for the most part, signed, Vin. Carduchi, P. R. F. (i.e., Pictor Regis fecit] ; and as fourteen 2 of the number bear the date 1632, they cannot have been commenced till 1628, or the four years allowed for their completion must have been extended to six. In the picture which represents the death of Friar Odo of Novara, the painter has pourtrayed himself in the monk who sits by the pillow of the dying man. Only one of the series, the " Carthusian Dionysius," has ever been engraved, and that only in part, by Palomino. Two of the original sketches were in the possession of Cean Bermudez.
When at Paular, Carducho first saw some paint- visit to ings by Juan Sanchez Cotan, once a member of the
1 Engraved in the Galerie de Saint Bruno, par A. Villerey, 4to, Paris, 1816. It is to be wished that some Spaniard would do as much for Carducho.
2 Ponz, torn. x. p. 73.
492
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
and Valencia.
"Dialogos de la Pintura."
convent, and was so much pleased with them that he made a journey to Granada on purpose to see him. On arriving at the Chartreuse near that city, he at once recognised, says Palomino, the object of his search by the resemblance that he detected be- tween the man and his works.1 He also visited Valencia to see the pictures of Francisco de Ribalta ; and, on his return to Madrid, he is said to have imitated a famous " Last Supper," by that master, in an excellent picture on the same subject, which he painted for the nuns of the Carbonera.
In 1633 he increased his reputation, and added a valuable contribution to the history of his art, by publishing his "Dialogues on Painting,"2 by which he holds a considerable place amongst Spanish writers on art, and which Cean Bermudez pronounced to be the best work on the subject in the Castilian language. These dialogues, eight in number, are supposed to be held between a master and scholar, " in a retired spot on the banks of the murmuring Manzanares," — the river of Madrid, so remarkable
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 433.
2 Dialogos de la Pintura, su defensa, origen, esencia, definition, modos 11 diferencias. For Vincencio Carduclio, de la ilustre academia de la
«7 J
nobilissima ciiulad de Florencia, Pintor de su Magestad Catolica, 4to, Madrid, 1633. With engraved title, eight leaves of licenses and com- mendatory verses, 229 leaves of matter — paged only on one side and in- cluding nine plates -and twelve leaves of index. The work is no less rare than curious.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
493
for its wide bed, scanty streams, and magnificent CH. vn. bridges, on which native and foreign wits long de- lighted to exercise their pleasantry.1 The scholar having given an account of his travels and studies in Italy, the master, in his turn, offers his advice, in the shape of remarks which embrace a cursory his- tory of art. Here amongst many stories, sufficiently tedious, from Athenseus and Pliny, are some curious anecdotes of the artists and patrons of art at the courts of the Austrian kings of Spain. Miracles and legends are also related, when occasion serves, with great unction ; and Carducho displays his orthodoxy by descanting, with as firm a faith and as keen a relish, on St. Luke's paintings corrected by angels, as on the pictures of llafael and the marbles of Michael Angelo. The work is now chiefly interest- ing for its notices of the royal and private galleries, artists and collectors at Madrid, in the golden age of Spanish painting. The bulk of the volume is j Appendix. much increased by an appendix, consisting of papers written by various literary men of the day,2 amongst
1 For examples of this, see the amusing Relation de Madrid, p. 3, forming part of the Voyage d'Espagne, I2mo, Cologne, 1667, by Aarsens de Sommerdyck.
2 Besides those mentioned in the text, the writers are the licentiate Antonio de Leon, Lorenzo Vanderhamen, the historian, Juan de Butron, author of the Discursos dc la Pintura, and Dr. Juan Rodriguez de Leon, a famous preacher, of Portuguese extraction. I find all their papers, except that by Vanderhamen, in an earlier book with the same title as Carducho's appendix, Memorial Tnfonnatorio pur los Pintores en el plcilo
494
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. vn. whom were Lope de Vega and Don Juan de Jauregui, against a tax on pictures, a fiscal question, which the writers seek to enliven by telling all they know about art, and by narrating a number of anecdotes, some of which arc more curious than appropriate. Thus Master Josef de Valdivielso gives a history of painting, beginning from the beginning of the world, and describes a miraculous " Crucifixion," in the Cathedral of Toledo, painted by angelic hands, and so feelingly and skilfully executed, that in beholding it " hearts became eyes, and eyes tears." The courtly Jauregui likewise seeks to relieve the studio from the visits of the tax-gatherer, by relating how Lazarus, a monkish painter, continued to produce pictures, by divine aid, after his hands had been burned off by the image-hating Emperor Theophilus.2 Carducho himself resisted the obnoxious tax, not only with his pen, but also with great energy before the tribunals, with so much success as to obtain royal decrees, in 1633, for its remission in cases
que tratan con el Scnor Fiscal de su Magcstad, en el real conscjo de Haziendo, 4to, Madrid, 1629. The first edition of the Memorial is very rare ; I have seen but two copies ; my own, and one which is hound up with the copy of Cardncho's Diulogos, in the Library of the Academy of S. Fernando at Madrid, which is without the proper appendix of 1633. In the second edition some of them have been enlarged, and Valdivielso, for example, has enriched his essay with the tale which I have related in chap, i., supra, p. 30.
1 Didlogos, fols. 179, 181. See also supra, chap. i. p. 30.
2 Ibid. fol. 198.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
495
where artists sold their own works,1 and, in 1637, for its total repeal.
The last work of this able and indefatigable artist was a " St. Jerome writing," painted for that saint's chapel in the church of S. Justo y Pastor, at Alcala" de Henares, which he left unfinished, and to which another hand added this inscription : — " Vincencius Carducho hie vitam non opusjinit, 1638." It still remains in its original place, and in its unfinished state ; the colouring bricky and disagreeable ; and had the work been completed, it could hardly have added to his well-earned fame. Dying in that year, the sixtieth of his age, he was buried at Madrid, in the convent-chapel of the Franciscans of the third order, where it had been his wont to perform his devotions with great frequency and fervency. He was a painter of very versatile genius, and treated many kinds of subjects with success ; he had a good knowledge of both anatomy and colouring, and like- wise, as we have already remarked, great fecundity of invention. The Queen of Spain's gallery pos- sesses three good specimens of his powers of dealing with events of profane history, in the pictures of the " Relief of Constance," 2 and the " Taking of Rhein- feldt," by the Duke of Feria,3 and Don Gonzalo de
1 Dial. fol. 229. 2 Cutdlogo, No. 33 [edition 1889, No. 677].
3 Ibid. No. 286 [edition 1889, No. 678].
CH. VII.
Last work.
Death.
Stylo.
Pictures of
secular
history.
496
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
cir. vn.
Sonnet by Lope de Vega.
Cordoba's " Victory at Florus l in 1622," works once in the saloons of Buenretiro, and of considerable merit, although their effect is injured by their proxi- mity to the matchless military pictures of Velazquez. The colossal study of a " Man's head," 2 on a canvas about eight feet square, is a spirited caprice, and very effective when viewed from the end of the corridor. The chalk sketches of Carducho were much esteemed by collectors ; and Cean Bermudez possessed two etchings by him, representing the "Death of Abel," and a "Penitent Saint." His friend, Lope de Vega, composed the following sonnet in his praise :—
"Si Atenas tus pinceles conociera, ; Que poca gloria diera a Apolodoro, Ni en pario marmol ilustrara el oro
El nombre a Zeuxis, que d tus obras diera !
Parrhasio en la palestra se rindiera Como en el grave estilo Metrodoro ; Ni pluma se atreviera a tu decoro,
Solo pintarte tu pincel pudiera. Bien pueden tus colores alabarse, Y el arte de tu ingenio peregrino,
Quanto puede iniitar docta cultura : Que si el cielo quisiera retratarse, Solo fiara a tu pincel divino
La inmensa perfeccion de su herinosura."
At Athens had thy pencil's pow'r been known Apollodorus sure had lack'd his fame, Thou had'st eclips'd e'en mighty Zeuxis' name
1 Catalog o, No. 262 [edition 1889, No. 676].
2 Ibid. No. 1625 [edition 1889, No. 685].
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
497
In golden letters writ on Parian stone,
Parrhasius in artistic strife o'erthrown, And lofty Metrodorus put to shame ; Pens scarce had dared thy glory to proclaim,
No brush achiev'd to paint thee, but thine own. Thy foreign skill in colours bright display'd,
For which sage culture long hath toil'd and striven,
Thy best and fittest praises doth express ; And were it Heaven's high will to be pourtray'd, To thy sole pencil's art divine were given
The immense perfection of its loveliness.
Our portrait of Carducho is taken from the picture in the Louvre.1
Eugenio Caxes, son and scholar of Patricio Caxes, or Caxesi, one of the Italian painters in the service of Philip II. , was born at Madrid in 1577. In his twenty- second year he married the daughter of Juan Manzano, chief carpenter at the Escorial, — who had lately been killed by a fall from a scaffolding, — and received 1,000 reals, as a wedding-gift, from the King. He was employed with his father by Philip III. at the Pardo, where he executed, in the King's audience-chamber, the stucco work of the ceil- ing, on which he also painted, with good effect, the "Judgment of Solomon," and a variety of allegorical figures and landscapes. In 1612 he was appointed
1 Gal. Esparjnolc, No. 454. The catalogue calls it the portrait of Barto- lomeo Carducho, by himxclf, an error which is sufficiently corrected by the title of the book on the table, which was not published till twenty- live years after Bartolomeo's death. [Sold in 1853.]
CH. VII.
Eugenio Caxes.
Works at the Pardo,
498
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Madrid,
and Toledo.
Death and character.
Style.
one of the King's painters, with an annual salary of 50,000 maravedis, besides the price of his works ; and he painted several pictures on sacred subjects for the convents of Mercy and of St. Francis, and for the church of Sta- Cruz at Madrid. With Vincencio Carducho he painted, in 1615, the frescoes already mentioned,1 in the Cathedral of Toledo, and, in 1618, the pictures of the high altar of the Jerony- mites' church at Guadalupe. For the Cathedral of Toledo he likewise executed several independent works, amongst which was an "Adoration of the Magi," in competition with a "Nativity" by the Valencian Orrente. In the reign of Philip IV. he painted, in the Alcazar at Madrid, the " History of Agamemnon," for which he was paid, in 1631, 11,000 reals. He died at Madrid in 1642, leaving behind him a considerable reputation as a colourist and draughtsman, and as an assertor of the rights of his order, in the struggle maintained by Carducho and others with the tax-gatherers. His style re- sembles that of Carducho, whom, however, he does not equal in force. His sketches in chalk and Indian ink were highly valued by collectors, for their spirit and correctness ; and one of these, a design for a picture of " St. Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal," executed for the church of St. Anthony of the
1 Supra, p. 487.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
499
Portuguese, at Madrid, was in the collection of Cean Bermudez. The only work of Eugenio Caxes in the Queen of Spain's gallery is a large composition, once in the palace of Buenretiro, representing the " Repulse of the English under Lord Wimbledon, at Cadiz, in I625,"1 and executed with considerable vigour of design and colouring ; in the foreground the gouty and valiant governor, Don Fernando Giron, seated in a chair, gives his orders, with due Castilian gravity, to Diego Ruiz and other commanders, while, in the distance, the foe is seen debarking on the shores of the bay.2
Juan Bautista Mayno, a Dominican friar, born in 1569, was one of the favourite scholars of El Greco, at Toledo. In 1611, he had acquired suffi- cient reputation to be employed by the Chapter to paint for the new sacristy of the Cathedral, on a canvas thirteen or fourteen feet high, the history of " St. Ildefonso," a work which was, however, never executed, and for which was probably substituted the " Crucifixion of Christ," which he painted in the same year for the cloister. Assuming the Dominican habit, at Toledo, in the convent of St. Peter-Martyr,
1 Catdlogo [1843] No. 151 [edition 1889, No. 697].
2 This is perhaps his best work, and it shows that he was not above imitating the manner of his young rival, Velazquez. I possess a good specimen of his pencil, representing St. Julian, the basket-making Bishop of Cuenca, formerly in the Louvre.
CH. VII.
Fray
Juan Bau- tista Mayno.
Becomes monk.
500
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Goes to Court.
Works in the
palaces.
he executed for that house a number of pictures, amongst which Palomino and Cean Bermudez praise a "St. Peter weeping," and four pieces on the life of Christ, in the high altar of the church. He was afterwards invited to Court, and appointed draw- ing-master to the heir-apparent, who, as King Philip IV., became one of the warmest lovers of art who ever filled a throne. The rest of his life was spent about the person of this prince, with whom he became a great favourite, and whose son, Don Balthasar Carlos, Prince of Asturias, he likewise instructed in drawing. In the artistic annals of the next reign, we shall find him introducing Alonso Cano to the royal notice, and generously exerting his influence at Court in favour of others of his brethren of the pencil. For the great hall of the palace of Buenretiro, he painted a picture of the " Capture of Brazil, by Don Fadrique de Toledo," and for the theatre,1 an allegorical composition, re- presenting the "Reduction of a Revolted Province in Flanders." Of these, the latter is now in the Royal Museum, at Madrid.2 Philip IV. stands in the foreground receiving a laurel crown from Minerva, and attended by his minister, Olivares ; by a daring fiction Rebellion and Heresy lie vanquished and
1 [Saloncete de las Comcdias.]
• Catdlogo [1843], No- 27 [edition 1889, No. 787].
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
kissing the ground beneath their feet, while a loyal multitude in the distance gaze with dutiful admira- tion at the royal portrait displayed to them by a general officer. The heads are well painted ; and there is some force in the sober colouring ; although the picture is far from deserving such epithets as " stupendous and amazing," applied to it by the good-natured Palomino.1 Cean Bermudez reckons Mayno to have been an imitator of Paul Veronese. In Lope de Vega's "Laurel de Apolo,"2 an honour- able place amongst painters is assigned to —
" Juan Bautista Mayno A quien el arte debe Aquella accion qvie las figuras mueve."
The praises of his picture of the capture of Brazil are sung in three sonnets, by three poets, in the collection of verse eulogistic of the palace of Buenretiro, which was compiled, in 1635, by its keeper, Diego de Covarruvias.3 In one, Gabriel de Roa assures us that Fray Juan was the first master who ever succeeded in painting light and sound ; in another, Andres de Balmaseda styles his pencils,
CH. VII.
1 " Cosa vcrdadcmmente cstupenda y maravillosa." — Pal., torn. iii. p. 456.
2 Silva, ix.
3 Elogios al palacio real del Bucn Rctiro, escritos por algunos ingenios de Espafia, recogidos por Don Diego de Covarruvias i Leyva, Guarda- niayor del sitio Heal del Buen Retire, dedicados al Conde-Duque de Olivares, 4to, Madrid, 1635.
Praised by Lope de Vega.
502
CH. VII.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
Bartolome Gonzalez.
" pencils of diamond ; " and, in a third, Dona Anna Ponce de Leon, amongst other handsome things, says that figures were painted by his brush more effectively than they could be cast in bronze. He died in 1649, in the College of St. Thomas, at Madrid.
Bartolomd Gonzalez was born at Valladolid, in 1564, and studied painting at Madrid, in the school of Patricio Caxes, where he learned to draw and compose with correctness and grace, and acquired a style of colouring which, in Castile, was considered brilliant. In 1608, he was first employed by the King, at the Pardo, and afterwards was sent, on the royal service, to Burgos, Valladolid, Lerma, and the Escorial ; but he was not named painter-in- ordinary till 1617, when he succeeded to the place and salary of Fabrizio Castello.1 The highest evi- dence of his merits now remaining, is perhaps the fact that the great Andalusian painter, Juan de las Roelas, was an unsuccessful candidate for this appointment, although recommended by the Board of Works and Woods. He painted several pictures on devotional subjects for King's College, at Alcald,, and the Franciscan and Recolete convent at Madrid, and, for the palaces, many excellent portraits of the Queen and Infantas, and other personages, none of
1 Supra, chap. iv. p. 233.
REIGN OF PHILIP III. |
5°3 |
1 which, however, are to be found in the present |
CH. VII. |
.Royal Gallery. |
|
Bartolome' de Cardenas was a native of Portugal, |
Bartolome de Car- |
and born in 1547. Coming to Madrid, he entered |
denas. |
the school of Alonso Sanchez Coello. For the |
|
convent of Atocha, without the walls of that city,1 |
Works at Madrid, |
he painted, in the cloister, a variety of passages |
|
from the life of St. Dominic, in which he was |
|
assisted by Juan de Chirinos, a Madrilenian painter, |
|
born in 1564, and supposed to have been a pupil |
|
of El Greco ; but time and damp had reduced these |
|
frescoes to ruins before the days of Cean Bermudez. |
|
In 1 60 1, the Duke of Lerma invited Cardenas to |
at Valla- |
dolid. |
|
Court at Valladolid, and employed him to paint, |
|
for the high altar of the conventual church of St. |
|
Paul, four pictures of the " Nativity," the " Calling |
|
of the Apostles," and the " Conversion of the patron |
|
Saint." He also painted, for the great cloister of |
|
the same splendid convent, a number of religious |
|
subjects, in one of which he introduced his own |
|
portrait ; for the choir, an immense picture, forty |
|
feet square, of the "Glory of Heaven;" a "Last |
|
Supper," for the refectory ; and other works for |
|
various chapels. The " Glory," for which the painter |
|
found the materials and the frame, may be considered |
|
as a gift to the convent ; for it was ordered and |
|
1 Supra, chap. vi. p. 437. |
5°4
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Jubilee of the Por- ciuncula.
paid for by the Sacristan, with a sum of 2,528 reals, hardly sufficient to defray the first expenses, which he had collected from his friends.1 The Minim friars of Valladolid employed him to paint, for their grotto-chapel, the " Jubilee of the Porciuncula," an annual feast held on the ist of August, in honour of the cavern in Mount Alverno, where Christ and the Virgin visited St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the order, where the briars with which that holy anchorite scourged himself blossomed with miracu- lous roses, and whither he retired in his old age to die. Most of the convents of his order possessed a chapel fitted up to represent this holy cavern, where the prayers of the pious were rewarded with peculiar indulgences.2 In 1606, Cardenas followed the Court to Madrid, where he died the same year. The Museum at Valladolid contains several of his pictures, representing passages from the lives of Our Lord and St. Dominic.3 Cean Bermudez commends him for his skilful drawing and anatomy, his fine draperies and agreeable colouring.4 He left a son, Juan, who
1 Bosarte, Viojc, p. 137.
2 Villegas, Flos Sanctonun, p. 476, and Handbook [1845], p. 771 [edition 1855, p. 709].
3 Compendia Ilistdrico, pp. 53, 55, 63.
4 Portuguese Machado, with national partiality, pitches his note of praise in a still higher key, and not only calls him " correcto no desenho, nas roupas grandiose," but says that he "compunha commuito espirito, e coloria com perfeichx>." — Vidas dos Pintores, p. 70.
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 505 |
|
flourished at Valladolid about 1620, as a painter of |
CH. VII. |
fruits and flowers. |
Juan de |
( Jarden.is. |
|
Felipe de Liano was a native of Madrid, and a |
Felipe do Liafio. |
scholar of Sanchez Coello. The beauty of his small |
|
portraits in oil obtained for him the name of the |
|
" little Titian " (el pequeno Ticiano] ; and he is |
|
said to have been employed so early as 1584, to |
|
paint the portrait of the great Marquess of Santa |
|
Cruz, for the Emperor Eodolph II. Some old Italian |
|
engravings of figures and costumes, signed " Teodoro |
|
Felipe Liayno" led Cean Bermudez to suspect that |
|
he had visited Italy, and practised his art there. |
|
lie died at Madrid, in 1625, when his friend Lope |
Epitaph by Lope du |
de Vega wrote the following epitaph for his tomb : — |
Veya. |
" Yo soy el segumlo Apcles |
|
En color, arte y destre/a, |
|
Matome naturaleza |
|
Porque le hurte los pinceles : |
|
Que le di tanto cuidado |
|
Que si h ombres no pude hacer |
|
Imitando hice creer |
|
Que era vivo lo pintado." |
|
1 am the new Apelles |
|
In colour, art, and skill, |
|
Me did dame Nature kill |
|
Of my fine pencil jealous, |
|
That so with her did strive, |
|
And the men of her creation, |
|
That its cunning imitation |
|
Of the living seem'd alive.1 |
|
1 Cowley, writing fifteen years latcr; expressed the same thought iu |
|
VOL. H. K |
5°6
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Podro do las Cuovas.
Scholars.
Fray Juan
Sanchez Cotan.
Pedro do las Cucvas was born at Madrid, in 1568. The name of his instructor in painting is unknown ; and of his own works, which were chiefly executed for private persons,1 few have been preserved ; but his memory is embalmed in the fame of many of the scholars who resorted to his dwelling in the Foundling Hospital, at Madrid, in which establishment he held the office of drawing- master. Amongst these were Juan Carrefio, Antonio Pereda, his own son Eugenio, and Francisco Camilo — son, by a previous marriage, of his wife Clara Perez — who became eminent amongst the artists of the next reign. He died at Madrid in 1635, partly, it is said, of chagrin at not obtaining the post of painter to the King.
Of the Castilian painters, not connected with the Court, Juan Sanchez Cotan was one of the most
liis poem OH the death of Vandyck (Works, 3 vols. 8vo, London, 1707, vol. i. p. 13) —
" His pieces so with their live objects strive, That both or pictures seem, or both alive ; Nature herself amazed doth doubting stand, Which is her own, and which the painter's hand."
Perhaps both the Castilian and the English poet were indebted for the idea to the great epigrammatist of ancient Iberia, who sings thus of the picture 01 the hipdog Issa. (Martial, Ejiiij., lib. i. Ep. no. j
" Issam denique pone cum tabellfi Aut utramque putabis esse verain Aut utramque putabis esse pictam."
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 436.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
5°7
famous. He was the son of Bartolome Sanchez Cotan and Anna de Quinones, and was born in 1561, at Alcazar de San Juan, a town on the northern border of La Mancha. An inclination for painting led him, at an early age, to Toledo, and the school of Bias del Prado, where he became dis- tinguished for his skill in painting flowers and other subjects of still life. Of his works in this style the National Museum at Madrid possesses an excellent specimen in a " bodegon"1 of which the principal object is a huge " cardo" or garden-thistle, much esteemed in Spain, lying on a table amongst parsnips and radishes ; above, hang a cluster of rough-skinned citrons with their leaves ; a bunch of rosy apples, each suspended by a single white thread ; a brace of partridges, and two small birds ; all as fresh as if newly brought from the garden and the stubble-field. It is signed Jn° Sanchez Cotan, f. 1602. Nothing more is recorded of him till his
O
forty-third year, when his retired habits and devout disposition led him to the fold of St. Bruno, which he entered at the Chartreuse of Paular, on the 8th of September, 1604, as a lego, or lay-brother. This step, says Cean Bermudez, greatly aided his progress both in virtue and in painting ; and, like other holy artists, he found in prayer his best inspiration. For
1 Suprn, chap, i p. 40.
CH. VII.
Paints from still life.
Becomes a Carthusian at Paular.
So8
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
en. vu.
Visit to Alcazar do S. Juan
Ultcl
Toledo,
Removed to Char- treuse of Granada.
the chapels, chapter-room, and cloisters of the con- vent he executed many works, amongst which were pictures representing " Our Lady of Anguishes with the dead Saviour in her arms ; " the " Virgin," in other circumstances of her life; and the "Passion." lie likewise painted for his fellow-monks a number of pictures of the Blessed Mary, generally within flower-garlands, and exquisitely finished, with which they adorned their private oratories. About 1612, he re-visited his native town and Toledo, for the purpose of adjusting certain family quarrels. His nephews, Alonso and Damian Sanchez Cotan, sculp- tors of some repute at Toledo, had married their sister to Ignacio Escucha, an artist of the same profession, whose roving habits and inconstant affec- tions were the cause of domestic troubles. But the mediation of the good uncle seems to have failed, for Escucha, soon after, left his wife, and crossed the ocean to seek his fortunes at Santa Fe de Bogota.
From Paular, Fray Juan was translated to the royal Chartreuse of Granada, the richest and most magnificent monastery of the city,1 seated on an eminence without the walls, embosomed in mulberry-
1 The building cost 100,000 ducats ; and its revenue of 8,000 had only twenty-four friars to maintain. F" lienumlez de Padra-'.a, Antiguedad y Excelc/irins de, Granada, 4to, Madrid, 1608, fol. 115.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
5°9
groves, and overlooking the blooming Vega. There he executed, between 1615 and 1627, many of his best works ; for the principal chapel he painted four pictures of the " Passion ; " and, for the smaller cloister, a series of scenes from the life of St. Bruno, and from the persecution of the Carthusians in England, an event of which the Spanish brethren loved to keep their devout and vindictive country- men in mind. In the chapel of the Apostles, he likewise painted an architectural altar-piece, of admirable execution, and with all the appearance of relief; and in the Refectory, a "Crucifixion," on the cross of which, says Palomino, birds frequently attempted to perch,1 and which, at first sight, the keen-eyed Cean Bermudez himself mistook for a piece of sculpture. His reputation as a painter stood so high, that Viiicencio Carducho, struck with the beauty of his pictures at Paular, travelled from Madrid to Granada on purpose to visit him ; when he is said to have recognised him amongst the white-robed fraternity by detecting in the expres-
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 432. Don Juan de Jauregui tells of a wore fatal bird-snare, "a cornice so skilfully painted," says he, "over a certain fountain at Rome, that birds, trying to alight on it, frequently fell into the water beneath/' He likewise relates that the Duke of Sessa, Spanish ambassador to the Pope, refused to believe that certain orna- ments, painted by Annibal Caracci on a ceiling of the Farneso Palace, were not in relief, until he had touched them with a lance. — Memorial, appended to Carducho's Dudogos, t'ol. 199. See also supra, chap. vi.
CH. VII.
Works.
Visited by Vinconcio Carducho.
510
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Various
talents,
amialilo disposi- tion,
sion of his countenance a certain affinity to the spirit of his works. According to Cean Bermudez, the court-painter did not disdain to borrow some hints from Cotan's pictures of Bruno and his order for his own grand series of compositions on the same subject, which he was then about to execute for the monks of Paular.
To his talent for painting, Fray Juan added some knowledge of mechanics ; and he was wont to keep in repair the ornaments of the sacristy, and the clocks and water-pipes of the convent ; and to make alarums for the cells, an art, in which he may perhaps have been instructed by Martin Galindez, his fellow- monk at Paular.1 These various accomplishments, his amiable manners, and his unselfish disposition, made him a great favourite in the establishment, and his cell the general resort of its members ; a fact which seems to imply that the discipline of Bruno had relaxed somewhat of its sternness be- neath the sun of the south, and in the delicious garden of Andalusia. Nevertheless, Fray Juan at his death, which took place at Granada in 1627, was reckoned " one of the most venerable monks, as well as one of the best painters of Spain ; " "he had preserved," says Palomino, " his baptismal grace, and virgin purity ; " his brethren were wont to call
1 Supra, chap. v. p. 345
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
him " the holy friar Juan ; " and they had a tradition that, whilst he was engaged on a picture of St. Ildefonso receiving the miraculous chasuble from the hands of the Virgin, the Queen of Heaven herself had appeared to him and honoured him with a sitting.1
Luis Tristan was born in 1586, in the neighbour- hood of Toledo : and entering the school of El
O
Greco, in that city, he early became remarkable for the genius which he displayed for painting. Eschewing the evil and choosing the good in his eccentric master's style, his works commended them- selves to the taste of El Greco, who preferred him to all his other disciples, and frequently handed over to him commissions which he himself was not disposed to undertake. One of these was a " Last Supper," for the refectory of the Jeronymite monastery of La Sisla, at Toledo, a work which Tris- tan finished to the full satisfaction of the fathers. But the price which he demanded, 200 ducats, seeming exorbitant to these frugal monks, they referred the matter to the decision of El Greco. The old master being somewhat infirm, took coach and repaired to the convent ; and, having examined the picture with great attention, he turned to his scholar, and shaking his crutch over his head, called
1 Palomino, toni. iii. p.*433-
OH. VII.
The Virgin one of his sitters.
Luis Tristan.
Works.
Anecdote
of El Greco.
512
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CII. VII.
Portrait of Luis Tris- tan.
Pictures at
him rogue, and a disgrace to his profession. Here the Jeronymites interposed, excusing Tristan on account of his youth and inexperience, and his will- ingness to suhmit to the award of his master.
O
" Indeed," said the painter of the " Burial of Orgaz," "he is quite a novice, for he has asked only 200 ducats for a painting worth 500 ; let it therefore be rolled up and carried to my house." Confounded by this unlooked-for proposal, and by the unex- pected turn which the arbitration had taken, the friars were glad to agree with the young artist on his own terms. The sketch, or a small repetition, of this picture, bought from the collection of the Duke of Hijar by Mr. Southerne, has considerable interest, because the dark handsome young disciple at the extreme right of the composition is said to be the portrait of the artist.
In 1616, the thirtieth year of his age, Tristan painted the works which are generally esteemed his masterpieces, a series of pictures for the church of Yepes,1 an ancient town, pleasantly situated
1 Yepes is one of the many towns of Spain unapproachable by wheeled carriage above the decree of a bullock-cart ; it is 7 leagues distant from Toledo, 2 from Ocafia, and about 2^ from Aranjuez ; I visited it, by making an agreeable digression from the road, in riding from Aranjuez to Toledo. It is a picturesque old town, with walls, towered gates, and a quaint, antique market-place, of which the church forms one side, and the other three are bounded by houses resting on wooden arcades. At a corner of this plaza stands the little Posada del Sol, which deserves honourable mention for its un-Castilian neatness and cleanliness.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
5*3
on the tableland between Ocana and Toledo, amidst corn-fields and olives, and vineyards of which the white wine is famous amongst the harsh vintages of Castile. Although the French bugles often sounded within hearing of its walls, this huge Greco-ltomano church still stands entire, with its heavy towers and its rich internal decorations. The retablo of the high altar is an elegant structure of the four orders, richly gilt, and adorned with wooden statues : and in each of three of its storeys are placed two large compositions of Tristan, illus- trating passages in the life of the Saviour. Of these the lower pair are the " Adoration of the Shepherds," — an excellent picture, full of life and rich colour — and the " Adoration of the Kings ; " the second, " Christ at the Column," and " Christ bearing His cross," in which the head of the .Redeemer is not unworthy of Morales ; but the handkerchief held by St. Veronica, and bearing the stamp of the Divine countenance, produces an un- pleasing effect ; and the third, the " Insurrection " and "Ascension" of Our Lord. Besides these, the altar contains eight half-length pictures, by Tristan, of various saints, of which St. Sebastian is perhaps the best ; but the effect of all is injured by the small size of their frames. On the pillars of the aisle, nearest to the high altar, hang two "mitred saints," which, perhaps, are the work of
CH. VII.
5i4 REIGN OF PHILIP III. |
|
CH. VII. |
the same pencil. These paintings are fine monu- ments of the genius of Tristan ; and they afford |
evidence of the excellent judgment with which he |
|
imitated the rich tones and bold handling of his |
|
master's better manner, and avoided the hard un- |
|
blending streaks of colour, the narrow gleams of light, |
|
and the blue unhealthy flesh tints of his more extra- |
|
Tristan's women usually coarse. |
vagant productions.1 Their effect is, however, marred by the coarseness of his female heads ; his Blessed Virgin by no means deserved to be hymned as — |
" Virgo gloriosa, |
|
Super omnes speciosa ; "2 |
|
nor will any of his women bear comparison with |
|
the creations of El Greco and El Mudo, with whom, |
|
in other respects, Tristan may rank as an equal. |
|
These masters, however, be it remembered, had |
|
studied in the classical galleries, and amongst the |
|
lovely models of Italy ; while Tristan seems never |
|
to have crossed the Sierra Morena, or to have known |
|
other types of female beauty than those which he |
|
found amongst the brown dames of Gothic Toledo. |
|
Had the faces of his Virgins and saintly women |
|
been chosen from beneath the mantillas of Seville |
|
or Cadiz, his pictures would have ranked amongst |
|
the most charming efforts of the Spanish pencil. |
|
1 Supra, chap. v. p. 339. '- Hymn of the Koinaii Church—" Ave Kcgina Coclorum." |
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
In 1619, he painted, for the winter chapter-room of the Cathedral, the portrait of Cardinal Sandoval, Archbishop of Toledo, one of the best in that inte- resting series. The countenance of the prelate is grave and venerable ; his grizzled beard is painted to a hair ; in his hand he holds the double crozier belonging to his rank, being the first of the Arch- bishops so represented ; he is attired in a rich robe and a jewelled mitre; and over his gloves he wears several splendid rings of ruby and emerald. Tristan has united in this portrait the elaborate execution of Sanchez Coello with much of the spirit of Titian. He likewise painted the bust portrait of Lope de Vega, which is now in the Imperial Gallery of the Hermitage at St. Petersburg.1 For the convents of Toledo and Madrid, and for private families, he painted many fine works ; amongst which Cean Bermudez mentions, with high praise, three large pictures, the " Holy Trinity," in his own collection, and " Moses striking the Bock," and " Our Lord dis- puting with the Doctors," in the possession of Don Nicolas de Vargas, and Don Pedro Roca, He died at Toledo in 1640, leaving a great name behind him, if " laudari laudatis " be the highest kind of reputa- tion ; for Velazquez, in his early pictures, closely imitated his style, and regarded his genius with
1 Livrct, salle xli. No. 1 1, p. 404. {Catalogue dc la Gulcrie dcs Tableaux (Ermitage Imperial), 2me ddition, 1887, icr vol. p. 145, No. 413.]
CH. VII.
Portrait of Cardinal Arch- bishop Sandoval.
Portrait of Lope de Vega.
Other workn.
5*6
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VIT.
,7 nan de llaro.
Fray
Arsonio Museagio.
Kngraver.
Pedro
Angolo.
admiration after, as well as before, his journey to Italy.
Of Juan de llaro nothing is known, excepting that he was engaged, in 1604, to paint, with Luis de Carbajal and Pantoja de la Cruz, the altar-pieces for the church of the Augustines' College, founded by Cardinal Quiroga, in the town of Madrigal. Amongst these, in a side-altar, was a "St. Thomas of Villanueva," signed by Haro, not inferior, says Cean Bermudez, in drawing, composition, and colour- ing, to the paintings of his famous companions, and some other pictures, in other parts of the church, which appeared to be by the same hand.
Fray Arsenio Mascagio was native of Florence and a Franciscan friar, who lived at Valladolid early in the seventeenth century, and painted for the con- vents. His best works were pictures of St. Francis and Sta. Clara, in the church of the Royal Barefoot Nuns.
Pedro Angelo was an artist of great skill, who flourished at Toledo at the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries, and who may be regarded as the first of the good en- gravers of Spain. The earliest of his plates, with which I am acquainted, is the coarse frontispiece to the History of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which con- tains the portrait of that famous and ungainly idol, and the title-page of the same volume, which was
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
5'7
given to the world in 1597.* His also is the elegant armorial design in the title, and the fine portrait in Salazar's Chronicle of Cardinal Tavera, published in i6c>3,2 and the still rarer and finer portrait of Cardinal Xiraenez de Cisneros, for the Life of that prelate by Eugenio de Robles, published in i6o4.3 He likewise engraved a title-page for Luis de Tena's Latin Com- mentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews,4 a print of Our Lady of the Conception, and other devotional subjects. It is probable that the portrait and the armorial bearings of the Great Cardinal of Spain, Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, which embellish Salazar's Life of that prelate,5 published in 1625, are also monuments of the skill of Angelo.
The fame of Castilian sculpture was maintained in this reign by Gregorio Hernandez, in whom Valladolid found an able successor to Juan dc Juni. He was born in Galicia, — according to some accounts,
1 Infra, chap. xvi.
• Chronieo del Cardinal Juan de Tavera, por el Doctor Pedro de Salazar y Mendoca, 4to, Toledo, 1603.
3 Compendia de la vida // luiznfias del Cardenal T). Fray Francisco Ximencz de Cisneros, Arzobispo dc Toledo, ;/ del OJicio y inisa Mitzarube, por Engenio de Eoblcs, 410, Toledo, 1604. In the indifferent full-length portrait of the Cardinal, prefixed to his Life, entitled Archetype de Virtudes, cspcjo de prelados, cl ven. Pad. F. Fro. Ximencz de Cisneros, por el Pad. Fr. Pedro de Quintanilla, fol. Palermo, 1653, Angelo's plate has evidently been taken as the model.
4 Commentaria ct disputationes in Epistolam D. Pa uli ad Ilcbrceas, fol. Toleti, 1611 and 1617.
5 Supra, chap. ii. p. 100, note i.
CH. VII.
Sculpture. (}. Her- nandez.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Works.
"Mater Dolorosa,"
for the church " de la Cruz," at Valladolid.
at Pontevedra, — in 1566, and, coming to Valladolid, to study sculpture and architecture, he seems never to have quitted that city, except on occasion of a visit to Vittoria, in 1624. The name of his master is unknown ; but there is little reason to doubt that he frequented the studio, and was influenced by the genius of Juni. No artist was ever more amply employed ; orders poured in, from all parts, for retablos and statuary, more than he was able to execute, notwithstanding his unwearied industry ; and his works were to be found in most of the principal churches and convents of Valladolid, and in many others at Santiago, Vittoria, Rioseco, Saha- gun, Zamora, Medina del Campo, Tudela, Plasencia, Salamanca, Truxillo, Avila, and Madrid. One of his finest statues was the "Mater Dolorosa," carved for the church of the Cross at Valladolid, and placed at the foot of an antique " Crucifixion." The robe of this Virgin was red, and her mantle, with which her head was partly covered, blue ; seated on a stone, she extended her arms and lifted her streaming eyes to heaven, wThile a sword, the emblem of her sorrow, quivered in her bosom. The beautiful head, and the whole figure, lost in grief, breathed the very poetry of woe, and embodied for the eye of taste, as well as for the unlettered peasant, the noble strains in which the Roman Church sings the sorrows of the Virgin :—
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
" Stabat Mater dolorosa Juxta Crucem lacrymosa,
Dum pendebat filius, Cujus animam gementem Ooiitristatam et dolentem
Pertransivit gladius. 0 (jiiani tristis et afflicla Fuit ilia benedicta
Mater Unigeniti ! Quae moerebat, et dolebat Pia Mater dum videbat
Nati poenas inclyti." l
This fine carving had suffered greatly from restora- tion and repainting, before the time of Bosarte.2
For the church of San Benito el Heal, Hernandez carved a ''Crucifixion," "alone sufficient for his fame," 3 and for the church of St. Francis, a lovely "Virgin of the Conception," of life-size, wearing the usual blue mantle and white robe, and standing on a globe, around which was twined the serpent.4 His " Virgin with the dead body of Our Lord," in the church of the Anguishes, was likewise a noble piece of sculpture, the subject of which he several times repeated for other temples.5 " Our Lord at Gethsemane," " Sta- Veronica," " St. Mary Mag- dalene," " St. John," and " Simon the Cyrenian," were also represented by his chisel, sometimes for the purpose of being carried in processions. His
1 Hymn for the feast of the " Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin." - Bosarte Viaje, p. 200. 3 Ibid. p. 201.
4 Ibid. p. 202. 6 Ibid. p. 203.
OH. VII.
" Cruci- fixion,"
" Concep- tion,"
" Virgin and dead Christ,"
and other
statues.
520
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
" Baptisrp of Our Lord."
Works of architec- ture1.
Stylo.
Character
large bas-relief or medallion of the " Baptism of Our Lord," executed for the Carmelites of Valladolid, is now a gem of the Museum ; l the figures and attitudes of the Saviour kneeling, and of the Baptist pouring water on His head, are singularly graceful ; the colouring is good ; and the work is perhaps one of the finest efforts of Spanish sculpture.
Amongst his more important architectural works were the high altar of the church of San Miguel, at Yittoria, executed in 1624, and that of the Cathedral of Plasencia in 1629 ; they bore a general resemblance to similar works designed by Becerra " and Juni,3 consisting of several storeys, of different orders, and adorned with bas-reliefs and statues. Many of his carvings exist in the Museum of Valladolid, where, like much of the ecclesiastical spoil there collected, being diverted from their proper uses, they show far less nobly than in their native chapels. He is called by Bosarte, "the sculptor of religion ; " [ his style is graceful and tender, and his works are full of devotional feeling, and seem to have been executed under the influence of the same pious inspiration which warmed the fancy of Juni and guided the pencil of Factor.
Hernandez was a man of devout life, and much
1 Compendia Histdrico, p. So. 3 Ibid. p. 355.
• Supra, chnp. v. p. 296. 4 Bosarte, Viujc, p. 192.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
addicted to acts of self-mortification and works of charity, amongst which that of providing decent burial for the poor was the most frequent. Dying in 1636, his body was embalmed, and interred, according to his last testament, in the monastery of Carmen, where his portrait long hung in the prin- cipal chapel, and represented him as a man with small features and a pleasing expression, a thin face and little hair, having a large wart near his nose, and wearing the starched ruff of the day.1 He left a widow, Maria Perez, and a daughter, Damiana, married to Juan Francisco Hibarne, one of his ablest disciples and assistants. The last twenty years of his life were spent, and many of his best works executed, in the house which once belonged to Juni, and which he bought from that artist's daughter, in i6i6.2 It stood in the Campo Grande, at the corner of the little street of San Luis ; the arched doorway was of stone, and the walls of earth, resting on a few courses of masonry ; the courtyard within had no arcade, and the apartments were of the plainest construction. When Bosarte visited the spot, in 1804, no relic remained of the original occupants, except, perhaps, the massive doors, studded writh heavy nails ; the house was inhabited by a stonemason, and the studio of the religious
1 Bosarte, Viajc, p. 193.
VOL. II.
2 Supra, chap. v. p. 356.
CH. VII.
Death.
Portrait.
Juan
Francisco
Hibarne.
House of Juni and Her- nandez.
522
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
OH. VII.
Arragon. Geronimo (Josida.
Andalusia.
Juan de las Itoelas.
sculptors — where so many graceful Virgins and fair angelic shapes had had their being — was turned into a spirit-shop.1
During this reign Arragon produced no artist worthy of notice but Geronimo Cosida, a painter who flourished at Zaragoza early in the seventeenth century, under the patronage of the Archbishop Don Fernando de Arragon. He was a man of family, and the possessor of a large estate, in lands and houses, which descended to his daughter ; and he excelled in painting architectural decorations, in which he probably followed in the footsteps of Pelegret and Cuevas.2 His invention, says Cean Bermudez, was fertile, and his colouring soft and agreeable ; but not so his disposition, for his dis- ciples found his treatment harsh and insupportable.
Moving southwards to Andalusia, we there ob- serve how
" — rising art in nice gradation moves, Toil builds on toil, and age on age improves." 3
Juan de las Iloelas was born at Seville, about 1558 or 1560, of an illustrious family, which counted amongst its members the Admiral de las Roelas, who, according to Cean Bermudez, may perhaps
Bosartc, Viaje, p. 196. '-' Supra, chap. iii. p. 176.
3 Collins, Epistle to Sir T. Ilanmer, ver. 14.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
523
have been his father. From the evidence of his works, it is probable that he studied painting in Italy ; his style bears a considerable resemblance to that of Tintoretto ; and as that master lived till 1594, there is no chronological reason against the supposition that he was one of his disciples at Venice. He had received a university education, probably at Seville, and had proceeded to the degree of licentiate, by which title he was known when he received the appointment, in 1603, to a prebendal stall in the chapel, afterwards the collegiate church, of Olivares, a town four leagues north-west from Seville. For one of his fellow-prebendaries, Alonso Martin Tentor, he soon afterwards painted four pictures, on the life of the Blessed Virgin, which Tentor, at his death, bequeathed to the church. From the archives of Olivares, it appears that Eoelas had no share in the division of the church-rents, from 1607 to 1624, in consequence of his non- residence, he having spent these years at Seville and Madrid. In 1616, he was a candidate for the post of painter to the King, and was recommended to the royal favour by the Board of Works and Woods, as " the son of an old servant of the Crown," and as " a virtuous man and good painter." The place, however, was conferred on B. Gonzalez,1
CH. VII.
1 Sec supra, p. 502.
524
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
"ElTran- sito de S. Isi- dore."
to the disadvantage of the Royal galleries. He continued to reside at Madrid for a few years, paint- ing for the churches and convents, and afterwards at Seville, till 1624, when he returned to Olivares, on his promotion to a canonry, and died there on the 231x1 of April, 1625. His pious life did honour to the cloth he wore and the art he professed : he was a man of benevolent nature, and gave much in alms ; nor would he refuse to paint for the poor who had no money to pay him for his labour.1
The finest work of Roelas is the great altar-piece in the church of St. Isidore at Seville, representing the death, or, as it is called, the " Transit " of that saint. Isidore was Archbishop of Seville, in the Gothic days, from 600 to 636, and the "encyclo- paedist of his age ; " 2 whose persuasive eloquence was said, like that of St. Ambrose, to have been fore- told, in his infancy, by a swarm of bees issuing from his mouth, and whose " Origenes" still remain a mine of curious lore, and a monument of his genius and industry. After a long and laborious life, in which he stoutly fought against the Arian heresy, and predicted the downfall of the Gothic monarchy, finding his end approaching, he caused two of his suffragans to carry him from his palace in Seville to the church of San Vicente, and there,
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 422.
2 Handbook [1843], p. 31.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
525
having received the sacrament at their hands, he divided his substance amongst the poor, asked forgiveness of all, present or absent, whom he had injured or offended, exhorted his flock to brotherly love and steadfastness in the faith, and, giving them his parting blessing, resigned his soul to God, at the foot of the altar.1 This touching scene forms the subject of the picture ; clad in pontifical robes and a dark mantle, the prelate kneels in the fore- ground expiring in the arms of a group of venerable priests, whose snowy heads and beards are finely relieved by the youthful bloom of two beautiful children of the choir who kneel beside them ; the background is filled up with the far-receding aisle of the church, some altars, and a multitude of sorrowing people. At the top of the picture, in a blaze of light, are seen Our Lord and the Virgin, enthroned on clouds, and holding in their hands —the first, a chaplet of flowers, and the second, a golden crown ; near them hovers a band of angels, two of whom are making music with celestial guitars. For majesty of design, depth of feeling, richness of colour, and for the various beauty of the heads, and the perfect mastery which the painter has displayed in the use of his materials, this altar-piece may be ranked amongst the greatest
CH. VII.
1 Villegas, Flos Sanctorum, p. 645.
526
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Martyr- dom of St. Andrew.
productions of the pencil; the noble subject has been treated in a style worthy of itself, and the work, in the opinion of an able English critic, need not shrink from comparison with the " great picture on a similar subject, Domenichino's St. Jerome."
The " Martyrdom of St. Andrew," in the Museum at Seville, is likewise one of the most famous works of Iloelas. The apostle is undergoing crucifixion on the usual X-shapcd cross, around which stand a number of figures on foot and on horseback ; above, in the clouds, celestial faces look forth, heavenly musicians warble to their guitars, and a lovely Virgin " smiles and waves her golden hair," to welcome the soul of the martyr to the mansions of the blessed. This picture wTas originally painted for the chapel of the Flemings, in the college of St. Thomas ; it was not completed within the time appointed, and wras at last rather hastily finished, for which reasons the college authorities wished to mulct the artist in a part of the stipulated price, 1,000 ducats. He, on the other hand, demanded twice that sum for his labour ; and, the dispute becoming serious, and no Sevillian artist being willing to act as umpire, the picture was sent to be valued in Flanders, whence it returned, says
1 Foreign Quarterly Rcviciv, vol. vii. p. 254 [by Sir Edmund Head, Bart. See also his Handbook of Painting, 1854 (Spanish school), vol. ii. p. ioS. — ED.].
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 527
CH. VII.
Works in the Uni- versity of
Palomino, with an award of 3,000 ducats, which Roelas exacted to the uttermost maravedi. For the convent of Mercy he painted many pictures, one of which — " St. Anne teaching the Virgin to read," — is censured by Pacheco, somewhat hyper- critically, because a table is introduced, with sweet- meats and other eatables.
The chapel of the University of Seville, now the Council-hall and Museum, where the rich tombs of
Seville.
the Iliberas and Figueroas, and a few pictures and sculptures are preserved, possesses three fine works of Iloelas, which still adorn the altar, for which they were painted when the building was the Jesuits' college. They represent the " Holy Family adored by St. Ignatius Martyr and St. Ignatius Loyola," the "Nativity," and the "Adoration of the Shep- herds." In the first of these pictures, the black- robed kneeling saints — in one of whom Roelas is said to have pourtrayed himself — are admirably- painted studies of the smooth and subtle Jesuit ; and in the third, there is a peasant boy, with a drum, in the top of which a rent is so skilfully depicted as to be often taken for a hole in the canvas itself. To the Nativity, Pacheco, with some justice, takes exception,1 because the Saviour is represented —in imitation, he says, of Bassano — without any
1 Arte dc la Pintura, p. 506.
528
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
1 ' La Cala- baza."
covering, a condition in which the most Holy Mother cannot have exposed her new-born babe to the keen air of a mid-winter's night. The Cathedral also has a picture, by Iloelas, of " Santi- ago at the battle of Clavijo," on his usual prancing white war-horse, and hewing down the Saracens, a work highly praised by Cean Bermudez l " for its force, grandeur, and Titianesque touches," but now in a state of disrepair which renders criticism impossible. Only a single specimen of his painting is to be found in the lloyal Gallery of Madrid, a large picture, once in the palace of Aranjuez, of "Moses striking the rock." Near the centre of the composition, to the left of the law-giver, stands a woman, who, deaf to the cries of her thirsty child, drinks eagerly from a gourd, whence the picture has been called " the Calabash." The treatment of this incident, the attitude of Moses, and the woman in the foreground holding a pitcher to the mouth of a boy, seem to have afforded hints which Murillo improved in his noble work of the same subject. Few, if any, of the compositions of Roelas have been engraved, although they are admirably adapted for that purpose ; but had they thus been introduced to general notice, the canon of Olivares would hold a high place amongst the artists, not
1 Description dc la Cat. de Sevilla, p. 75.
2 Catdlogo [1843], No. 95 [1889, No. 1021].
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
529
only of Andalusia, but even of Europe. Great honour is also due to him, as the master of the powerful Zurbaran, whose grand works bear the impress of lioelas' style, and whose name is as widely known as that of any Spanish artist.
Francisco de Herrera, the Elder — so called to dis- tinguish him from his son of the same name, and likewise a painter — was born at Seville, about 1576. He studied his art under Luis Fernandez, an artist of traditionary reputation,1 and to such good pur- pose, that he was the first painter of Andalusia who wholly threw off the timid conventional style hitherto in vogue, and adopted that free and bold manner which soon became characteristic of the painting of Seville. Sketching with burnt sticks instead of chalk, and laying on his colours with brushes of unusual length and volume, he produced works of great vigour and effect, startling by their novelty to those whom Vargas and Villegas had accustomed to elaborate manipulation and delicate finish. His skill and diligence soon gained him fame and employment ; and the rough heads and broad brilliant draperies of his saints were hung in the chapels of St. Bonaventure, the cloisters of St. Francis, and the chambers of the archiepiscopal palace. Scholars flocked to his studio, but they
CH. VII.
Francisco do Herrera el Viejo.
Method of ainting.
1 Supra, chap. vi. p. 375.
53°
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Coins false money ; takes re- fuge in the Jesuits' college and paints "St. Hermene- gild."
were frequently driven from it by the violence of his temper and the severity of the corporal chastise- ment with which he enforced his artistic precepts. lie wTas thus often left without either pupil or assistant. There is a tradition, that, on these oc- casions, when business pressed, he used to employ his maid-servant to smear the paints on his can- vases with a coarse brush — he himself shaping the rough masses of colour into figures and draperies before they were dry.
The art of engraving on bronze,1 which Herrera sometimes practised, is supposed to have tempted him to coin false money. His crime being dis- covered or suspected, he took refuge in the sanctuary of the Jesuits' college, and, while there, he employed his time in painting a noble altar-piece for their church, taking for his subject the legend of St. Hermenegild, its patron, and one of the favourite saints of Seville.* Hermenegild was the son and heir of Lcovigild, King of the Visigoths, and was con- verted from the Arian heresy by the holy Archbishop Leander, the brother and predecessor of St. Isidore.3
1 There is an engraving by Herrera, the title-page of a book called Relation de la Fiesta gue se hizo en Sevilla d la Beatification de S. Igna- cio, Fundador de la Compaiia de Jesus, 4to, Sevilla, 1610. A rather coarse ornamental border, with portrait, lettered round it, " Vera effigies" &c. It is sad and saintly, and is no doubt taken from the mask men- tioned by Pacheco.
* There is a fine Ode on St. Hermenegild by Gongora.
:i Villegas, Flos Sanctorum, p. 450.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
For this he was cast into prison by his Arian father, who vainly sent prelates of his own persuasion to convince him of his errors, and finally, to punish his contumacy, an executioner, who brained him with an axe on the i3th of April, 586. The site of his dungeon was long esteemed holy ground at Seville ; and his cloven skull revered as a relic, first at a convent in Arragon, and afterwards at the Escorial.1 In Herrera's picture, the Martyr-prince, attired in a cuirass of blue steel and a red mantle, and holding a cross in his right hand, is seen ascend- ing to heaven in a flood of yellow glory, amongst a crowd of cherubs, two of whom crown him with a wreath of flowers. Lower down are two angels bearing the trophies of his triumph, — his prison chain and the axe of martyrdom — and on the ground stand, on the left, St. Isidore, robed and mitred, with his eyes turned to the soaring saint, and his left hand on the head of King Leovigild, who kneels with averted face ; and on the right, St. Leander, pointing upwards and looking fondly down on the son of Hermenegild, a fair-haired kneeling boy, wearing a crown and royal mantle and gazing rapturously at his sire. In grandeur of design and skill of composition this noble altar-piece was excelled by few of the thousand pictures which
CH. VII.
1 Villegus, Flos Sanctorum, p. 642.
532
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
en. vn.
Clemency of Philip IV.
adorned the proud churches of Seville. Little inferior to his contemporary Rubens, in ease and vivacity of touch, and flowery freshness of colour, Herrera has greatly the advantage of the Fleming in the dignity of his figures, and in refinement of expression. The venerable Leander is a fine study of virtuous old age, and of " the hoary hair which is a crown of glory ; " the robes of the mitred brethren are gorgeous as those which drape the sumptuous saints of Paul Veronese : and in the free handling and rich brown tones of the picture we detect the style which gave its happy direction to the genius of Velazquez. " St. Ilermenegild," now somewhat dimmed by dirt and neglect, hangs in the Museum at Seville. Newly finished in 1624, when Philip IV. came to the city, it immediately fixed his attention, on his visit to the Jesuits' college. Inquiring for the artist, and hearing the offence with which he was charged, he sent for him, remarking that in such a case he himself was both party and judge. The poor coiner of base money, being brought into the lioyal presence, fell at the young King's feet, and begged for mercy ; when Philip granted him a free pardon, say- ing, " What need of silver and gold has a man gifted with abilities like yours ? go — you are free — and take care that you do not get into this scrape again." *
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 467.
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 533
Returning home, well pleased with his deliver- CH. vn. ance, he resumed his old occupations, and also his , Gcts riii
| of his
old surly habits, which became so insupportable \ children- that his children fled from his house, his daughter and his second son robbing him, says Palomino, of 6,000 ducats, with which they escaped, the one to take the veil in a nunnery, and the other to Rome, where he became an artist of some reputation. Their father continued to reside at Seville, where he painted many works for the churches. Amongst these, one of the most important was " St. Basilio," a large altar-piece for the church of the same name, which may now be seen, though in a very clouded condition, in the Museum. His "Last Judgment," executed for the church of St. Bernardo, beyond the city walls, still hangs over its original altar, at the northern end of the transept. Although it, too, is dingy with years, it well deserves a visit ; at the top of the canvas, appears Our Lord and His attendant angels ; and at the bottom, a heavy, un- couth Archangel Michael stands, waving his wings and flaming sword, between the crowds of the righteous and the wicked, who are finely grouped, and form the best part of the picture. For a painting executed under the eye of censors and inquisitors, there is here a considerable display of nudity; and one of the best figures is a beautiful female sinner, amongst whose fair luxuriant tresses
534
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Goes to Madrid.
Bartolom^ Herrera.
Herrera el Rubio.
Style of Herrera the Elder.
a malignant fiend twists one hand, whilst he slaps her graceful shoulders with the other. For the hall of the archiepiscopal palace, Herrera painted four large compositions, " The Israelites gathering manna," "Moses striking the rock," the " Marriage of Cana," and the " Miracle of loaves and fishes." He also executed a number of works in fresco, for which he does not seem to have understood the art of prepar- ing the plaster, as none of them long survived him, except those on the dome of the church of San Buenaventura. Of one of his frescoes, a facade in the convent of Mercy, he executed an engraving.
The flight of his children having relieved him of domestic cares, he removed, in 1650, to Madrid, where he had the pleasure, or perhaps the mortifica- tion, of finding his runaway scholar, Velazquez, at the height of his reputation and favour at Court. Dying there, in 1656, he was buried in the church of San Gines. His brother Bartolome was also a painter, chiefly of portraits, and flourished at Seville about 1639 ; and his eldest son, known as Herrera the Red, who died young, painted " bode- gones" and other fanciful subjects, in a promising style. Of the artists who had learned their pro- fession solely in Andalusia, Herrera was, doubtless, the most remarkable who had yet appeared. There was an attractive freedom in the productions of his dashing pencil, which was wanting even in the
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
535
pictures of Eoelas. One of the characteristic pecu- liarities of his style was the abundance of paint which he laid on, which, says Palomino, somewhat extravagantly, gave his figures the appearance of relief.
Agustin del Castillo was born in 1565, at Seville, where he learned to paint in the school of Luis Fernandez. Settling at Cordoba, he there executed many works, chiefly in fresco, for the convent of St. Paul and the church of the Hospital of Our Lady of Consolation, none of which has survived ; and he also painted the dome crowning the chapel of the high altar in the church of St. Francis, which was much blackened by smoke and incense, even in the days of Palomino.1 For the Cathedral of Cadiz, he painted an altar-piece, in oil, representing the "Adoration of the Kings." He died at Cordoba, in 1626, leaving a son, Antonio, who was his scholar and obtained some distinction in the next reign.
Juan del Castillo, the younger brother of Agustin, born in 1584, was, likewise, a native of Seville and a disciple of Luis Fernandez. For the most part of his life he resided and practised his art at Seville, where his best works were painted for the church of Monte Sion. Four of his six large pictures, executed for its high altar, are now in the Museum. These
1 Pal., torn. iii. p. 429.
CH. VII.
Apustin del Cas- tillo.
Juan do Castillo.
536
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VIT.
Visits Granada.
are the "Annunciation," the "Visitation," the "Nativity of Our Lord," the "Adoration of the Kings," and the " Assumption of the Virgin." Some- what cold in colour, these pictures are likewise defective in drawing, as, for example, in the " An- nunciation," which is spoiled by the unnatural and absurd length of the Virgin's right arm ; the outlines, especially in the "Kings," are hard; and the com- positions have little of the force of Roelas, or the breadth of Herrera. In the "Visitation," however, St. Elizabeth, in yellow drapery and white headgear, is effective, and recalls the corresponding figure in Rafael's noble delineation of the same subject, now in the Queen of Spain's gallery.1 The " Assumption," the largest, is likewise the best work in the series ; the Blessed Mary, robed in blue, and ascending in a blaze of light, is gracefully drawn ; around the open sarcophagus stand the eleven Apostles, in red, blue, and rich olive draperies ; their heads are noble in character, and seem to have been partly borrowed from Rafael, with whose works Castillo may have been familiar through the medium of copies or prints. He painted for this Sion church several other pictures, which do not appear in the Museum.
Visiting Granada, Castillo there painted many pictures for private persons, of which Palomino
1 Cutulogo [1843], No. 834 [edition 1889, No. 368].
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
537
commends one, representing a subject sufficiently disagreeable, St. Dominic scourging himself with a piece of chain ; l and he acquired so high a repu- tation that, when he returned to Seville, Miguel Cano removed his family thither, in order that his son Alonso, afterwards so famous in art, might pursue the study of painting in his school, where he had for fellow-disciples Pedro de Moya and Murillo, the pride of Andalusia. To have been the instructor of two such artists as Cano and Murillo, is an honour of which few masters can boast, and which is sufficient for the immortality of Castillo. Removing to Cadiz, near the close of his life, he died there, in 1640.
Francisco Pacheco deserves especial notice, not only as a painter of various genius, but as the second master of Velazquez, and as one of the best historians of Spanish art. He was born at Seville, in 15/1, of a respectable branch of the noble house of Pacheco, illustrious in very early times, both in arms and in letters. His uncle, Francisco Pacheco, canon of Seville,2 seems to have been supreme in the Chapter in all things relating to scholarship and taste ; he wrote the inscription for the Giralda,3 on its restora-
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 447.
2 " Vir prajstanti eruditione, poetaque Latinorum potioribus connurn- erandus." — Nicolas Antonio, Hibliuthecn Jfis/xii/a, 2 torn. fol. Konuo, 1672, torn. i. p. 348. H Supra, chap. vi. p. 367.
VOL. u. M
CH VII.
Francisro Pachoco.
53'
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Paints the banners of the Ameri- can ileet.
tion, and the Latin verses which may still be read beneath Alesio's St. Christopher ; l he drew up a catalogue of the Sevillian prelates, with commen- datory Latin verses, inscribed on slabs in the vestibule of the Chapter-room ; he selected the sacred subjects of the groups and bas - reliefs on Juan d'Arphe's Custodia ; 2 and he planned, but did not live to finish, an ecclesiastical history of Seville.3 It is probable that from this learned relative the younger Pacheco imbibed the love of books and literary society, which he displayed during a long and busy life, and to which he owes great part of his fame, and the student of art much curious information. In painting, he, like Herrera, studied under Luis Fernandez, whose school produced so many able artists, and he appears to have obeyed the precepts which he there received, long after other artists had discarded them. His first recorded works were banners for the fleet of New Spain, whereon, with crimson damask for canvas, he painted Santiago on his charger, the royal arms, and various appro-
1 Supra, chap. vi. p. 407.
2 Ibid. p. 459.
3 Zufiiga, Anualcsde Scvilla, p. 596. He was probably also the editor of La vida dc Nucstro Sefior Jesus Christo y dc Su Sand a Madrc y de los otros sanctos, ahora de mievo en ctsta ultima impresion, por el Sefior Lie. Francisco Pachcco, Capellan — folio, Sevilla, 1583. Impresso por Fer- nando Dias. Black letter, with five woodcuts. He died in 1599, and is buried in front of the chapel "de la Antigua" in the Cathedral.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
539
priate devices — performances which remind us of Hogarth and the heraldic labours of his early days —which went forth to " the battle and the breeze " in 1594. In 1598, he executed a great portion of the paintings, in distemper, for the great funeral pomp with which the Chapter honoured the evil memory of Philip II.1 Decorative painting having thus engaged his attention, he became noted for his skill in colouring the flesh and drapery of sculpture in wood, and painted many statues for his friends Nunez Delgado and Martinez Montanes, and added to their bas-reliefs architectural and landscape back- grounds.
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, he had fairly established his reputation as an artist, and was employed by the Friars of Mercy in 1600, to paint for their noble convent some passages from the life of St. Raymond, the miraculous navigator, in competition with Alonso Vazquez,2 and three years later he adorned the Cabinet of the Duke of Alcala with the fall of Da3dalus and Icarus, a work of which the design showed considerable skill in dealing with difficult attitudes, and which he accom- plished to the full satisfaction of his patron. It also obtained the approval of the veteran Cespedes.3
1 Supra, chap. vi. p. 468. 2 Ibid. p. 374.
3 Ibid. p. 384, and Arte de la Pitititra, p. 346.
CH. VII.
Works at
Seville.
540 REIGN OF PHILIP III. |
|
CII. VII. |
Receiving 1,000 ducats for his labour, he expressed his gratitude in a sonnet, in which he compared |
the Duke to Phoebus. The Queen of Spain's gallery |
|
possesses a picture, on panel, of Sta- Ines, a grace- |
|
ful female figure, executed the year following, and |
|
signed F. Paciccus, I6O4.1 |
|
Visits Madrid and Toledo. |
In 1611, he made a journey to Madrid, the Escorial, and Toledo, where he spent some months in examining the works of art, and formed friendly |
relations with El Greco, Vincencio Carducho, and |
|
other leading artists and men of letters. On his |
|
return to Seville, he opened a school of painting |
|
in his house, to which many disciples resorted. |
|
Amongst these, in time, appeared Alonso Cano and |
|
Velazquez, of whom the latter married his daughter. |
|
For his friends, the Jesuits of the college of St. |
|
Ilcrmenegild, he painted a full-length portrait of |
|
the great founder of their order, Ignatius Loyola, |
|
for which his model was a plaster cast taken from |
|
the waxen mask used for a similar purpose by |
|
" Last Judg- ment" for the nuns of St. Isabel. |
Sanchez Coello.2 In 1612 he finished, for the nunnery of St. Isabel, the " Last Judgment," an immense composition, of many figures, on which he |
expended so much time and study that the price |
|
which he received, 700 ducats, can hardly have |
|
1 Cntaloijo [1843], No. 388 [edition 1889, No. 916]. - Arte de la Pint-urn, p. 589, and supra, chap. v. p. 2S6. |
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 541 |
|
paid him for his labour. In a group of nine figures |
CH. VII. |
in the foreground, between a handsome youth and |
|
maiden, he introduced his own portrait, a proceed- |
|
ing for which he pleads the example of Titian, |
|
whose portrait he found in the " Glory," at the |
|
Escorial. The learned Francisco de Medina wrote |
|
the following inscription, which was traced on a |
|
stone near the bottom of the picture : — |
|
FUTURUM AD FINEM SCECULORUM JUDICIUM |
|
FKANCISCUS PACIECUS ROMULENSIS DEPINGEBAT |
|
SCECULI A JUDICIS NATALI XVII |
|
ANNO XI. |
|
The Jesuit father Gaspar de Zamora wrote an |
|
apology for this painting, in reply to the attacks of |
|
certain satirists ; and Don Antonio Ortiz Melgarejo, |
|
knight of St. John, composed a tedious collection |
|
of verses in its commendation, in which Pacheco, |
|
who has printed it in his book,1 is declared the |
|
vanquisher of Zeuxis and Apelles, according to the |
|
fashion of praise set by Lope de Vega. This picture |
|
was esteemed by himself as the greatest effort of |
|
his pencil; but by other and perhaps better judges, |
|
the " St. Michael overthrowing Satan," which was |
|
hung in the church of St. Albert, was held to be |
|
the most favourable specimen of his powers. |
|
1 Arte lie la Pintitra, fol. 234. |
542
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Chosen In- quisitor of art.
In 1618, he was chosen Familiar of the Inquisi- tion, a post which conferred great privileges and immunities, and was held by his brother Juan Perez Pacheco,1 and by men of the best blood in Spain ; 2 and he was also appointed Inspector of Pictures,3 an office in which it was his duty to watch that no indecorous or indecent paintings found their way into churches, or were exposed for sale, and to act as a general censor of the pencil. These honours increased his reputation and popularity as an artist, and he received more commissions than he could execute. Nevertheless, he found time, in the fol- lowing year, to republish some of the poems of his friend and fellow-citizen, Fernando de Herrera, to which he prefixed an eulogistic sonnet, and a por- trait, painted by himself, of the author, and indif- ferently engraved by Pedro Perret.4 From this plate, Carmona's engraving of Herrera, for the " Par- naso Espafiol " of Sedano,5 was most likely taken. In 1620, he painted, for the high altar of the college
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 477, and Artc dc la Pintura, p. 471.
2 Voyage en Espagne, p. 357, 4to, Paris, 1669.
3 Supra, cliap. i. p. 14.
4 Versos de Fernando de Herrera, emcndadas i dividas por el, en tres libros. Impresso en Sevilla por Gabriel Ramos Vejerano, 4to, Sevilla, 1619, pp. 447, with fourteen leaves of prolegomena, including the portrait opposite to p. i, and ten leaves of index. Pacheco dedicates the work to the Count of Olivares, " assi por ser v. sefioria hijo de Sevilla, como por la onra que siempre a hecho al autor," and the Guzman arms are engraved on the title. This edition is almost as rare as that ol 1582.
6 Tom. vii. p. i.
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 543 |
|
of St. Hermenegild, the " Baptism of Our Lord," and his " Banquet served by Angels in the Desert ; " — |
OH. VII. |
" A table of celestial food, divine, |
|
Ambrosial fruits fetched from the Tree of Life, |
|
And from the Fount of Life ambrosial drink." 1 |
|
These pictures were executed on slabs of Granada |
|
marble, of which the natural veins and spots were |
|
turned to account in the colouring. |
|
In the same year he drew his pen in defence of his order, and wrote a learned paper on the com- |
Essay on painting and sculp- ture. |
parative merits of painting and sculpture, in which |
|
he gave the palm to the art which he himself pro- |
|
fessed. This publication was called forth by a law- |
|
plea which took place between Martinez Montanes, |
|
the sculptor, and certain painters, on a question of |
|
division of profits. Having carved a retablo for the |
|
high altar of the nuns of Sta- Clara, and receiving |
|
6,000 ducats for the completed work, he paid the |
|
artist who painted and gilded it only 1,500 ducats, |
|
a sum which appeared, to him and his friends, less |
|
than his due. Pacheco, in his remarks on the case, |
|
censures the conduct of carvers who coloured their |
|
own works, as an infringement of the rights of his |
|
brethren of the brush, a position which seems absurd, |
|
when held in a city where both arts were frequently |
|
and lawfully practised by the same master. For the |
|
1 Paradise Regained, b. iv. 11. 588 -90. |
544
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Second visit to Madrid.
Chartreuse of Sta- Maria de las Cuevas he painted, in 1623, a St. John Baptist, of the size of life.
In the same year he accompanied his son-in-law, Velazquez, to Madrid, where he resided till 1625, enjoying the triumph of his young scholar, renew- ing his intimacy with the artists and men of letters, and improving his acquaintance with the matchless galleries of art. It is probable that he was honoured, during this period, with the notice and patronage of Philip IV., of whose favour and liberality towards him, he afterwards made honourable mention in print.1 He painted a variety of works for private persons, amongst which was a composition of two figures, of life-size, with fruits and flowers, for his friend Francisco de llioja, Canon of Seville, poet and Inquisitor,2 and one of the few faithful adherents of the Conde-Duque Olivares.3 For the Countess of Olivares he painted and draped a carving of " Our Lady of Expectation," a work highly esteemed by the critics of the day, and valued by Eugenio Caxes at 500 ducats. He was paid 2,000 reals for his labour by the devout Countess, who presented the image to a monastery of barefooted Franciscan friars,
1 Arte de la Pintura, p. 101.
2 Besides his poems he wrote some theological treatises ; he was the friend of Olivares and librarian to Philip IV., and lie died in 1658.
3 El Conde-Duque dc Olivares y Felipe IV., por Adolfo de Castro, 4to, Cadiz, 1847, p. 84.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
545
which she had founded at Castelleja de la Cuesta, near Seville.
On his return to Seville, Pacheco was received with great distinction by his friends. His circum- stances appear to have been easy, for his house be- came the resort of all the polished and intellectual society of the city. The remainder of his life was devoted rather to the pen than to the pencil ; and his faculties and his energy were not impaired by advancing years, for his most important work, the Treatise of Painting, on which his fame mainly rests, was not published till 1649, the seventy-eighth year of his age. Nor were his writings confined to sub- jects connected with his immediate profession ; he composed occasional poems of great elegance, and he even dabbled in divinity, delivering himself of several polemical tracts, against a no less famous opponent than Quevcdo y Villegas, in defence of the claim of Sta- Teresa de Jesus to be made co-patron of Spain with the Blessed Santiago, a promotion which, after infinite intrigue and inkshed, was finally brought about in I8I2.1 He died at Seville, in 1654, aged eighty-three, universally deplored by his fellow-citizens.
Pacheco was one of the most diligent and pains-
en. VII.
Return to
Seville.
Writings.
Death.
1 Southey's History of the Peninsular War, 6 vols. London, 1837, vol. vi. p. 74.
546
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Style as a painter.
Makes Ka- fael his model.
taking of artists; he executed no work without having made several sketches of the design, accurate draw- ings of the heads, and studies, in crayons, of the hands and other anatomical parts of his figures from living models ; and his draperies were always modelled from the lay figure. His drawing is generally correct, and his figures are seldom without grace ; but his compositions are cold, spiritless, and commonplace. These faults provoked the following bitter epigram, which a contemporary satirist wrote under one of his pictures, a " Christ at the Column." Castilian critics have praised it for its neatness and point ; English readers will probably be more struck by the apparent irreverence, bred of familiarity, with which a sacred subject is treated.
" i Q.uien os puso asi Senor Tan desabrido y tan seco ? Vos me direis que el amor, Mas yo ciigo que Pacheco." l
Pacheco declares that he early took Rafael as his model, " being moved thereto by his beautiful designs and by an original sketch in water-colours, drawn with marvellous skill and grace, which fell into my hands and has remained for these many
1 Cumberland, who inaccurately states that these lines were written on a crucifix, praises them for their "smartness," and for "the musical chimes of the words ; " but says that " the idea cannot be well con- veyed in English." Anecdotes, vol. i. pp. 195-6.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
547
years in my possession ; " l but his efforts in that path cannot be said to have been successful. Ex- cept a reflected elegance, his pictures have little in common with the works of Rafael but a certain poverty of colour. This great master was pro- bably known to him during his scholar days only in prints ; had he studied his pictures in Italy or at the Escorial, the result might have been more satisfactory. He deserves, however, the praise of industry, and if his more ambitious works are not of the first order, he has the credit of having tried his strength in almost every style without disgrace. From designing an altar-piece, or from the adorn- ment of a ceiling, he could descend to illuminations on vellum ; he executed pleasing pictures of still- life, and painted good portraits of his friends. His portraits, generally of small size, were his happiest performances ; of these he executed a hundred and fifty, amongst which that of his wife was esteemed the best. He likewise left above a hundred and seventy sketches, in crayons, of his friends and illustrious contemporaries, including the author of Don Quixote, of all Spaniards the man of whom such a memorial would be most valuable.2 Part,
1 Arte de la Pintura, p. 243.
2 The only portrait of Cervantes I have ever seen is at Aston. It was given to Sir Arthur Aston by Mr Scarisbnck, who inherited it from his great-uncle, Provincial of the Jesuits of Spain. It is very well painted, with a melancholy expression of countenance.
OH. VII.
Versa- tility.
Portraits.
Sketches of illustriou8 contem- poraries.
548
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
praised by (^uevedo.
if not the whole of these, probably formed the precious volume of "Imagines virorum illustrium," with " elogia," drawn and written by Pacheco, and mentioned by Antonio as having once graced the rich library of the Count-Duke of Olivares.1 It is to these portraits that Quevedo alludes when, apos- trophising the pencil,2 he pays the following poetical compliment to the powers of Pacheco : —
"For ti ! honor de Sevilla, El docto, el erudito, el virtuoso Paclieco con lapiz ingenioso Guarda aquellos borrones, Que hoiiraron los naciones Sin que la seniejanza
1 Nic. Antonio, in his article on Pacheco, Bib. Hixp., torn. i. p. 348, says, " Depinxit quoque Imagines virorum illustrium quos benelicio longto sctatis plurimos novit, adjunxitque elogia, unoque voluinine compactas Coiniti Duci Olivarium nuucupavit, in cujus Bibliotheca, ant Biblio- thecre reliquiis, ubi ubi suut, latet."
The library of Olivares descended to his nephew, Luis de Haro, Marquess of Carpio, and the MSS., at least, of Carpio, were sold in the reign of Philip V. See the Report uii the Archives of Spain, addressed to that King by S. A. Itiol, in 1726. These MSS. were of the greatest value and rarity, original documents of state, and were bought by the foreign ministers. In M. Salva's fine copy of the Noblcza de A tidahtzia (with the rare map of Jaen), by G. Argote de Molina, there is inserted a portrait of the author (a mild melancholy-visaged man, in a cap and small ruff), in crayons, and the face touched with red chalk, which I have little doubt is by Pacheco, It is inscribed, " Vera Effigies Me. Due Gunderaliz Argote de Molina, Comitis de Lanzarote, Sanctce Fraternitatis Provincialis Hispalensis viri clarissimi." Then follows a short account of himself in MS., headed, " G. Argote de Molina, d su hijo D. Ag. Argote," which has been printed, says M. Salva", by Lopez Sedauo. It ends, " Sigue de mi los trabajos, y de otros mayor fortuna."
2 In his poem " En alabanza de la Pintura de algunos pintores Es- paiioles," Obras, tom. ix. p. 377.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
549
A los colores deba su alabanza, Que del carbon y plomo parecida Reciben seinejanza, alma, y vida."
By thee ! Pacheco, Seville's pride, Learned, and wise, and virtuous, With skilful crayon keeps for us, The features of the good and great, Whose names all nations celebrate, In portraits where no mimic dyes Appear, to cheat or charm our eyes, But semblance just, and life and soul Are wrung from dusky lead and coal.
Prefixed to the first edition of Lope de Vega's " Jerusalem Conquered," is a literary sketch of the poet, written by Pacheco, and extracted, says the editor, Baltasar de Medinilla, from his " Book of portraits of the remarkable men of our time."
The writings of Pacheco were the most important legacy which he bequeathed to posterity. His quarto volume on the Art of Painting,2 published
1 Jerusalem Conquistada, Epoyca tragica, de Lope Fcliz de Vega Carpio, Familiar del Sto. Oficio, 410, Madrid, 1609. There is a coarse woodcut portrait of the author, for which the editor warns us not to hold Pacheco responsible.
'2 Arte de la Pintura, su antiguedad y grandczas. Descrivcnse los hombrcs emincntes quc ha abido en ella, assi antiyiios como modernos ; del dibit jo y color ido ; del pi it tar al temple, id olio, de la Humiliation y estofado ; del pintar alfresco, de las cncarnaciones, de poliinento y de mate, del dorado brunido y mate. Y ensefia cl modo de pintar todas las pinturas sagradas. Por Francisco Pacheco, vezino de Sevilla. Afio 1649, con privilegio. En Sevilla, por Simon Faxardo, Impresorde libras a la Cerrajeiia. 4to ; with title, 2 leaves of table of chapters, 641 pages of matter, and 2 leaves of index. Cean Bermudez has printed in his Diccionariu, torn. iv. p. 14, a " proloyo, " which he says fell into his hands
CTT. VII.
Paehoco's notice of Lopo <le Vega.
Writings : "Arte de la Pin- tura."
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. vn. near the close of his life, was probably the work of many years, and the garner into which he gathered the fruits of his extensive reading and observation. Palomino and Cean Bermudez drew from it great part of their materials ; but as it has never been reprinted, it is now one of the curiosities of Spanish bibliography.1 Although an
in MS., and was believed to have been written by Paclieco for this work, but which was not found in any copy he had ever seen. That in the British Museum is also without it.
1 M. Salva, the well-known Spanish bookseller of Paris, told me that he had never seen but one copy, and that an imperfect one, which be- longed to the late Mr. Heber. It appears in his Catalogue of Spanish Books, 8vo, London, 1829, price £i, 43. without title, and that, I learn, was bought by Heber, and is now in the possession of Mr. Marielield at Brighton. It is not to be found in the University Library at Cambridge, nor in the Bodleian at Oxford. Although it appears in the Catalogue of the Bibliothique da Roi, at Paris, when I asked for the work, in June 1847, it was not to be found in the library, if indeed the librarians (who are as stupid and uncivil as those of the British Museum are intelli- gent and obliging) took the trouble to look for it. There is, probably, a copy in the library of the University of Gottiugen, at least it is cited by Fiorillio, Geschichte dcr zcichnenden Kilnst, 5 band, 8vo, Gottingen, 1798-1808, biind iv. p. 464. In Spain, where the work was long used as a manual by the artists, and where, probably, the greater number of copies have been destroyed by wear and tear in the studios, it is so scarce as to be hardly obtainable. The copy in the British Museum bears the autograph of Andre Gonzalez, Pintor, and plentiful stains of spilled oil and other marks of rough usage. The only other that I have seen is the very fine one in the possession of Mr. Ford. [There is a re- print by I). G. Crnzada Vilaamil, 2 vols. 4to, Madrid, 1866. This was published by the editors of El Artc en Espaiia, mainly for the benefit of the subscribers to that periodical. The work was handsomely executed, the edition limited, and it now sells for about fifty pesetas in Madrid. A worthless abridgment by Mariano de la Boca y Delgado, 116 pp. 8vo, was published in Madrid in 1871. This is the only book published in the lifetime of Velazquez in which his name is mentioned. Curtis, Velazquez and Murillo, Svo, New York and London, 1883, pp. 370-1. — El).]
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
invaluable authority on all subjects connected with the arts of the Peninsula, Pacheco can hardly be called an agreeable writer, being pompous and prolix, even beyond the measure of his age and country. "Tubal, the son of Japhet, was the first man that came into Spain," writes Mariana, in the opening passage of his history.1 Pacheco, with equal gravity and yet greater assurance, ascends the stream of time to its very source, and begins his history of painting in "chaos and eternal night."2 Gravely examining the claim of sculpture to rank as the eldest of the arts, because God modelled Adam of clay, he rejects it on the ground that the previous creation of light and colour confers that distinction on painting. In his ponderous prose, these abstruse speculations become insupportably tedious, and are altogether destitute of the grace with which the poetical fancy of Cespedes has clothed them.3 Like Carducho, he delights in anecdotes of the painters of antiquity, in whose history he is almost as well
551
CH. VII.
1 "Japhcti filius Tubal mortalium primus in Hispaniam venit." Marianiee, Hist, dc rcb. Hisp., fol. Toleti, 1592, lib. i. p. i. [The same statement is made by Estevan de Garibay y Camallo, who says, " Tubal unico deste nonibre, primer padre, Patriarea, y Principe de Espaiia comen90 a reynar en Espafia en el aiio ya senalado, que fue antes del nacimiento de nuestro Seiior lesu Christo, de dos mil y ciento y seseiita y tres." Los Quarenta Liliros del Coinpendio Hixtorial de las Chronicas y Universal Historia de todos los Reynos de Espana, 4 tomos 4to, Bar- celona, 1628, torn. i. cap. v. p. 79. — Eu.]
- Arte de la Pintura, p. 13. 3 Supra, chap. vi. p. 391.
552
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Miraculous pictures.
Duke of
Bulgaria converted to Chris- tianity by a picture.
versed as his contemporary, the Dutch Jimius.1 He introduces the story of the pots and dishes in Cespedes's "Last Supper," by relating a similar tradition of Parrhasius and his picture of a satyr, in which the principal figure was eclipsed, in public estimation, by an accessory partridge, so naturally painted that it called forth the greetings of other partridges ; 3 and his remarks on modern art in Italy and Andalusia are generally illustrated by tales of the Ilhodian and Athenian studios. He is, of course, no less learned in all miraculously-gifted works of art, and in the sacred pictures and images, revered by the Church, and attributed to St. Luke and Nicodemus. One of the most brilliant exploits of the pencil, which he records, is that performed by a Roman monk named Methodic, whom a Duke of Bulgaria employed to decorate with pictures a new and magnificent palace, leaving him to choose his own subjects, on the sole stipulation that they were to be terrible to behold. The holy artist fell to work forthwith, and produced a " Last Judgment," in which the glories of the blessed and the pains of the damned were so powerfully depicted, that the heathen Duke immediately sent for a Bishop and received
1 Francis Juiiius, the learned author of the treatise De pictura vctemm, 4to, Amstel. 1637, of which there is an English translation, 4to, London, 1638, and a later Latin edition, fol. Rotterdam, 1684.
2 Supra, chap. vi. p. 388. 3 Artc dc, la Pintura, p. 431.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
553
baptism ; his subjects, after a slight rebellion and chastisement, following his example.1 In the nap- kin of King Abagarus, and the veil of Sta- Veronica, preserved at Rome, and in the " linen cloth " of the holy sepulchre, a famous relic at Turin, all stamped with impressions of the face and person of Our Blessed Lord, his large and unquestioning faith sees convincing evidence that the Saviour came into the world for the regeneration, as well of the art of painting as of the human race.2
In the description of his own works he is especially prolix and minute. Perhaps the most wearisome passage in the whole volume is that in which he describes his "Last Judgment," in the convent of St. Isabel,3 to which he devotes no less than forty quarto pages, sparing his readers no episode, or even figure, of the whole composition, and dilating with almost childish earnestness on an improvement which he had made on the received mode of painting the angelic array, by transferring the celestial standard from the hands of the Archangel Michael to those of his companion Gabriel. The long and minute instructions on the technicalities of painting were evidently drawn up with great care ; and although of little interest to the modern reader, they were
1 Arte de la Pintura, pp. 121-2.
a Ibid. pp. 294-334. VOL. II.
Ibid. p. 126.
CH. VII.
Tedious descrip- tions of his own works.
554
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Rules for represent- ing sacred subjects.
| Descrip- ! tion of the ! Cross.
On the four nails.
probably useful to the artists of the day, who used the work as a text-book.
Many pages are devoted to a code of rules for representing, in an orthodox manner, sacred scenes and personages, in which Pacheco was assisted by his friends of the Jesuits' College. Of the persons of the more illustrious saints and martyrs, he gives minute descriptions, taken from ancient portraits, or contemporary records. The " Crucifixion of Our Lord," the sublimest subject of Christian art, is the theme on which he displays the greatest amount of historical research. Guided by Anselm and Bede, and other holy men, he describes the " accursed tree," which has become the symbol of our faith, with all the precision of an artisan who had assisted in its construction. In height it measured, he in- forms us, fifteen feet, and across the arms eight feet : its timbers were flat, and not round, with four, and not three extremities, as it has sometimes been represented ; the stem was made of cypress wood, the transverse bar, of pine, the block beneath our Lord's feet, of cedar, and the tablet for the inscrip- tion, of box.1 Against the usage which had crept into modern art, of representing the Saviour's feet as
1 Arte de la Pintura, p. 591. Alonso Morgado, in his Historia de Sevilla, fol. Sev. 1587, fol. 102, mentions with great reverence a piece of the true cross belonging to the Cathedral, of which the genuineness was tested by Ahbp. Alonso de Fonseca, who placed it in a brasero of burning
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
555
fastened by a single nail, he protests as an heretical innovation, which he himself discountenanced, by returning to the ancient practice of giving a sepa- rate nail to each foot. He fortifies his position, by printing an elaborate essay on "the four nails of the Cross," by Francisco de Kioja,1 who learnedly defends the same opinion, and cites in favour of it " the holy nail of the Saviour's right foot," a famous relic at Treves, the stigmata which appeared on both feet of St. Francis, and many of the oldest crucifixes, amongst which is that which the Cid Iluy Diaz used to carry to the field, and which is still revered in the Cathedral of Salamanca, as the " Christ of the battles." To these ancient precedents Pacheco adds several modern instances of weight ; and amongst others, a crucifix cast in bronze, from a design by Michael Angelo, and constantly worn on the neck of Cespedes.2
The most agreeable and valuable portions of the work are those relating to the history of Spanish art, written in a spirit of hearty admiration of con- temporary painters ; which leave in the reader's mind a pleasing impression of the character of the author, and make us the more keenly regret the
coal, where it remained during the performance of mass ; it filled the church with fragrance, and was taken up unscathed ; but he does not venture an opinion as to the nature of the wood.
1 Arte de la Pintura pp. 593-604. 2 Ibid. p. 618.
CH. VII.
Notes on
Spanish
art.
556 REIGN OF PHILIP III. |
|
CH. VII. |
time and space given to Zeuxis and St. Luke, in- |
stead of Vargas and Joanes. His affectionate pride |
|
in the success of Velazquez is very delightful ; |
|
nor is the gravity less amusing with which he |
|
consoles himself for the superiority of his scholar's |
|
works to his own, by citing the parallel cases of |
|
" Jorge de Castelfranco " and Titian, and of Plato |
|
and Aristotle.1 It must also be remembered, to |
|
Pacheco's honour, that to his taste and friendly |
|
care, Castilian literature owes the preservation of |
|
the poem of Cespedes. |
|
Poetry. |
In literary merit, the poetry of Pacheco was, |
perhaps, superior to his prose. Of one of his |
|
epigrams, Lopez de Sedano remarks that, "although |
|
the copiousness and facility of the Castilian, makes |
|
it no less happy in this species of writing than the |
|
Greek or Latin, there is nothing better of the kind |
|
in the language." It is short enough to be quoted |
|
here : — |
|
Epigrnm. |
" Pinto un gallo un nial pintor, |
Y entro un vivo de repente, |
|
En todo tan diferente |
|
Quanto ignorante su autor. |
|
Su f'alta de hubilidad |
|
Satisfizo con matallo |
|
De suerte que murio el gallo |
|
Por sustentar la verdad." |
|
1 Arte dc la Pintura, p. 101. 2 Purnaso Espaiiol, torn. iii. p. ix. |
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
557
" A daubing dunce had linm'd a cock
When lo ! live chanticleer came by
As if to give his brush the lie And the fool's ignorance to mock. But lack of skill the man supplied
With one well-aim'd and vengeful knock,
And so the unoffending cock Fell marytr to the truth and died." 1
Lope de Vega commends the abilities of Paclieco both in literature and art, by calling him the "Apelles of Betis " and expressing the opinion, in his Laurel de Apolo,2 that
" De Francisco Pacheco, los pinceles Y la pluma famoso Igualan con la tabla verso y prosa."
Diego Vidal, born at Valmaseda, in 1583, was a man of good family, who obtained a canonry in the Cathedral of Seville. While seeking this prefer- ment at Rome, it is supposed that he acquired some skill in painting, which he practised with some credit at Seville. For the Cathedral, he painted a
1 So Ben Jonson, in a similar strain, sings of —
" The wretched painter, who so ill Painted a dog, that now his subtler skill Was t'have a boy stand with a club and fright All live dogs from the lane, and his shop's sight, Till he had sold his piece drawn so unlike."
Epigram addressed to a "friend and son." Works, 8vo, London, 1816, vol. viii. p. 463. Cervantes also has immortalised a painter, Orbaneja of Ubeda, as proverbially unhappy in his cocks. Don Quijotc, Part II. book ii., cap. 3. Acad. ed., torn. iii. p. 27.
2 Silva, ii.
CH. VII.
Praise of Lope de Voga.
Diego Vidal.
553
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Cristobal de Vera.
Juan de Vera.
Fray Adriano.
picture of the Virgin and Child, and some other works ; and Pacheco commends his sketches, and assures us that his alms-deeds and exemplary life were sufficient to place him on the roll of saintly artists. lie died in 1613.
Cristobal de Vera was born in 1577, at Cordoba, where it is probable that he studied in the school of Cespedes. Removing to Castile, he became, in 1602, a lay-brother of the Jeronymites of Lupiana, and painted the eight statues of the Via Dolorosa for their cloister. His nephew, Juan de Vera, likewise a painter, having commenced his noviciate in the convent of La Sisla, at Toledo, was there visited by his uncle Cristobal. At the end of his year of trial, Juan left the convent without assum- ing the robe ; the uncle, however, remained to paint two altar-pieces for the church, a " St. Jerome " and a " St. Mary Magdalene," and died soon afterwards. He was buried in La Sisla, and praised in the records of his brethren at Lupiana, as a pious and devout monk, much given to nocturnal study, which shortened his days.
Adriano, lay-brother of the barefooted Carmelites at Cordoba, was likewise a native of the city, and a scholar of Cespedes. His works gained him great celebrity in his day, but few of them survived him; for, being of a very fastidious taste, he frequently destroyed his pictures as soon as they were finished,
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
559
pronouncing them worthless. His friends some- times saved a condemned performance, by begging its life for the love of the souls in purgatory, " toward whom," says Palomino, " he was ever de- voutly inclined." l He is ranked by Pacheco amongst the best painters of his time ; 2 Palomino remarks, of one of his pictures, a " Magdalene " in the church of his convent, that it might pass for a work of Titian ; and Ponz extols the beauty of a small " Crucifixion, with the Virgin, St. John, and other figures," in the same church.3 Adriano died in 1636, leaving behind him a name "great in art, and still greater in piety."
Juan Penaloso was born at Baena, in 1581, and was one of the best scholars of Cespedes, whose style he imitated in both drawing and colouring. He resided chiefly at Cordoba, where he painted many works for the convents, and for the Cathedral, pictures of " Sta- Barbara," the holy virgin of Nico- media, martyred by her own father, and " St. Diego de Alcald," an ignorant Franciscan monk of the fifteenth century, whose miracles had gained him a place in the calendar. His death took place in 1636.
Juan Luis Zambrano, was a Cordobese by birth,
1 Pal., torn. iii. p. 435. 2 Pacheco, Arte de la Pintura, p. 116.
3 Ponz, toin. xvii. p. 73.
CH. VII.
Juan Penaloso.
Juan Luis Zambrano.
560
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Antonio de Con- treras.
Girolamo Lucenti.
and a scholar of Cespedes. On that master's death, in 1608, he established himself at Seville, where he resided until his decease, in 1639. He painted with spirit and correctness, and much brilliancy of colour ; his best works were three large pictures of scenes from the life of St. Basilio, the holy Bishop of Cesarea, which adorned the great staircase of the convent of the same name.
Antonio de Contrdras, born at Cordoba in 1587, was also of the school of Cespedes, at whose death he went to finish his studies at Granada. He afterwards removed to Bujalance, where he pos- sessed some property, and resided with his wife and two sisters until he died, in 1654. For the Franciscan convent, and for the churches of the town, he executed many sacred pictures ; and he likewise painted portraits of considerable ex- cellence.
Girolamo Lucenti, a native of Correggio in Lom- bardy, resided at Seville, in 1608. In that year, he painted for the chapel of St. Thomas's college, a pair of pleasing landscapes, with figures, which represented the calling of St. Andrew and St. Peter, afterwards removed to the sacristy, to make way for other altar-pieces, by Roelas. He also visited the city of Granada, where he executed, in 1642, seven small works on the subject of the discovery of the manuscripts and relics at Sacro Monte — a pious
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
fraud of great celebrity, played off in 1588, on the credulous Archbishop de Castro.1
Geronimo Hernandez was one of the best sculptors of Andalusia. He was the scholar of Pedro Delgado, and practised his art at Seville, his native city. One of his best works was a statue of " St. Jerome doing penance/' executed for the chapel of the Visitation, in the Cathedral, and by Poiiz considered so fine, that he doubted whether it might not be attributed to Torrigiano,2 whose noble study of the same subject, at the convent of Bucuavista,3 may indeed have served as a model to Hernandez. For the nunnery of the Mother of God, he likewise executed for the high altar, an excellent group, con- sisting of " Our Lady of the Ivosary " with the Infant Saviour in her arms, and St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Sienna kneeling at her feet, in which the head of the Virgin, full of grandeur and grace, was reckoned one of the finest pieces of carving in Seville. lie also designed and sculptured many re- tablos, adorned with flowers and foliage in the rich plateresque style, in after times removed to make way for the ignoble productions of declining taste. II is knowledge of anatomy was accurate ; and his anatomical sketches were much prized by Pacheco,
1 This curious story is well told in the Handbook [1845], P- 39° [edition
iS55- P. 3^3].
2 Tonz, torn. ix. p. iS. 3 Supra, chap. iii. p. 138.
CH. VII.
Sculptors : Goronimo Her- nandez.
562
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Gaspar Nuuez Delgado.
Anecdote of the poet, Fernando de Her- rera.
Juan
Martinez
Montaiies,
who records that he possessed a remarkable facility of hand, and when conversing on matters of art, would draw any subject that was proposed, with great rapidity and correctness. According to Palo- mino, he died in 1646, aged sixty,1 but Cean Bermudez thinks that his death must have taken place some years before that date.
Gaspar Nunez Delgado was a kinsman and pupil of the sculptor Pedro Delgado,2 whom he excelled in his knowledge of anatomy and in the beauty of his figures. His works had become rare at Seville, even in the time of Cean Bermudez, who mentions, with praise, a " St. John Baptist" of life-size, painted by Pacheco, in the nunnery of San Clemente, and a Crucifix in a private house. The poet Fernando de Herrera was his intimate friend, and loved to visit his studio and talk of art. On one of these occasions, the bard choosing to assume a somewhat dictatorial tone, the sculptor desired his opinion of the relative merit of two clay models. Herrera pre- ferred the worse to the better, and was silenced ; which, says Cean Bermudez, should serve as a les- son to many bold critics, who are destitute of the poet's genius and learning.
Juan Martinez Montanes was born at Alcala la Real, a town lying amongst the mountains of
1 Palomino, tarn. iii. p. 453.
Supra, chap. vi. p. 411.
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 563 |
|
Granada ; and studied sculpture in the capital of that province, under Pablo de Roxas, a master re- |
CH. VII. |
membered chiefly for the sake of his scholar. He |
|
seems to have removed, at an early age, to the |
|
richer and more populous city of Seville, where he |
|
was employed, in 1598, on the funeral monument |
|
of Philip II. His earliest work, noticed by Cean |
|
Bermudez, was an " Infant Christ," executed for the |
|
Cathedral, in 1607. In 1610, he carved the head and hands of the draped figure (estatua de vestir}1 |
Statue of Ignatius Loyola. |
of St. Ignatius Loyola, for the Jesuits' convent, pro- |
|
duced on the grand festival of that saint's beatifica- |
|
tion. This carving was coloured by Pacheco, who |
|
declares2 that it was the most life-like image of |
|
the "glorious saint" which he had ever seen: if it |
|
be still in existence, this testimony of the familiar |
|
friend of the Jesuits stamps it as one of the most |
|
interesting portraits of the canonised soldier of |
|
Biscay. For the Jcronymite convent of Santiponce, |
|
now a penitentiary, a league to the north of Seville, |
|
he designed and sculptured a retablo and a number |
|
of statues of saints, for which he received, in 1612, |
|
3,500 ducats, and a further gratuity of 300 fanegas3 |
|
of wheat. The friars used also to attribute to him |
|
the marble busts of the gallant founder of the con- |
|
1 Supra, chap. iii. p. 150. - Arte de la Pintura, p. 589. 3 Each CM^ual to about a cwt. |
564
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Models an equestrian statue of Philip IV.
vent, Alonso de Guzman the Good, one of the wor- thies of crusading Christendom,1 and Maria Alfonsa Coronel, his spouse, whose bones rest within its walls. He likewise carved for Archdeacon Mateo Vazquez de Leca, a noble "Crucifixion" of life- size, at the price of 1,000 ducats. That dignitary presented it, in 1614, to the Carthusians of Seville, who entered into a bond that it was never to be alienated, or even to be removed, from the convent. This bond has been cancelled by the storm which has swept away the religious orders of Spain. Its subject is, perhaps, the grand Crucifix of the Museum of Seville, in which the Saviour's agony is represented with appalling fidelity, both in form and colour.2 For these same Carthusians, the sculptor executed, in 1617, 1 8, and 20, two retablos, and a fine statue of St. Bruno, for which he received in all 18,900 reals.
Of the latter years of his life, little is known beyond the fact that, in 1636, he was called to Madrid, to model the portrait of Philip IV. on horseback, which was sent to the Grand-Duke of Tuscany, and is supposed to have guided Tacca in
1 The defender of Tarifa, who preferred his fidelity to his king to the life of his son ; see Gongalo Argote de Molina, Noblcza de A ndaluzia, fol. Sevilla, 1587; fol. 167, and Handbook [1845], p. 225 [edition 1855,
P- I49l-
2 It is now in the Cathedral (1859).
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 565
his celebrated bronze statue.1 He remained in the CH. vn. capital for upwards of seven months ; and received, as payment for his services, the privilege of sending a trading vessel to America with the royal fleet, of which, however, he did not seek to avail himself for eleven or twelve years. When, at length, he found it convenient to assert his claim, various difficulties and objections seem to have been thrown in his way at the India House of Seville. The industry of Cean Bermudez brought to light a peti- tion, addressed to that body, and dated igth of September, 1648, in which he represents himself as " poor, old, and encumbered with a large family." He did not long survive this appeal, which was un- Death. successful ; for a similar petition was presented on the loth of January, 1650, by his widow, Catalina de Salcedo y Sandoval and her children, with the like result. They succeeded, however, at last, in estab- lishing their right, which they sold to a merchant, receiving in exchange, in 1658, a bar of silver, worth i ,000 dollars.
Montanes undoubtedly stands in the foremost
merits.
rank of Spanish sculptors. If he seldom equals the
1 I). Fern, de la Torre Farfon, Teniplo paneyirico al ccrtamen poetico qne estcbro la Hermandad del Sm° Sac'" estrenando la grande fabrica del Sagrario nucvo de la mctropoli Sevillana, 4to, Se villa, 1663, fol. 20, speaks of Martinez Montanes thus : "A cuya relieve le devio el mas fiel trastado de la cabeza coronada de orbes, de Na Quarta luz, de nuestro primer mobil de nucstro unico Philippe. "
Style and
566
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
energy of Juni, it is because his taste led him rather to rival the grace of Gregorio Hernandez. He has excelled both these artists in the colouring of his works, which was generally executed by himself, or at least under his own direction.1 The large " Crucifixion," in the Museum of Seville, is a magnificent specimen of his powers ; the anatomy is excellent, and the drooping head full of feeling and majesty : and were the material Carrara marble instead of painted timber, the work would rival the noble Crucifix of Cellini.2 The same walls enshrine a "St. Dominic scourging himself," once in the Dominican convent, a kneeling figure of great force, and instinct with the ferocity which belonged to that ruthless persecutor, who revelled in the blood of the Albigenses.3 When this Museum was the Convent of Mercy, it contained one of his finest works — a draped statue of " Christ bearing the cross," of which it is related that the sculptor used to wait at the corners of streets, to see it pass in the processions ; saying that he doubted whether it really were the work of his own hands.4 " Without being its author," says Cean Bermudez, " I confess that, during my long residence at Seville, I always
1 Supra, p. 543. 2 Supra, chap. iv. p. 222.
3 Villegas, Flos Sanctorum, p. 363. This statue is at present very unhappy in its position ; supra, chap. iii. p. 129.
4 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 448.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
567
did the same, and was never satisfied if I did not see it two or three times in every procession." Let us hope that it still exists in some of the city churches.1 The church of San Lorenzo still pre- serves its ornate high altar by Montanes, and the statue of the patron saint ; and the church of San Juan de la Palma, his draped figure of the Beloved Disciple, of which the beautiful head might have been carved and coloured after one of the soft creations of Guido Reni. His carvings of cherubs and children were much admired ; and casts of them, in plaster and bronze, were sometimes to be met with.
The chief artists of Andalusia during this reign, it will be observed, were either born, or early settled at Seville. That city, after Lisbon and Naples, the most beautiful, was, at the close of the sixteenth century, the richest within the wide dominions of the Castilian crown. For its ancient Christianity and blessed saints and martyrs, its pleasant situation and climate, its splendid cathedral, palaces, and streets, its illustrious families and universal com- merce, its great men and lovely women, it had been called by an early historian,2 with more truth than is commonly found in filial panegyric, " the glory of
1 It is now in the Cathedral (1859).
2 Alonso Morgado, Ilistoria de Sevilla, fol. Sevilla, 1587, p. 159.
CH. VTT.
Seville : its wealth, grandeur, and polite-
568
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
En- lightened clergy.
Jesuits.
the Spanish realms." The waning star of the house of Austria had not, as yet, affected its fortunes. Although the flags of England and the United Provinces had begun to contest with the castles and lions of Spain the sovereignty of the western ocean, large vessels still ascended the Guadalquivir to unload their rich freights beneath the golden tower of Csesar,1 and wealthy merchants still con- gregated beneath the grand arcades of Herrera's exchange.2 In this atmosphere of trade, the Church was, as usual, the guardian of taste and intellectual culture. Amongst its ministers were many men of learning and ability, well fitted to preach with effect the doctrine that people and cities flourish not by wealth alone. In the Cathedral, Francisco de Eioja, who sang so sweetly of the ruins of Italica, and the learned Francisco Facheco the elder, filled canons' stalls ; and there the priest antiquary, Rodrigo Caro, historian of Seville and Utrera,3 might be seen deciphering the ancient inscriptions, or turning over the folios in the fine library bequeathed to the Chapter by the son of Columbus. At the Jesuits' College, the erudite Gaspar Zamora, author of an
1 A Moorish tower, popularly ascribed to Julius Coesar.
2 Supra, chap. iv. p. 216.
3 Author of Antignedades y principado de la ilustrissima ciudad de Scvilla, fol. Sev. 1634 ; Relation de las inscripciones y antiguedades de Utrera, 4to, and other works.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
569
early concordance, and Martin de Roa, the hagio- logist and chronicler of Cordoba, Xeres, and Ecija,1 lectured in learned halls, or officiated at sumptuous altars, newly enriched with pictures by Roelas and Herrera, and with sculptures by Montanes. The house of Pacheco was the general resort of artists and men of letters, who met there to discuss the news of the day and the last productions of the studios, or of the presses of Gamarra and Vejerano ; talk over the court news, or Lope's last play, with Rioja, or with the poet Gongora, now at the height of his reputation, who, being a canon of Cordoba, was a frequent visitor at Seville ; or argue points of theological painting with their good-humoured and versatile host.
Amongst the ancient nobility, who dreamed away life in the superb and half-oriental palaces of the delightful city, were several lovers and patrons of art. Pre-eminent amongst these, stood Fernando Henriquez de Ribera, third Duke of Alcala de los Gazules, head of a house in which munificence and valour were hereditary,2 and representative of the
1 Flos Sanctorum, 4to, Sevilln. 1615. De Cordubtc Principatu, 410, Lugcl. 1617. Santos de Xeres de la Fronterx, 4to, Scvilla, 1617. Ecija, sits Santos, tic., 4to, Scvilla, 1629, are only a portion of the works of this busy writer.
2 The noble Hospital de la Sangre was founded by the Kiberas in 1505 ; and Juan de Ribera, Archbishop of Valencia, <;rcat-uncle to the Duke, has already been noticed in chap. vi. supra, p. 427.
VOL. II. O
:i. VIT.
Society of the house of Pacheco.
Patrons of art.
Duke of Alcala.
57°
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Casa de I'ilatcw.
Marquess of Tarifa, whose pilgrimage to the Holy Land had been made famous by the poet Juan de Enzina.1 He kept his state in a noble mansion, still known as the house of Pilate, because it was built by his pilgrim-ancestor after the plan, it is said, of the house so called at Jerusalem. Here he had amassed a fine collection of pictures and works of art, and filled the porticos towards the garden with antique statues, brought, some from Home and others from the neighbouring ruins of Italica ; and he had likewise formed a choice cabinet of coins, and a large library, which included that of Ambrosio Morales, and was especially rich in manuscripts relating to the antiquities of Spain. Himself an amateur painter of some skill, as well as a scholar, a soldier, and a statesman, the Duke here employed many of the best Andalusian artists, and reigned the Maecenas of arts and letters.2 Passing at the Duke's death into the family of Medina-celi, this princely abode was deserted, and its treasures were removed to Madrid. It is still, however, one of the most interesting relics of the palmy days of Seville. They still point out the spots where, in the original edifice, Pilate sate, and the cock crew ; the courts, the chapel, and the
1 In his Tribagia 6 via sagra de Hierusalem, 8vo, lioma, 1521. • Ortiz de Zuiiiga, Annales de Secilla, p. 665. See also chap. vi. supra, pp. 374 and 403.
REIGN OF THILIP III.
galleries are still rich with elaborate Moorish stucco- work, curiously carved ceilings, and wainscottings of bright tiles ; tall orange trees still shed their flowers and fragrance over the neglected garden ; nor is it a difficult task for the imagination to restore these noble halls to their pristine splendour, when the artists and the wits, the old blood and the young beauty of Seville, adorned the social circle of the last llibcra.
Meanwhile the school of Valencia maintained the fame which it had acquired under the direction of Joanes. The Ribaltas, father and son, rank high amongst the artists of Spain. Francisco de Kibalta was born, between 1550 and 1560, at Castellon de la Plana, a town on the Valencian coast, some leagues to the north of the capital. He studied painting at Valencia, in the school of a master whose name is unknown, but of whose daughter he became enamoured. The prudence of the father, who pronounced his pupil too unskilled in his profession to marry, was opposed, as frequently happens, to the affections of the child. She, how- ever, was willing to defer her hopes till Ribalta should have mastered his art in Italy, whither he immediately sailed. His studies and struggles there have not been recorded ; but his after-style indicated a close acquaintance with the works of Rafael and the Carracci ; and at the end of three
Of I. VII.
Valon
Francisco de i'dbalta.
572
RKIGN OF PHILIP III.
cn. vn. or four years he returned, an excellent painter and constant lover, to claim his bride, whose fidelity was equal to his own. Hastening to the house of her father — who happened to be absent, — after the first transports of the meeting with his beloved were over, he proceeded to evince his improved skill by rapidly finishing a picture which chanced to be upon the easel. The father on his return, being no less delighted than surprised by the performance, eagerly asked after the author, who he declared " should be his son-in-law, instead of that bungler Ribalta." From that hour, therefore, the troubled stream of true love began to run smooth as a mill-race, and the well-kept troth of the affectionate pair was at last plighted anew at the altar. Like Quentin Matsys the blacksmith of Antwerp, and Antonio Solario the blacksmith of the Abruzzi,1 of whom similar stories are told, Itibalta might therefore have adopted the motto —
Pic'iorem me fecit amor.2
He was soon loaded with orders for pictures for the churches and convents. The Archbishop Ribera charged him with the execution of a " Last Supper,"
1 Lanzi, torn. ii. p. 286. The Neapolitan lovers deserve most praise, having waited ten years for their happiness.
2 Motto heneath the portrait of Q. Matsys, in Lampsonius : Pic.torum aliquot celcbriuni Gcrtnaime inff.rioria e//iyics, No. 9. — Antwerp, n. y.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
573
for the high-altar of the chapel of his new college of Corpus Christi, where it still remains. Our Lord and His company are seated at a round table, covered with a white cloth, on which there is nothing but a plate of bread and the holy chalice of Valencia ; l and a glory of uncommon magnitude surrounds the head of the Saviour, who is in the act of blessing the bread. The general effect of the picture, with its rich red and blue draperies, is very grand ; and the heads are most of them carefully painted from fine models, that of St. John, contrary to custom, being the least beautiful of them all. St. Andrew is a portrait of Pedro Munoz, a venerable monk ; and in the traitor-apostle, Ribalta has taken an artist's vengeance on one Pradas, a contemporary cobbler, whom he found a disorderly and trouble- some neighbour. In gibbeting this vulgar foe, he has bestowed on him an expression sufficiently sinister, but a fine set of features, which betokens a desire to do justice to his adversary's personal advantages. From this picture, Vincencio Carducho, who, as we have seen, visited Valencia for the pur- pose of studying the works of Ribalta, is said to have borrowed largely in painting the same subject for a nunnery at Madrid.2
The industry of Ribalta seems to have equalled
1 Supra, chap. vi. p. 422.
2 Supra, p. 492
C1I. VII.
Paints the
" Last Supper " for the college of Corpus Christi.
Other
works.
574
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Ft.
Francis.
St. Ber- nard.
his genius. The churches and religious houses of Valencia teemed with his paintings, which were also to be found in many altars at Castellon de la Plana, Segorbe, Andilla, and other towns of the provinces, at the Chartreuses of Portaceli and Val de Cristo, and even at Zaragoza, Madrid, and Toledo. One of his most famous works belonged to the Capuchins of Valencia, and represented their patron, St. Francis, reposing on his pallet, a lamb leaping up to caress him, and an angel hovering above, and making music with a celestial cittern. Another of his pictures likewise enjoyed a high reputation at the convent of San Miguel de los Reyes, an altar-piece on the subject of the Virgin and St. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, whose purity she rewarded, and whose eloquence she rendered yet more suave and winning, says the legend, by refreshing his lips with milk from her own blessed breasts.1 For the hospital of Arragon, at Madrid, and for the Carmelite convent at Valencia, he executed some copies of pictures by Sebastian del Piombo, whose style he sometimes imitated ; and for the latter convent he painted the portrait of Archbishop Ribera.2 The catalogue of his works, in Cean Bermudez's Dictionary, occupies no less than six pages. Although not a tithe of
1 Fleur dcs Vies des Saints, pnr Ilibadeneir.a, &c., toin. ii. p. 179.
2 1'onz, torn. iii. p. 254, has an indifferent engraving of this, or another, portrait of the Archbishop, by Kibalta.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
575
these multifarious productions have found their way into the Museum of Valencia, that collection boasts some good specimens of the master. Of these the best is the large picture of " Our Lady of Sorrows," with her bosom pierced with the seven emblema- tical swords. The head of this Virgin is very fine, and expressive of sublime grief and resignation ; before her, on a table covered with a linen cloth, lie the gauntlet, hammer, nails, pincers, scourge, dice, cords, and other instruments of the Saviour's pas- sion ; and, in the foreground, kneel in adoration, to the right, St. Ignatius Loyola, attired in his sable robe, and to the left, Sta< Veronica, in nun's weeds, a blooming Valenciana, with dark hair and eyes, in whom perhaps the artist has commemorated the beauty of his own wife. Behind these saints kneel a host of devotees and penitents, male and female, of whom the latter are all old and ugly, excepting one nut-brown maid, whose hair is jauntily parted at the side and dressed with scarlet ribbons, and whose eyes express neither penitence nor devotion. A small picture of a Carthusian, once the wing of an altar, likewise deserves notice for the holy calm, the countenance, and the fine treatment of the white drapery. An excellent work of Eibalta adorns the saloon of the Valencian Academy of San Carlos. It represents Sta- Teresa, seated at a table and writing from the dictation of the Holy Spirit —
CH. VII.
Pictures in the
Museum at Valencia. " Nuestra Seftora de los Dolores."
Academy of San Car- los.
Teresa.
576
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Death.
Stylo.
One of his picture* mistaken in Italy for a work of Kafael.
hoverincr at her ear in the likeness of a snow-white
o
dove. Her countenance, beaming with heavenly light, resembles that of Sta- Veronica, in the Museum.
Ribalta died at Valencia, and was buried the i4th of January, 1628, in the church of San Juan del Mercado. His best pictures are remarkable for grandeur and freedom of drawing, and for the good taste in composition and knowledge of anatomy which they display. While some of his works are admirably coloured, others are so harsh in tone, that it seems probable that the second-rate productions of his scholars have been affiliated upon him. Successful in his imitation of Sebastian del Piombo, he sometimes approached a still higher model. A papal nuncio having acquired one of his pictures in Spain, carried it to Rome, where he submitted it to the eye of an eminent Italian master, who imme- diately exclaimed, " O divino llafTaelle," taking it for a work of that painter. On being assured that it was the production of a Spaniard, and after a closer examination, he excused his mistake, by saying, in the words of a common Spanish proverb, "Where there are mares, there will be colts."1 The best "colts" reared under the care of Itibalta, were Josef Ribera, the famous " Spagnoletto " of Italy, Gregorio Castaneda, and his own son Juan.
3 "l)on«le yeguas hay, potros naren." Palomino, torn. iii. p. 435.
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 577
Juan de Ribalta was born, probably at Valencia, in 1597. In precocity of genius, he rivalled Pascal and Cowley. When only eighteen years old, he executed a large picture of Our Lord's Crucifixion, which was esteemed worthy of a place in the con- vent of San Miguel de los Reyes, then a treasury of art, and is now one of the gems of the Valencian Museum. The composition, which is of necessity crowded with soldiers, priests, and rabble, is managed with great skill ; the moment chosen by the artist is that of the elevation of the cross. The foreshortened figure of Our Lord is admirably painted ; and in His noble countenance the struggle is finely expressed between the agony of the suffering man and the resignation of the self-sacrificing God. To the left, stands one of the thieves awaiting his turn, with his hands tied behind him, and his face turned away, his broad shoulders affording an excellent study of anatomy ; and a brawny executioner, in the fore- ground, stooping down to bore a hole in a plank, is designed and coloured in the bold manner of Rubens. These rude figures are well contrasted by the sorrow- ing group behind, the Virgin, Mary Magdalene, St. John, and their company. Few artists of eighteen have ever rivalled this Crucifixion ; and many have grown grey in the studio without having produced a work of equal excellence. It was signed " Joannes Ribalta pingabat et invenit iS (elates suce anno
CH. VII.
Juan de liibalta.
" Cruci- fixion " in the
Museum of Va- lencia.
578
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. VII.
Imitates the style of his father.
Portraits.
Poetry.
1615," an inscription of which only the first three words are now legible, owing to the ruined condition of the picture.
Young Kibalta painted with great rapidity, and with so close a resemblance to the style of his father, that their works could hardly be distinguished from each other. His subjects were gay as well as grave, and taken from still or low life, as well as from sacred or legendary story. Don Diego de Vich, a Valencian gentleman of literary taste, employed him to paint a series of portraits of the worthies of the city. Of these, thirty-one were completed, and the most remarkable of the personages represented were the wicked Pope Rodrigo Borgia, or Alexander VI., St. Francis Borja, St. Luis Beltran, the blessed Pedro Nicolas Factor, the famous dramatist Guillen de Castro,1 and Jayme Falco and Gaspar de Aguilar, poets of some local fame. This interesting collection, and some other works of the artist, were given by Don Diego to the Jeronymite monastery of La Murta, but their subsequent fate, in the chances and changes of war and revolution, is unknown.
Juan de Ribalta cultivated poetry as well as paint- ing, and at the festival held, in 1620, on occasion of
1 This fact seems to resolve the doubt of Antonio, who calls him " Valentinus, gente an loco natali?" (Bib. Jfisp., torn. ii. p. 420)— a doubt not cleared up by Lord Holland,— and to prove him a true son of Valencia.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
579
the beatification of St. Thomas of Villanueva, pro- duced, in competition with other versifiers, a copy of verses, to which a prize of some silk stockings was adjudged. His success was noticed in some punning lines of a burlesque poem by Gaspar de Aguilar, — a bard who sang the praises of Philip III. as a persecutor of the Moriscos l —
Por ser la primera vez Llevara Juan de Ribalta Las niedias, aunque merece Mas que enteras alubanzas.
He survived his father only a few months, dying in the same year, 1628, and was buried in the same church, on the loth of October. Cut off in the flower of youth and promise, he left a name never eclipsed, and a blank never filled up, in the school of Valencia. Lope de Vega praised his early-ripened genius, and ranked him amongst the most famous of Spanish painters.2
The Ribalta pictures in the lloyal Gallery of Spain
CH. VII.
1 He wrote a poem in octave measure, entitled Expulsion de los Moris- cos de Espaiia por el Rey D. Felipe III., 8vo, Valencia, 1610.
2 In the " Advertimiento al sefior lector," prefixed to his Rimas huma- nas y divinas del Licenciado Tome de Burgiiillos, 4to, Madrid, 1624, in which he ascribes the author's portrait to " el Catalan Kibalta pintor fainoso entre Espanoles de la primera clase. " This work is noticed by Lord Holland, Lives of Lope, de Veya and Guillen de Castro, 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1817, vol. i. p. 46 ; and the praise is said, by Cean Bermudez, to belong to the younger Kibalta.
58o
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CII. VII.
Works of the
Kibaltas, at Madrid.
St. Francis of Assisi.
Picture at
Magdalene
College,
Oxford.
are all of them ascribed, in the catalogue, to the son. The fact, that they are all the production of Juan's pencil, seems questionable ; but, as Valencian critics found it difficult to distinguish between the works of the two artists, I cannot presume to solve the doubt1 The " St. Francis of Assisi " 2 awakened in the night by the music of an angel's lute, is a strik- ing picture ; the angel and the hermit, the coarse blanket which covers the latter, and his book and brass candlestick, are admirably painted ; but the saint betrays, perhaps, somewhat more surprise at the celestial harmony than is consistent with his character and story. There is also a grand head representing a soul in hell,3 with the agonised coun- tenance seen by the red glare of " the flame which is not quenched ; " and a companion picture of a soul in heaven,4 not inferior in execution, but less effective perhaps, because the upturned face sug- gests a comparison with the incomparable musing cherub at the feet of Rafael's Madonna di San Sisto.
The noble chapel of Magdalene College, at Oxford, possesses a fine picture which, having passed at
1 [The three pictures, referred to below, are, in the Catdlogo of 1889, ascribed to Francisco de Kibalta. — ED.]
2 Catdlogo [1843], No. 163 [edition 1889, No. 947],
3 Ibid. No. 83 [949].
4 Ibid. No. 84 [948],
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 581
different times for a work of Titian, Ludovico Car- racci, and Guido, was at last pronounced by Sir Joshua Reynolds to be a production of the Spanish pencil.1 It was then ascribed to Morales, probably because he was the only artist of the Peninsula whose name had yet reached Oxford. With more justice it has since been attributed to one of the Ixibaltas,2 of whose fame it is no less wrorthy than of the rich and solemn altar which it adorns. It represents Our Lord bearing His cross, and expressing, in His beau- tiful countenance, that sublime and self-forgetting devotion, with which He turned to hush the wailings of the daughters of Jerusalem ; 3 His head and hands are finished with extreme delicacy ; a knotted halter hangs from His neck ; His robe is of the rich mul- berry tint, peculiar to the school of Valencia ; and in a hollow, to His left, are seen the thieves and shout- ing rabble, thronging the way to Calvary. This fine specimen of Valenciai! art was found, it is said, in a Spanish vessel, captured at the attack on Vigo, in the reign of Queen Anne, and was destined, perhaps, for an offering to some conventual shrine, or for the adornment of a vice-regal chapel, in the New World.
1 For this piece of information, I am indebted to the kindness of Dr. llouth, the venerable President of the college.
- So thinks the author of the Handbook [1845], p. 445 [edition 1855, p. 375], than whom there is no better authority on matters of Spanish art.
3 St. Luke, cli. xxiii. v. 28.
CH. VII.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
C'H. VII.
Francisco Zariuoiia.
Cristobal Zarinefta.
But the fate of war forbidding, it was brought to England by the last Duke of Ormonde, and, falling into the hands of William Freeman, Esq., of Hamels, in Hertfordshire, was presented, about a century ago, by that gentleman, to the Protestant cloisters of Magdalene.1 It has been finely engraved by Sherwin, and it has also been copied in the east window of the church at Wanstead, in Essex.2 An inferior repetition, or an old copy, of this picture exists as the altar-piece in the Oratory, at the Palace of the Pardo, near Madrid.
Francisco Zarinefia was a scholar of the elder llibalta, and a painter of some reputation. Cean Bermudez does not notice the existence of any work of his at Valencia ; but enumerates several altar-pieces, painted for churches and convents at Aloqiias, Aldaya, and Requena. He died at Valencia, in 1624, and was buried in the church of San Juan del Mercado. His sons, Cristobal and Juan, were his scholars, and followed his pro- fession. The first likewise studied at Madrid ; he painted some large pictures for the convent of San
1 History of tlie University of Oxford, 2 vols. 4to, London, 1814, vol. i. p. 261. The same account of the acquisition of the picture is given in the New Oxford Guide, sin. 8vo, Oxf. 1759, p. 21, where it is ascribed to Guido. I have vainly endeavoured to ascertain the exact date when it came into the possession of the college.
- Ingrain's Memorials of Oxford, 3 vols?. 4to, Oxf. 1837, vol. ii. p. 25.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
583
Miguel de los Reyes, at Valencia, with a style of colouring like that of the Venetian masters ; and dying there, in 1622, he was interred in the church of San Pedro. Juan painted, for the college of Corpus Christi, a picture of " Christ at the Column," so early as 1587, and a portrait of the founder, Archbishop Ilibera, in 1612 ; and he likewise painted St. Vincent Martyr, and St. Vincent Ferrer, probably in fresco, in the tower of the City-hall, in 1597. He died in 1634, and was buried near his brother. In the Museum of Valencia, there is a pleasing picture, ascribed to one of the Zarinefias, representing "Our Lord appearing to Mary Magdalene in the garden/' and remark- able for the beauty of the heads, and for its richness of colour. It is probably a work of Cris- tobal, saved from the spoil of San Miguel de los Reyes.
Bartolome Matarana nourished at Valencia early in the seventeenth century, and is known only by his frescoes in the college-chapel of Corpus Christi. Those on the dome are figures of Jewish prophets, and passages from the story of the stiff-necked people. Others, on the walls and in some of the side-chapels, represent various sacred histories, the achievements of the eternal St. Vincent Martyr and St. Vincent Ferrer, of whom Villegas sees a type in the white horse of the Conqueror, in the Apo-
CH. VII.
Juan
Zarinena.
Bartolorn^ Matarana.
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CII. VII.
Gerrinimo Rodriguez
do Kspinosa.
,Tn,yme Turol.
calypsc,1 and the procession in honour of a bone of the latter worthy, recovered from his tomb at Vannes, in Brittany. For these works, of which Cean Bermudez approved the colouring, Matarana received 5,8/9 crowns.
Geronimo Rodriguez de Espinosa was born, in 1562, at Valladolid, where he acquired some know- ledge of painting, and settled, about the close of the century, at the Valencian town of Cocentayna. There he married, in 1596, Aldonza Lleo, by whom he became the father of Jacinto Geronimo Espinosa, a painter of great reputation in the reign of Philip IV. For the church of the town he painted, in 1600, pictures of St. Lorenzo and St. Hipolito ; and the year following, St. Sebastian and St. lloque, of which he made an offering to the same edifice. These works were in time, however, displaced from the church, and passed into the hands of one Andres Cister, a scrivener. In 1604-7 ne executed, in conjunction with a certain Jayme Terol, a scholar of Fray Nicolas Borras, the pictures for the high altar of St. John Baptist's church, at the town of Muro. Finally taking up his abode at Valencia, he died there, about 1630.
1 By this white horse, says the Hagiologist, some doctors understand the Sacred College ; " Tambien se puede truer por iigura, este caballo bianco y brioso, de el bienaventurado IS. Vicente Ferrer. Dieronle corona, no solo al caballero Christo, sino al caballo S. Vicente," &c. — Flos Sanctorum, p. 669.
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 585
Pedro Orrente was born at Montealegre, a town CH. vn.
of the kingdom of Murcia, between the middle and
0 Orrente.
end of the sixteenth century. Some years of his
!
youth were passed at Toledo, where he is supposed to have studied painting in the school of El Greco. In 1611, the Toledan Chapter wished to employ Paints st.
r I J Ildefonso
Mayno to paint a picture of St. Ildefonso for the ands^-
Leocadia
new Sacristy, but that artist declining to undertake !?r^ it, the commission was transferred to the young °f Toledo. Murcian, who produced a work that has been highly commended for the freedom and energy of its execution, and its brilliancy of tone. His subject was one of the most marvellous stories of the Toledan mythology. King llecesvinto and St. Ildefonso, says the legend, were celebrating the feast of Sta- Leocadia, in the church where her holy dust reposed, when the heavy slab which covered her tomb rose of itself, and the virgin-martyr came forth in glorious shape, and complimented the learned primate on the success of his controversial writings in defence of the Blessed Mary's sinless nature. To these civilities Ildefonso replied in a somewhat ungentle fashion, for, being eager to preserve some tangible proof of the miracle, he snatched the mask with which the maiden veiled the radiance of her countenance, and with the king's dagger cut off a portion of it, before she could make good her retreat. The weapon and its trophy may still be
VOL. II.
586
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. vii.
Works at Murcia.
Valencia. "St. Se- bastian."
Madrid,
seen amongst the relics of the Cathedral at Toledo.1 For that Cathedral, Orrente likewise executed a "Nativity of Our Lord," in competition with a picture by Eugenio Caxes,2 whom, says Palomino, he overcame.3
He afterwards removed to the city of Murcia, where he held the post of familiar of the Inquisi- tion, and painted the pictures of the high - altar of the church of the Conception, and, for the Vis- count of Huertas, a series of eight works on sub- jects taken from the book of Genesis. The latter pictures, which were made heir-looms in I the Viscount's family, bore the signature P. O. He next went to Valencia, where, in 1616, F. he greatly increased his reputation by painting the grand picture of St. Sebastian, generally esteemed his masterpiece, which is unfortunately lost in the gloom of one of the darkest chapels of the Cathe- dral. There he also established a school of painting, which produced some names of distinction, and entitles him to be ranked amongst the chiefs of Valencian art. His roving disposition led him afterwards to Cuenga, where he left a "Nativity of Our Lord," in the church of the hospital of Santiago ; and also to Madrid, where, by order of the Count-
1 Yillegas, Flos Sanctorum, p. 626. - Supra, p. 498.
3 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 451.
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 587
CH. VII.
Duke of Olivares, he painted a variety of works for the palace of Buenretiro. He died at Toledo, in 1644, and was buried near El Greco, in the church of San Bartolomd.
Orrente is the Bassano or the Roos, — the great sheep and cattle master — of Spain. He generally ; stylo. chose such subjects as admitted of the introduction of the domestic animals ; in painting the " Prodigal Son," he selected the period in which that unfor- tunate spendthrift kept swine, and coveted their husky food ; and when allowed to choose for himself, he preferred the simple scenes furnished by the stories of the pastoral patriarchs, to all the miracles and martyrdoms of the calendar. In the treatment of these subjects, he frequently resembles Bassano, whom he is supposed to have made the model of his style. His pictures at the Academy of St. Ferdinand at Madrid, representing " The Israelites departing from Egypt," and " Cattle reposing be- neath rocks," are excellent specimens of his powers ; the animals are grouped with great skill and know- ledge of their habits, and finished with a spirit and care not bestowed on their human attendants. The Royal Gallery is also well supplied with his works. His portrait, painted in a forcible, dashing style by himself, hangs in the Louvre ; l the bluff good-
1 Galerie Enpagnole, No. 195 [bought at the sale of the Louis-Philippe collection in 1853, for the late Due de Moutpensier, — ED.]
588
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
Murcia : Painters.
CH. vii. ! humoured countenance, wears the ruddy hue of i health, proper to an artist whose place of study was the breezy Sierra, white with the flocks of In- fantado or the Escorial.
The city of Murcia, renowned for its soft skies and fruitful soil, and for the pure blue blood of its ancient nobility, commonly passed for the indolent Boeotia of Spain. The existence, but not the justice, of the imputation is admitted by the native poet Jacinto Polo de Medina, who not only luxuriates in descriptions of the natural beauties of Murcia, and compares its rivers Sigura and tributary streams flowing through palmy meadows, to "a crystal tree with branches of silver," but produces a list of obscure celebrities, which, in his judgment, entitles this sleepy city to be reckoned a second Athens.1 As the chiefs of Murcian painting, " with whom Italy can hardly vie," besides Pedro Orrente, he cites Cristobal Acevedo and Lorenzo Juarez. Ace- vedo was, for some time, a scholar of Bartolome Carducho at Madrid. Returning to Murcia, he painted for the chapel of the college of San Ful- gencio a large picture of that saint adoring the blessed Virgin, and some other works for convents, which conveyed a favourable impression of his powers.
1 Obras en prosa y verso de Salvador Jacinto Polo de Medina, natural de la ciudad de Murcia, recogidas por un aficionado suyo, 4to, Z 1670, pp. 49-55-
Cristobal Acevedo.
REIGN OF PHILIP III. 589 |
|
Juarez was his fellow-citizen and rival, but it is not known where he studied his art. His best works were executed for convents ; and amongst them |
CH. VII. |
Lorenzo Juarez. |
|
were the " Martyrdom of St. Angelo," — a Sicilian |
|
Carmelite brained for his bold preaching, in 1220, |
|
by a hardened sinner of his flock,1 — in the monastery |
|
of the order of Carmel, and a picture of " St. Ramon |
|
Nonnato," undergoing the operation of having his |
|
lips pierced and secured with a padlock, in the |
|
convent of Mercy. They display, says Cean Ber- |
|
mudez, a knowledge both, of nature and of the rules |
|
of composition, and are effective in the arrangement |
|
of draperies. |
|
In this reign, Valencia possessed one sculptor Vaiencian of note, Fray Gaspar San Marti. He was born at £ray Gaspar San Lucena, in 1574, and in 1595 took the habit of the Marti- |
|
Carmelites at Valencia, amongst whom he resided |
|
till his death, in 1644. For the chapel of the Com- |
|
munion, in their conventual church, he designed and |
|
carved an excellent retablo, adorned with several |
|
meritorious statues of saints, and an elegant taber- |
|
nacle or Custodia. He likewise carved an image |
|
of Our Lady, which was coloured, in 1606, by the |
|
younger Joanes, and some other figures ; and to him |
|
was also attributed the marble tomb of Fray Juan |
|
Sanz, a deceased worthy of the house. Being versed |
|
1 Villogas, Flos Sanctorum, p. 793. |
59°
REIGN OF PHILIP III.
CH. vn. in architecture as well as sculpture, he made some alterations on the church, for which he was con- structing a new front at the time of his death ; and he was consulted by the municipality in erecting a public market.
CHAPTER VIII.
KEIGX OF PHILIP IV. 1621-1665.
HE history of this reign of forty-four years is the history of misrule at home, oppression, rapa- city, and revolt in the distant provinces and colonies, declining com- merce, bloody and dis- astrous wars, closed by the inglorious peace of the Pyrenees. The two Philips who succeeded Charles V., inheriting the ambitious policy of that monarch, with but a slender portion of his ability, and with none of his good fortune, had, each in turn, wasted the resources and enfeebled the power of the most splendid crown in the world. The fourth Philip found, in the general administration of his vast unwieldy empire, an Augean stable of abuse and corruption, which
on. vni.
character.
592
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. vni. might have baffled the cleansing skill even of a monarch like Ferdinand, or a minister like Ximenes. Beyond a feeble attempt made and relinquished in the first year of his reign, he gave no indications of a desire to accomplish the great task. The energies of Olivares, though at first turned to this end, were soon diverted by visions of military aggrandisement ; and before Haro took the helm, the huge vessel of state, with its prow in the Atlantic, and its stern in the Indian Ocean, was already in a foundering condition.1 Naturally of an indolent temper, the king was not long in making his election between a life of pleasure and a life of noble toil ; he reposed supreme confidence in those whose society pleased him ; and Olivares, who loved power for its own sake, dexterously turning the weakness of his master to his own account, alternately perplexed him with piles of state papers, and amused him with pretty actresses, until he felt grateful to any hand that would relieve him of the intolerable weight of his hereditary sceptre. While province after province raised the standard of rebellion, and his superb empire was crumbling to dust, the king of the Spains and the Indies acted farces in his private theatre, lounged in the studios, sate in solemn state
1 Voiture, Eloge du Comte-Duc d'Olivares, (Eurrcs, 2 torn. Svo, Paris, 1729, torn. i. p. 271.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
593
in his balcony at bull-fights, or autos de fe", or retired to his cabinet at the Pardo, to toy with mistresses, or devise improvements on his gardens and galleries.
But, though careless and inefficient in the dis- charge of his kingly functions, Philip IV. was a man of considerable talent, and some intellectual activity. As a patron of literature and art, he was second in knowledge and munificence to no contemporary prince. During his reign, the Castilian stage was at the height of its glory ; no expense was spared in representing the thick-coming pieces of the veteran Lope, or the classical Calderon ; l and the musical and dramatic entertainments of Buenretiro rivalled in splendour those of the English court, when Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones combined their talents to furnish forth the masques of Whitehall. The denizens of the palace breathed an atmosphere of letters : Luis de Gongora, by his contemporaries called the Pindar,2 and by modern critics the Cowiey, of Spain, was one of the King's chaplains ; Velez de Guevara held the post of chamberlain, and the ver- satile Quevedo that of royal secretary, until one of
CH. VIII.
Patronage of litera- ture.
1 The scenery and properties were so well managed, that ladies iu the palace theatre, says Carducho (Dial. fol. 153), were sometimes made sea- sick by looking at the stage-sea.
2 Pellicer de Salas y Tovar, Lecciones solemncs a las obras de Don Luis de Gongorn, Pindaro Andaluz. 4to, Madrid, 1630.
594
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
OH. VIII.
Literary
talents.
Writes plays,
nn<l acts in thorn.
his poems aroused the resentment of the implacable Olivares. Bartolonie Argensola was historiographer- royal for Aragon ; Antonio de Solis was a minister of state ; and the cross of Santiago rewarded the literary abilities of Calderon — the Shakespeare of Spain — and the poet Francisco de Roxas. Nor was Philip a mere lover and protector of literature ; he wrote his own fine language in a style of purity and elegance which has seldom been surpassed by any royal or noble author ; and several volumes of his translations from the Italian, and miscellaneous works, are said to exist in manuscript, in the Royal Library of Madrid.1 Pellicer de Salas, a contem- porary critic, praises him2 as one of the best musicians and poets of the day. Descending from the vantage- ground of royalty, and assuming the title of an Ingenio de esta corte, he even measured his strength with the wits in the crowded field of dramatic com- position ; 3 and his tragedy on the story of the English favourite Essex still maintains its place in collections of Castilian plays. He likewise often acted, with other ingenios of the Court, in the
1 Casiano Pellicer, Tratado Ilisttirico sobre la Corned ia y cl Ilistrio- nismo en Espaiia, 2 partes sm. 8vo, Madrid, 1804, p. 163.
2 Lcccioiies a las obras de Gongora, coltma, 696.
3 Under this name he wrote La Tragcdia may lastimosa, el Conde de Sex, a comedy called Dar Id r/da por an. da-ma, and some others — Ochoa, Tesoro del Teatro Espanol, 5 tomos Svo, Paris, 1838, torn. v. p. 98.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
595
popular comedias de repente, in which a given plot was wrought out by means of extemporaneous dialogues.1
In painting, as in literature, Philip gave evidence of his practical skill. Like his father and grand- father, he had been taught drawing, as a part of his education ; and, under the instructions of the good Dominican, Juan Bautista Mayno, he became the best artist of the house of Austria. Butron, who published his Discourses on Painting21 in 1626, bears his testimony to the merit of the young king's numerous pictures and drawings.3 One of the latter, a pen-and-ink sketch of St. John Baptist with a lamb, having been sent to Seville, in 1619, by Olivares, fell into the hands of Pacheco, and became the subject of a eulogistic poem by Juan de Espinosa,4 who foretold, in the reign of this royal painter, a new age of gold,—
" Para aniniar la lassitud de Hespeiia."
CH. VIII.
Artistic skill.
1 [An account of the analogous Italian improvised comedy, Commedia dell' Arte all' Improvise, is given in The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi, translated by John Addington Symonds ; 2 vols. sm. 4to, London, 1890, Introduction, Part II. § iii. vol. i. p. 30, et soy.]
2 Discursos Apologcticos en que se dcjiendc la ingenuidad del arte de la Pintura, que es liberal, de todos derechos, no inferior a las siete que comunmente se reciben, De Don Juan de Butron, professor de am bos derechos, 4to, Madrid, 1626, with engraved title by Schorquens, 16 leaves of preliminary matter, 122 leaves of text, paged only on one side, and 18 of index — a curious volume, never reprinted, and not easily found, which deserves a place on the same shelf with Carducho and Pacheco.
3 Ibid. fol. 102. 4 Pacheco, Arte dc la Pintura, p. 113.
596
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Taste in choosing bis artists.
Velazquez.
Carducho mentions a more finished production of the royal pencil, — an oil-picture of the Virgin — as being kept, in his time, in the jewel-chamber of the palace ; 1 and Palomino notices two pictures, bearing the signature of Philip IV., and placed by Charles II.2 in the Escorial, probably the two Infant St. Johns, seen by Ponz in an oratory near the chamber of the Prior.3 A landscape with ruins, sketched in a free and spirited style, was the only relic of Philip's skill which reached the inquiring eye of Cean Bermudez.
The artist-monarch early displayed the correctness of his taste, in the selection of his artists. Amongst the ablest painters of the capital, and the veteran favourites of his father's court, he at once distin- guished the fine powers of Velazquez, a young stranger from Andalusia, and advanced him to that place in his regard which he maintained to the end of his life. The sovereign of eighteen, at first sight appreciated and rewarded the genius of the painter of twenty-four, whose name was to become the chief glory of Spanish art ; he promoted him to posts of honour and trust about his person, decorated him with the TOSS of Santiago, and treated him writh the confidence and distinction which his noble nature
1 Carducho. Didl., fol. 160. 2 Palomino, torn. i. p. 185.
3 Ponz, torn. ii. p. 163.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
597
inspired and his high talents deserved. During his progress through Andalusia, in the spring of 1624, amidst grand hunting parties at country castles, and the pompous festivities of cities, the artist-monarch carefully explored the fine churches and convents that lay in his way ; l and, whilst residing in the beautiful Alcazar of Seville, he showed no less taste than clemency, in pardoning Herrera the Elder, accused of coining false money, for the sake of his picture of St. Hermenegild.2 His remark on the silver altar at Valencia, and its pictured doors, has already been recorded.3
When Rubens appeared in Spain, as the envoy of the Infanta-archduchess, he was received with far higher honours than would have been bestowed on a mere Burgundian noble, of the purest blood and countless quarterings ; and he was afterwards en- trusted by the Spanish king with a still more delicate mission to the Court of England. The pencil of Velazquez obtained for him, as we shall see, several courtly dignities and emoluments. Even ecclesi- astical preferment, also, was sometimes the reward of artistic merit ; and the remonstrances of the Chapter of Granada, to Alonso Cano's appointment as minor canon, on the ground that his learning was
CH. VIII.
1 Jornada que su Mac/estad hizo A la Andaluzia, escritd por Don Jacinto de Herrera y Sotomayor, fol. Madrid, 1624.
a Supra, chap. vii. p. 532. 3 Supra, chap. ii. p. 112.
Visit to Andalusia.
Rubens.
, Alonso Cano.
598
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Projected Academy of Arts,
insufficient, afforded Philip an occasion, which he did not let slip, of vindicating the dignity of art against the arrogance of the cloth. His reply was like those of Charles V. and our Henry VIII. to similar complaints.1 " Were this painter," said he, " a learned man, who knows hut that he might be Archbishop of Toledo ? I can make canons like you at my pleasure, but God alone can make an Alonso Cano."
The establishment of an Academy of the Fine Arts at Madrid, was brought by the Cortes, early in this reign, under the notice of the King and Olivares. So early as 1619, the artists of the capital had peti- tioned Philip III. for the formation of a society of this kind, on the plan of a scientific academy then existing ; but the scheme, from want of support, fell
1 The Emperor's reply to Titian's detractors may be found in chap. iii. p. 119; Henry's answer was addressed to an earl, who complained that Holbein had kicked him downstairs for forcing tiie door of his painting room, and had thereby committed an outrage on his order. " My Lord," said the King, " the difference between you two is, that of seven hinds I could make seven earls ; but of seven earls I could never make one Holbein." Descamps, torn. i. p. 73. The Emperor Maximilian and Francis I. are said to have administered similar retorts to their nobles, in compliment to Albert Durer and Leonardo da Vinci. Descamps, torn. i. p. 25 ; Carducho, Didlogos, fol. 21 ; and a still earlier version of the story is to be found at the Council of Constance, where the Emperor Sigismund is reported to have rebuked a doctor, upon whom he had con- ferred a knightly order, for preferring the society of his new compeers to that of his old companions, in these words, " I can coin a thousand knights in a day, but I could not make one doctor in a thousand years." Win. London, Catalogue of the most Vendible Books in England, 4to, London, 1658. Epistle Dedicatory.
2 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 580.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
to the ground. Philip IV. and his minister, how- ever, now favoured the design, and sanctioned the appointment of four deputies to meet and frame laws for the new institution. But
" . . . le chemin est long du projet h la chose," 1
and in Spain especially, it is usually travelled by very easy stages. After various preliminary negotia- tions, the jealousies of certain artists put a stop to all further proceedings ; 2 and the plan was laid aside, and not revived until the days of the Bourbons. Philip IV. was, however, sincere in his endeavours to promote the establishment of an Academy ; and the purchase of casts and models for the use of its students was one of the objects for which he sent Velazquez on his second Italian journey.
Painting and poetry being the favourite arts of Philip IV., he did not leave, like his grandfather, any great structure to be the monument of his reign. He had little motive, indeed, for building new palaces, possessing at Madrid and the Pardo, Aranjuez and the Escorial, a choice of residences such as few kings could boast. Nor are his architectural works of such a character as to cause much regret that they were not more numerous and important. The royal
1 M<>liere, Tartufc, act iii. sc. i ; a translation of the Spanish proverb, Del dicho al hcclio, ha <jran trt'cho."
2 Carducho, Didlvgos, fol. 158.
CH. VIII.
favoured by the King.
Architec- tural works of Philip IV.
6oo
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
Church of St. Isidore.
CH. viii. church of St. Isidore, once belonging to the Jesuits, and still the most imposing temple at Madrid, affords proof, both of the munificence of the monarch,1 and of the decline of architectural taste. It was erected by Francisco Bautista, a Jesuit father,2 who seems to have held in equal contempt the florid plateresque style of Berruguete, and the classical simplicity of Toledo. Built in the form of the Latin cross, and crowned with a lofty dome, the interior is not without a certain spacious majesty ; but both within and without, the details are tasteless, the decorations as commonplace in design as rich in material, and the orders confounded with as little scruple as in some Moorish mosque, constructed of the materials of a Koman theatre or bath.
The palace of Buenretiro, situated near the avenues of the Prado, and just without the walls of Madrid, was built, for his own residence, by Olivares, who laid out the gardens and ponds for the accommoda- tion of his curious collection of birds.3 Presented by the minister to his master, it afterwards became, during the summer heats, the favourite abode of Philip IV., and one of those expensive playthings,
Buen- retiro.
1 Udal ap Rhys — on what authority I know not — says it cost the king 4,000,000 ducats. An Account of the Most Remarkable Places in Spain and Portugal, 8vo, London, 1749, p. 48.
3 Los Arquitcctos, torn. iv. p. 3.
3 Madame d'Aulnoy, Voyage, torn. iii. p. 7.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
60 1
for which Catalonia and Portugal were taxed beyond human endurance.1 The architect, Alonso Carbonel, was employed, in 1633, to add the wings and the theatre, and it thus grew into an extensive range of low pavilions, designed rather with a view to interior comfort than external display.2 The King took great delight in the gardens, which he en- larged, and planted with many noble alleys, long the fashionable lounge of the capital, but cruelly desolated by the soldiery of Murat. He likewise erected in these grounds two large pavilions, called the Hermitages of St. Anthony and St. Paul, which he adorned with frescoes. The first was a plain structure, placed in an artificial wilderness ; the second an ornate building, with a facade covered with bas-reliefs and sculptured foliage, and sur- rounded by trim gardens, gay with flowers, and refreshed with bubbling fountains.3
Here Philip also erected a colossal statue of him- self on horseback, cast in bronze, at Florence, by Pietro Tacca, from a picture by Velazquez and a model by Montaiies.4 This fine work, perhaps the best equestrian statue which modern art had yet produced, was finished and placed on its pedestal
1 Southey's Peninsular War, vol. vi. p. 53. Ilistoria de Portugal, por Ant. de Monies Silva, 3 tomos 8vo, Lisboa, 1828, torn. iii. p. 46. • Los Arquitcctos, torn. iv. pp. 14 and 151. 3 Udal ap Rhys, p. 45. 4 Supra, chap. vii. p. 564.
VOL. II. Q
CH. VIII.
Garden Hermit- ages.
Statue of Philip IV. by Tacca.
6O2
CH. VIII.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
in 1640, at a great cost.1 The prancing horse, supported only on his hind-legs and flowing tail,
was loner reckoned a miracle of mechanical skill, ~ '
and Galileo himself is said to have suggested to the artist the means by which the balance is preserved.2 Paris, Copenhagen, and St. Petersburg have since acquired similar prancing statues, and the world has ceased to marvel. But the work of Tacca will always command admiration, by the boldness of its design, the elaborate beauty of its workmanship, and the animation of both the steed and his rider. To the former, it may be objected that his hind-legs are not placed sufficiently under his body, and that his attitude is rather that of a steady English hunter, taking a standing leap, than of a caracoling courser of the manege. This defect is, however, atoned for by the fine modelling of his head and forehand, and by the graceful seat and martial air of the King, who bears his weighty armour and wields his trun- cheon like another Prince Hal of Lancaster. The scarf, also, ending with happy effect in a broad border of lacework, is thrown across the royal shoulders, and streams in the breeze with an airy lightness seldom found in fluttering masses of marble or metal. On the saddle-girth is this inscription: — " Petrus
1 In the inventory of Buenretiro, says Ponz (torn. vi. p. 101), it was esti- mated at 40,000 doubloons, but it doubtless did not cost so large a sum.
2 Ponz, torn. vi. p. 98.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
603
Tacca, f. Florentics anno salutis MDCXXXX." Removed, in 1844, from the newly-planted groves of Buenretiro to the spacious square in front of the palace of Philip V., the statue has been placed on a high pedestal adorned with tolerable bas-reliefs, where it looks down on the bronze lions and marble deities, and is reflected in the basin of a fountain.1
Unquestionably the greatest architectural achieve- ment of this reign, was the Pantheon, or Royal Cemetery of the Escorial, begun by the late King,2 and finished, after thirty years' labour, for his son, an octagonal chamber, 113 feet in circumference, and 38 feet in height from the pavement to the centre of the domed vault. Each of its eight sides, excepting the two which are occupied by the entrance and the altar, contains four niches and four marble urns ; the walls, Corinthian pilasters, cornices, and dome, are formed of the finest marbles of Toledo and Biscay, Tortosa and Genoa ; and the bases, capitals, scrolls, and other ornaments are of gilt bronze. Placed beneath the presbytery of the church, and approached by the long descent of a
1 The bas-reliefs, two in number, represent Philip IV. giving a medal to Velazquez, and an allegorical subject illustrating his patronage of art ; the smaller sides of the pedestal bear these inscriptions, " PARA GLORIA DE LAS ARTES Y ORNATO DE LA CAPITAL ERIGIO ISABEL SEGVNDA ESTE MONVMENTO;" and " REINANDO ISABEL SEGUNDA DE BORBON ANO MDCCCXLIV."
2 Supra, chap. vii. p. 478.
CFI. VTTI.
Pantheon of the Escorial.
604
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Philip IV. in the
Pantheon.
stately marble staircase, this hall of royal tombs, gleaming with gold and polished jasper, seems a creation of Oriental romance. No daylight pene- trates its mysterious depths ; it is illumined by a large lamp of Genoese workmanship, hung in the dome, by torches held in the hands of eight cherubs placed at the angles, and by the tapers burning on the altar, before a noble Crucifix, — the cross of black marble, the figure of gilt bronze, — wrought at Florence by Tacca, and brought to the Escorial by Velazquez.1 This splendid subterranean chapel was consecrated with great pomp, on the i5th of March, 1654, in the presence of the King and the Court; when the bodies of Charles V., his son, and grandson, and the queens who had continued the royal race, were carried down the stately stairs of jas- per, and were reverently laid, each in its sumptuous urn ; a Jeronymite friar pronouncing an eloquent funeral sermon, on a text from Ezekiel, — " O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." ' Hither Philip IV. was wont to come, when melancholy— the fatal taint of his blood — was strong upon him, to hear mass and meditate on death, setting in the niche which was shortly to receive his bones.3 Sur- rounded by the tombs of his proud ancestors, and
1 Ximenes, Description del Escorial, p. 344.
2 Ibid. p. 353 ; and Dunlop's Memoirs of Spain, vol. i. p. 642.
3 Ibid. p. 643.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
605
himself one of the proudest princes in Europe, he must have found bitter food for thought, in the humiliations of his house, and in the jewels which he had permitted to drop from his crown. The Low Countries, the Emperor's favourite province, were now, in part a hostile state, in part a turbulent and expensive tributary. The sceptre of Portugal, an acquisition which might have atoned for all the errors and ill fortune of Philip II., was now firmly grasped by the long hesitating Braganza. Still more sombre would have been his musings, could he have looked into the future, and foreseen that the marriage of his daughter to the young King of France, effected soon after the completion of this proud Pantheon, was, in the course of time, to place a Bourbon on the throne of Spain.
The Italian architect of the Pantheon, Giov. Bat. Crescenci, was loaded with favours by the King ; he was made head of the Board of Works and Woods, with a monthly pension of 140 ducats, and received the cross of Santiago and a patent of Castilian nobility, as Marquess of La Torre. In the execution of the bronze work, he was ably assisted by two friars of the Escorial, Eugenio de la Cruz, and Juan de la Concepcion, goldsmiths of some skill. They likewise made several reliquaries for the monastery, and enjoyed, each of them, an annual salary of 200 ducats.
CH. VIII.
Giov. Bat. Crescenci.
Fray
Eugeuio de la Cruz and Fray Juan de la Con- cepcion.
6o6
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Philip IV. a diligent collector of works of art.
Works of Rafael : " II Spa- simo," called " La Joya,"
To acquire works of art was the chief pleasure of Philip IV., and it was the only business in which he displayed earnestness and constancy. Rich as were the galleries of Philip II., his grandson must, at the least, have doubled the number and value of their contents. His viceroys and ambassadors, besides their daily duties of fiscal extortion and diplomatic intrigue, were required to buy up, at any price, all fine works of art that came into the market. He likewise employed agents of inferior rank and more trustworthy taste, of whom Velazquez was one, to travel abroad for the same purpose, to cull the fairest flowers of the modern studios, and to procure good copies of those ancient pictures and statues which money could not purchase. The gold of Mexico and Peru was freely bartered for the artistic treasures of Italy and Flanders. The King of Spain was a collector with whom it was vain to compete, and, in the prices which he paid for the gems of painting and sculpture, if in nothing else, he was in advance of his age. From a convent at Palermo, he bought, for an annual pension of 1,000 crowns, Eafael's famous picture of Our Lord going to Calvary, known as the " Spasimo," which he named his " Jewel." l His ambassador to the English
1 Cumberland, Catalogiic of raiittinys in the Palace at Madrid, p. So, and Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 172.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
607
Commonwealth, Don Alonso de Cardenas, was the principal buyer at the sale at Whitehall, when the noble gallery of Charles I. Avas dispersed by the Protector.1 There Philip, for the sum of ^2,000, became possessed of that lovely " Holy Family," Rafael's most exquisitely finished work, once the pride of Mantua, which he fondly called his " Pearl," a graceful name, which may, perhaps, survive the picture.2 To him the Escorial likewise owed Rafael's heavenly "Virgin of the Fish," carried, with the " Spasimo " and the " Pearl," to Paris, by Napoleon ; but happily restored to the Queen of Spain's gallery ; and the charming " Madonna of the Tent," bought from the spoilers in 1813, for ^5,000, by the King of Bavaria, and now the glory and the model of Munich.3 He also enriched his collection with many fine Venetian pictures, amongst which was "Adonis asleep on the lap of Venus," the master- piece of Paul Veronese, a gem of the Royal Gallery of Spain, where it rivals the Venus and Adonis of Titian in magical effect and voluptuous beauty. Of
1 His purchases required eighteen mules to carry them from the coast ; and Lord Clarendon, ambassador from the exiled Charles II., was some- what unceremoniously dismissed from Madrid, in order that he might not witness the arrival of the treasures of his unfortunate master. Clarendon, Hist, of the Rebellion, 6 vols. 8vo, Oxford, 1826, vol. vi. p. 459.
2 Rafael von Urbino und sein Vater Giovanni Santi, von J. D. Passa- vant. In Z\vei Theilen, 8vo, Lcipsig, 1839. Th. ii. p. 306.
3 Ibid. pp. 150-197. [Old Pinakothek, No. 1051.]
CH. VIII.
"La Perla,"
" Virgen del Fez,"
" Madonna,
della
Tenda."
Works of
other
Italians.
6o8
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Flemings.
Collection of sculp- ture.
the rich compositions of Domenichino, the soft Vir- gins of Guido and Guercino, the Idalian nymphs of Albano, the classical landscapes of "learned Poussin," Salvator Rosa's brown solitudes, or spark- ling seaports, and Claude Lorraine's glorious dreams of Elysian earth and ocean, — his walls were adorned with excellent specimens, fresh from the studio ; and also of the works of Rubens, Vandyck, Jordaens, Snyders, Grayer, Teniers, and the other able artists who flourished in that age in Flanders. The grandees and nobles, like the English lords of Charles I., knowing the predilections of their master, frequently showed their loyalty and taste, by presenting him with pictures and statues. Thus the gay and gallant Duke of Medina de las Torres, — better known to the world as the Marquess of Toral, in " Gil Bias," —gave Correggio's " Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene after His Resurrection," the " Presenta- tion of Our Lord in the Temple," by Paul Veronese, and the " Virgin's Flight into Egypt," by Titian ; Don Luis de Haro, Titian's "Repose of the Virgin," an " Ecce Homo," by Paul Veronese, and "Christ at the Column," by Carnbiaso ; and the Admiral of Castile, " St. Margaret restoring a Boy to Life," by Caravaggio.
Philip IV. was no less fond of sculpture than of painting. It is said that the coachman, who drove him about Madrid, had general orders to
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
609
slacken his pace, whenever the royal carriage passed the hospice belonging to the Paular Carthusians, in the street of Alcald, that his master might have leisure to admire the fine stone effigy of St. Bruno, executed by Pereyra, which occupied a niche over the portal. He formed a large collection of antique statuary, and of copies, in marble, bronze, and plaster, of the most famous works of sculpture in Italy, of which no less than 300 pieces were bought by Velazquez, or executed under his eye, and brought to Spain in 1653, by the Count of Onate, returning from his viceroyalty at Naples.1 Of these, the greater part were placed in the Alcazar of Madrid, in an octagon hall designed by Velazquez, the northern gallery, and the grand staircase ; and some were sent to adorn the alleys and parterres of the gardens at Aranjuez.
Philip IV. is one of those potentates who was more fortunate in his painters than in his biogra- phers, and whose face is, therefore, better known than his history. His pale Flemish complexion, fair hair, heavy lip, and sleepy grey eyes — his long curled mustachios, dark dress, and collar of the Golden Fleece — have been made familiar to all the world by the pencils of llubens and Velazquez.
CH. VIII.
Person and portraits of Philip IV.
1 B. V. cle Soto, S implement to Mariana, p. 66. Stevens' translation of Mariana, fol. London, 1699.
610 REIGN OF PHILIP IV. |
|
CH. VIII. |
Charles I., with his melancholy brow, pointed beard, and jewelled star, as painted by Vandyck, |
is not better known to the frequenters of galleries ; |
|
nor the pompous benign countenance of Louis XIV., |
|
shining forth from a wilderness of wig, amongst |
|
the silken braveries which delighted Mignard, or |
|
Rigaud, or on his prancing pied charger, like a |
|
holiday soldier as he was, in the foreground of some |
|
pageant battle, by Vandermeulen. Fond as were |
|
those sovereigns of perpetuating themselves on |
|
canvas, they have not been so frequently or so |
|
variously pourtrayed as their Spanish contemporary. |
|
Armed and mounted on his sprightly Andalusian, |
|
glittering in crimson and gold gala, clad in black |
|
velvet for the council, or in russet and buff for the |
|
boar-hunt — under all these different aspects did |
|
Philip submit himself to the quick eye and cunning |
|
hand of Velazquez. And, not content with multi- |
|
plications of his own likeness in these ordinary |
|
attitudes and employments, he caused the same |
|
great artist to paint him at prayers— |
|
" To take him in the purging of his soul " — 1 |
|
His imper- turbable gravity. |
as he knelt amongst the embroidered cushions of his oratory. In all these various portraits we find |
the same cold phlegmatic expression, which gives |
|
3 Hamlet, act iii. sc. 3, 1. 85. |
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
6n
his face the appearance of a mask, and agrees so well with the pen-and-ink sketches of contemporary writers, who celebrate his talents for dead silence and marble immobility, talents hereditary indeed in his house, but, in his case, so highly improved, that he could sit out a comedy without stirring hand or foot,1 and conduct an audience without movement of a muscle, except those in his lips and tongue.2 He rode his horse, handled his gun, quaffed his sober cups of cinnamon water,3 and performed his devotions with an unchangeable solemnity of mien, that might have become him in pronouncing, or receiving, sentence of death.
A remarkable proof of his imperturbability occurred at a famous entertainment given to him, in 1631, by Olivares, when, in honour of the birthday of the heir-apparent, that magnificent favourite renewed in the bull-ring of Spain the sports of ancient Home. A lion, a tiger, a bear, a camel, in fact, a specimen of every procurable wild animal, or as Quevedo expressed it in a poetical account of the spectacle, " the whole ark of Noah, and all the fables of vEsop," were turned loose into the spacious Plaza del Parque, to fight for the mastery of the arena. To the great delight of his Castilian country-
1 Voyage d' Espagne, 4to, Paris, 1669, P- 36.
2 Ibid. I2mo, Cologne, 1667, p. 33.
3 Duulop's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 651.
CH. VIII.
6l2
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
men, a bull of Xarama vanquished all his antagonists. " The bull of Marathon, which ravaged the country of Tetrapolis," says the historian of the day,1 " was not more valiant ; nor did Theseus, who slew and sacrificed him, gain greater glory than did our most potent sovereign. Unwilling that a beast which had behaved so bravely should go unrewarded, his majesty determined to do him the greatest favour that the animal himself could have possibly desired, had he been gifted with reason, to wit, to slay him with his own royal hand." Calling for his fowling- piece, he brought it instantly to his shoulder ; and the flash and report were scarcely seen and heard ere the mighty monster lay a bleeding corpse before the transported lieges. '' Yet not for a moment," continues the chronicler, "did his majesty lose his wonted serenity, his composure of countenance, and becoming gravity of aspect ; and but for the pre- sence of so great a concourse of witnesses, it was difficult to believe that he had really fired the noble and successful shot."
1 Josef Pellicer de Tobar, Anfitcatro dc Felipe, cl Grande Rcy Catolico dc las Espaiias ; contiene los clogios que han cclebrado la sucrte qnc hizo en el toro en la fiesta agonal de treze de Otubre destc ano dc MDCXXXI. sin. 8vo, Madrid, 1631. A very rare and curious little book, of 11 preliminary leaves, including the title, and 80 leaves paged on one side only, of which I know no copy but that in the fine library of Don Pascual de Gayangos, at Madrid. It contains poems in praise of the king and his ball practice by Quevcdo, Lope de Vega, Francisco de llioja, Juan de Jauregui, the Prince of Escjuiluche, Velez de Guevara, Catalina lieurkjuez, and twelve other wits of the court.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
613
Born on Good Friday, he was supposed to possess a kind of second-sight, popularly attributed in Spain to persons born on that day, the power of seeing the body of the murdered person wherever a murder had been committed ; and his habit of gazing up into the air was believed to proceed from a natural desire to avoid a spectacle so disagreeable, and so likely to offer itself in a country where violence was not uncommon.1
To maintain a grave and majestic demeanour in public, was, in his opinion, one of the most sacred duties of a sovereign ; he was never known to smile but three times in his life ; 2 and it was doubtless his desire to go down to posterity as a model of regal deportment. Yet this stately Austrian, whose outward man seems the very personification of etiquette, possessed a rich vein of humour, which, on fitting occasions, he indulged, with Cervantes' serious air; "he was full of merry discourse, when and where his lined robe of Spanish and royal gravity was laid aside ; " 3 he trod the " primrose
1 D'Aulnoy, Voyage en Espagnc, vol. iii. p. 195.
2 Ibid. p. 389. A Spaniard in the Court of the Louvre seeing Louis XIII. acknowledge the salutes of the people by taking off his hat, exclaimed to his French friend, "What ! does your king take off his hat to his subjects?" "Yes," said the Frenchman, "when they salute him. Does not yours ? " " No ; our king never takes off his hat except to the Santo Sacramento, and then dc inity mala fjana." I believe the story is told by Tallement des Reaux.
3 Original Letters of Sir Richard Fattshawc, Svo, London, 1702, p. 421.
CH. VITI.
Supposed second- sight.
His
humour.
614
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
OH. VTTT.
Brothers of the King.
path of dalliance," acted in private theatricals, and bandied pleasantries with Calderon himself.1 Although he was not remarkable for beauty of feature, his figure was tall and well turned ; and he was, on the whole, better entitled to be called Philip the Handsome, than Philip the Great — the style which Olivares absurdly persuaded him to assume.2 When at Lisbon, in his early youth, as Prince of Asturias, he stood forth in a dress of white satin and gold, to receive the oath of allegiance from the Cortes of Portugal, he was one of the most splendid figures of that idle pageant.3 Nor was he deficient in the softer graces ; for his second queen, Mariana of Austria, fell in love, it is said, with his portrait, probably a work of Velazquez, in the Imperial palace at Vienna, and early vowed that she would marry no one but her cousin with the blue feather.4
The Infants of Spain, brothers of Philip IV., shared the elegant accomplishments of the King ; both of them had been instructed in drawing, in their youth ; and Carducho commends two sketches executed by them and possessed by Eugenio Caxes.5
1 Ochoa, Teatro Espailol, torn. v. p. 98.
- Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 56. 3 Ibid. p. 2.
* Voyage d'Espagne, 4to, Paris, 1669, p. 38. 5 Carducho, Didlogos, fol. 160.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
615
Don Carlos, beloved by the Spaniards for his dark Castilian complexion,1 and supposed to possess talents which awakened the jealousy of Olivares,2 died in 1632, at the early age of twenty-six. The Cardinal-Infant Don Fernando, the ablest legitimate son of Austria since Charles V., inherited the love of art which belonged to his house, and acquired considerable skill in painting, under the instructions of Vincencio Carducho. Invested, while yet a boy, with the Roman purple and the mitre of Toledo, he affected no saintly austerities, but early became the life and soul of the court, and the leader of its revels. At his country-house of Zarzuela, near Madrid, he set the fashion of those half-musical, half-dramatic, entertainments, performed under his auspices with great splendour of decoration, and long popular in Spain by the name of Zarzuelas. Nor was he wholly devoted to the pleasures of gay life ; he loved books and literary society, studied philosophy and mathematics, and was versed in several foreign languages.4 Being appointed governor of Flanders at the age of twenty-two, this Prince passed the remaining nine years of his life in councils
1 EpistolcE Ilo-eliance, p. 125.
2 Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 169.
3 Ponz, torn. vi. p. 152.
4 Pellicer de Salas, Lcccioncs d las obras de Gongora, dedication to the Cardinal-Infant.
CH. VIII.
Don Carlos.
Cardinal
Don
Fernando.
6i6
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VITT. and conferences, or at the head of armies. But the victor of Nordlingen still found time to sit to Rubens, Grayer, and Vandyck, and to bestow some fostering care on the arts. His brief and brilliant career, ended in 1641, bears a close resemblance, in all but guilty ambition, to that of a celebrated military cardinal of the sixteenth century, Ilippolito de Medici.1 Doth were churchmen by the policy of their families, but soldiers by nature and choice. They were equally fond of the fine arts, and of all elegant pleasures, winning in their manners, and splendid in their modes of life. Both died in the prime of youth and hope, and crowned with military glory. And the galleries of their respective houses -the Pitti palace at Florence, and the Royal Museum of Madrid — still possess their portraits, drawn with equal disregard of clerical decorum ; that of the Italian Cardinal, by Titian, in the rich dress of a noble Hungarian, and that of the Spaniard, by Rubens, armed and mounted for the field. On the death of Don Fernando, the architect Lorenzo Fernandez de Salazar was employed to erect a monument seventy feet high, in the centre aisle of the Cathedral ; and his clergy adorned it with many inscriptions, in various languages, setting forth the glories of the Cardinal; while the city and Chapter
1 Northcotc's Life of Titian, vol. i. p. 116.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
617
of Toledo celebrated the obsequies of their Arch- bishop with great pomp, and bewailed him as,
" Hispanus Mars, urbis fulgor, et Austrius lieros Infuns, praisul, primas, Ferdinandus amandus.:) l
The canon Antonio Calderon pronounced an elo- quent funeral oration, in which he bade all good Catholics observe how Providence had vindicated their insulted faith, by making Nordlingen, where the impious Luther first preached his pestilent errors, the scene of the deceased Cardinal's most signal victory ; and enunciated the doctrine — pro- mulgated in many forms and tongues by the zealots of every sect, — that the fiercest assailant of heresy was most worthy of holding the primacy of Spain.2
The beautiful Queen Isabella de Bourbon, — Eliza- beth of France, daughter of Henry IV., and sister of our Henrietta Maria — the first wife of Philip IV., was the star of the court, and the loveliest subject of the pencil of Velazquez. To that master is attributed a curious and interesting picture, in the collection
1 Pyra Religiosct, que la muy santa Iglexia, primada de las Espancts erigio al Cardinal-Infante D. Fernando de Austria, por el licenciado Joseph Gonzalez de Varela, 4to, Madrid, 1642, p. 53. This handsome volume contains a print of the monument, and an engraved title-page in which there is a portrait of the cardinal, by G. C. Scmin, an artist noticed in chap. vii. p. 477.
* Ibid. p. iSS.
VOL. II. K
CH. VIII.
Funeral honours at Toledo.
Queen Isabella.
6i8
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Picture of her recep- tion at tho 1 Spanish frontier, attributed to Velaz- quez.
of the Earl of Elgin,1 representing the scene upon the border stream of the Bidassoa, on the Qth of November, 1615, when France exchanged this prin- cess, then in her girlhood, betrothed to the Prince of Asturias, for a Spanish Infanta, the celebrated Anne of Austria, bride of Louis XIII. In the centre of the stream a pavilion, constructed on several boats, is moored, towards which a canopied barge, containing a princess and her attendants, advances from either bank. On the banks are seen larger pavilions, adorned with the respective banners and arms of France and Spain ; and, behind them, squadrons of cavalry and companies of .the Scottish archers of the guard, in their white uniforms, and other infantry of both nations, the whole exactly answering to the description of the chroniclers Mantuano 2 and Cespedes.3 The river, figures, pavi-
1 At Broomhall, Fifeshire. It was obtained by the late earl — a Scottish Duke of Alcala, whose name will ever be remembered as a benefactor to British art — in France, during the wars of the Empire, and once formed part of the gallery of the Luxembourg.
2 Casamientos dc Espafia y Francia, y Viaje del Diique dc Lerma, llcvando la Reyna Christianissiina Dona Ana de Austria al passo de Bcobia, y traycndo la Princesa dc Asturias nuestra Scnora, por Pedro Mantuano, 410, Madrid, 1618, pp. 228, 238. The description tallies closely with Lord Elgin's picture, but no print of the scene is found in either of the two copies of this scarce volume which have fallen into my hands.
3 Goncalo de Cespedes y Meneses, Historia de Don Felipe IV,, Barcelona, 1634, p. 3, where the curious reader may study the manners of the age, in the long disputes between the representatives of the two powers about the globe and cross which crowned the Spanish pavilion, and the arms of Navarre, quartered on the French escutcheon.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
619
lions, and background of bold wooded mountains, are well painted ; and although the picture cannot be an original work of Velazquez, who, at the time of this exchange of brides, was a lad of sixteen in Herrera's school at Seville, it may have been executed by him at a later period, from the sketches of some other artist. Of Isabella's life, few particulars have been recorded ; but she seems to have shared in the tastes of her husband. In July 1624, a mad or impious Frenchman broke the Host in pieces in the church of San Felipe, and was strangled and burnt for his pains.1 To propitiate the insulted " majesty " * of the wafer, solemn services were performed in that and other churches, and a grand ceremonial was held in the Alcazar. For the grave Castilian court, a religious festival had all the charms of a masquerade ; no expense was spared in preparing one of the corridors of the palace for the occasion, and each member of the royal family superintended the erection and adornments of an altar. That of the young queen surpassed all the rest in taste and magnificence, and glittered with jewels to the value of three millions and a half of crowns.3 Mariana of Austria, the second queen of Philip IV., had
1 Relation del auto defr en Madrid d 14 diaz dc Julio deste atlo, por el Licdo- P. Lopez tie Mesa, Madrid, 1624, a curious folio tract of 2 leaves. '-' Supra, cliap. i. p. 16, note i. 3 Florez, lleynas Catolicax, torn. ii. p. 041.
CH. VIII.
Extra- ordinary religious service at the palace of Madrid.
Altar of the Queen.
Queen Mariana.
620
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
on. vni.
Condo- Duque de Olivares.
little taste and few accomplishments, and was as inferior to her predecessor Isabella in the qualities of her mind as in the graces of her person. But her disposition was amiable and joyous, and her girlish laughter was sometimes a source of vexation to her solemn lord.1
Don Gaspar de Guzman, Count of Olivares, and Duke of San Lucar, for twenty-two years supreme in Spain, was the most powerful, laborious,2 un- scrupulous, and unfortunate minister of the seven- teenth century. Few conquerors have ever gained territories so extensive as those which he lost to the Castilian crown. It is to him that Spain justly attributed the loss of Portugal, and its vast de- pendencies in both the Indies. During his adminis- tration, several of the provinces of Spain itself, and all those in Flanders and Italy, were in a state of chronic commotion and revolt. His infamous conspiracy with the Archbishop of Braga, against the life of the King of Portugal,3 and his base and too successful intrigues for the ruin of that monarch's honest secretary, Lucena,4 would be sufficient to render his memory hateful, had his administration been as splendid and triumphant as that of his great rival Richelieu. He was, however, a friend to
1 Voyage d'Espagiic, Cologne, 1666, p. 35.
2 Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 39. 3 Ibid. p. 259. 4 Ibid. p. 275.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
621
literature and the fine arts, partly from inclination, and partly because he found in them a convenient means of diverting the King's attention from the murmurs of the people, and from his own abuse of power. The Halifax of Castile, Olivares was the hero of a thousand dedications of books ; he was the patron of Quevedo, Gongora, the Argensolas, Pacheco,1 and other men of letters ; and Lope de Vega, who was his chaplain, was entertained in his house,2 as he had been, half a century before, in that of the great Alba. His library was one of the largest and most curious in Spain, and abounded in splendid manuscripts and book-rarities of all sorts, which were inherited, neglected, and probably dis- persed, by the profligate Marquess of Ileliche, son of the minister Haro.3 In his early days he was distinguished for his magnificent mode of life ; 4 and the dramatic and musical entertainments given in 1631, by the favourite and his Duchess, in the grounds of her brother, the Count of Monterey, enlarged for the occasion by the removal of the
1 Supra, chap. vii. p. 542, note 4.
2 Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 359.
3 The Abbe" Bertaut de Roueu paid two visits to this fine library, which he describes as very curious ; and on one of these occasions he had an interview with the marquess, who entertained the literary Abbe" with a disquisition on the horses of Andalusia. Voyage d'Espagnc, 4to, Paris, 1669, pp. 170-171. See also supra, chap. vii. p. 548.
4 Valdory, Anecdotes du Ministers d' 'Olivares tirces et traduites, de I'ltalien de Siri, 121110, Paris, 1722, pp. 7, 9.
CH. VIII.
Patron ao'o of letters.
His library.
622
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Patronage of art.
Other patrons of art at court.
walls of two contiguous gardens, were long re- membered by the gay world of Madrid.1 The palace of Buenretiro was, as we have seen,2 the creation of Olivares ; and the Moorish Alcazar of Seville received many additions and embellishments during the time that he held the post of its Alcayde.3 He was the friend and patron of Rubens, whom he employed to paint some magnificent pictures for the conventual church of his village of Loeches. Velazquez, on his arrival at court, found a protector in the powerful minister, who was one of his first sitters ; Murillo, likewise, enjoyed his favour during his brief residence at Madrid ; and it speaks well for his amiable qualities and demeanour in private life that those great artists were amongst the few friends who remained faithful to him in his fallen fortunes.
The court and capital of Spain, where, for more than a century, it had been fashionable to have a taste, could boast, under Philip IV., finer galleries of art, and a greater number of amateur artists than any other city, Rome only excepted. As the great houses, which had given viceroys to Peru and
1 Casiano Pellicer, Origen y progrcsos de l«, Comeclia en Espafia, torn. i. p. 174.
'2 Supra, p. 600.
3 The description of this Alcazar, by Rod. Caro, Antig. de Sevilla, fol. 56-58, shows that little beyond repairs has been done by his successors.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
623
Mexico, were remarkable for their immense services of silver and gold plate, so those whose lords had held the Italian and Flemish governments and embassies, prided themselves on their pictures and tapestries ; and in some fortunate families, the side- board and the gallery were furnished with equal splendour.1 The palace of the Admiral of Castile was adorned with many fine specimens of Rafael, Titian, Correggio, and Antonio More, curious armour, and exquisite sculptures in bronze and marble ; and that of the Prince of Esquilache — Francisco de Borgia, one of the nine poets who are called the Castilian muses — was also famous for the pictures which adorned its great hall. The Marquess of Leganes, and the Count of Monterey — prime favourites of Olivares — whose shameless rapacity at Milan and Naples obtained for them the name of the two thieves,2 were likewise eminent collectors. The count possessed a famous series of sketches by Michael Angelo, known as the " Swimmers," and a ''Holy Family" by Rafael;3 the noble nunnery which he built at Salamanca, was a museum of art ; 4 and Carducho has, perhaps, a sly allusion to
1 Madame d'Aulnoy, Voyage, let. ix. ; and Lady Fanshawe's Memoirs, p. 227.
2 Guidi, Relation dc ce que s'cst passe en Espagne d la disgrace du Comte-Duc d'Olivarcs, traduite de Vltalien, 8vo, Paris, 1658, p. 63.
3 Carducho, Didlogos, fol. 148.
4 Ponz, torn. xii. p. 226.
CH. VIII.
Admiral of Castile.
Prince of
Esqui-
lacho.
Marquess of Leganes.
Count of Monterey.
624
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CII. VIII.
Don Juan do Espina.
Duke of Alba and others.
Amateur artists. Duke of
Alcala.
the unscrupulous means by which this nobleman enriched his gallery, in his question — " What would the Count of Monterey not do to obtain fine original pictures ? " l The pictures of Don Juan de Espina were numerous and valuable : he had a curious collection of carvings in ivory ; and he possessed two volumes of sketches and manuscripts by Leon- ardo da Vinci.2 The Duke of Alba enriched his hereditary gallery with some choice pictures from Whitehall. The good Count of Lemos, the Dukes of Medina-cell, and Medina de las Torres,3 the Marquesses of Alcala, Almacan, Velada, Villanueva del Fresno, and Alcanicas, the Counts of Osorno, Benavente, and Humanes, Geronimo Fures y Muniz, knight of Santiago, and " gentleman of the mouth"4 to the King, Geronimo de Villafuerte y Zapata, keeper of the crown jewels, Suero de Quinones, great standard-bearer of Leon, llodrigo de Tapia, Francisco de Miralles, Francisco de Aguilar, and other courtiers — were all owners of fine pictures. The Duke of Alcald, —
" Principe, cuya fama esclarecida For virtudes y letras serd eterna," 5 —
1 Didlog., fol. 159. 2 Ibid. fol. 156.
3 liamino Felipe y Guzman, Duque de Medina de las Torres, was the patron and friend of the eccentric dramatist Jn- Ruiz de Alarcon. See I'll. Chasles ; titudes sitr I'Espagne, sm. 8vo, Paris, 1847, P- 84.
4 " Geutilhombre de la boca," an officer who waited on his Majesty at table. 5 Lope de Vega, Laurel dc Apolo.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
625
whose scholarly and artistic tastes and talents have already been noticed,1 was ambassador to Rome, and viceroy of Naples, under Philip IV., and some- times, also, an ornament of the capital. Don Juan Fonseca y Figueroa, brother to the Marquess of Orellana, canon and chancellor of Seville, and usher of the curtain2 to the King, was a good amateur artist, and painted an esteemed portrait of the poet Rioja. His chief claim to distinction, however, rests on his friendship for Velazquez, whom he was the means of introducing to the notice of the court.
o
Don Juan de Jauregui, knight of Calatrava, and master of the horse to Queen Isabella, and the elegant translator of Tasso and Lucan,3 was no less skilled in painting than in poetry. His taste for the former, acquired — or improved — at Rome, dis- played itself chiefly in portraiture ; and he executed a picture of Cervantes, of which that great author makes honourable mention in the prologue to his novels. He gave some of his best pictures to his friend Medina de las Torres, of whose apartments
1 Supra, chap. vii. p. 569.
8 An officer whose duty it was to draw aside the curtain of the gallery where the King sat in church, and who also discharged the functions of almoner.
3 He puhlished El Aminta de Tasso, with Rimas of his own, 4to, Sevilla, 1618 ; and some prose pieces, amongst which was that on paint- ing in Carducho's work. La Farsalia was not printed till after his death, in 1684, 4to, Madrid.
CH. VIII.
Juan
Fonseca.
Juan de Jauregui.
626
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Geronimo Fures.
G. de Villa- fuerte.
Bishop Juan Caramuel Lobkowitz.
in the royal palace they formed a principal adorn- ment.1 An engraver, likewise, of some skill, he executed the plates for the Jesuit Luis de Alcazar's treatise on the Apocalypse.2 Lope de Vega has celebrated him in various poetical pieces,3 and Pacheco contributed to the collection of eulogistic
O
verses which prefaced his poems, a sonnet, highly complimentary to his " learned lyre and valiant pencil." One of his best poems is a dialogue between Sculpture and Painting, on their relative merits, which is closed by a speech from Dame Nature, who decides in favour of the latter.4 Don Geronimo Fures5 was an excellent artist and judge of art ; the favourite subjects of his pencil were scenes or figures emblematic of moral maxims ; and of these, a ship wearing bravely before the wind, under press of sail, with the motto, " Non credas tempori" was reckoned the best. To considerable abilities as a painter, his fellow - courtier, Villafuerte, added a curious expertness in making watches.
Don Juan Caramuel Lobkowitz, son of a noble of Luxemburg, by a Bohemian lady, and born at
1 Carducho, DidL, fol. 156.
2 Vestigatio arcani sensus in Apocalipsi, fol. Antwerp, 1619.
3 Obras, torn. i. p. 38, iv. p. 503.
* Rimas, p. 174. One of his comedies being damned at Madrid, a spectator exclaimed, "If you want your play to succeed, you must paint it."
5 Of D. Geronimo Fures y Muniz there is a good portrait, engraved in liis old age, by Pedro de Villafranca, at Madrid, 1654.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
627
Madrid, in 1606, was likewise an amateur painter, and no less remarkable for the variety of his prefer- ments than for the versatility of his genius. Edu- cated at Salamanca and Alcala", he became professor of theology at the latter university ; and, afterwards removing to Flanders, and assuming the Cistercian robe, he was promoted, first to the titular abbacy of Melrose, in Scotland, and then to that of Dissem- burg, in the Palatinate. Being a skilful engineer, he was employed to defend Louvaine against the Hollanders and French, and Frankendahl against the Swedes. By the favour of the Emperor Ferdi- nand III. and Pope Alexander VII., he successively wore several German and Italian mitres ; and he died, in 1682, at his Milanese bishopric of Vigevano, to which he had been presented by the King of Spain. An elegant poet, as well as an amateur of the pencil, he was pronounced by the critics to be gifted with genius to the eighth degree, eloquence to the fifth, but with judgment only to the second. He was, besides, one of the most prolific writers of the age, leaving no less than seventy-seven tomes in Latin and Castilian, on grammar, poetry, history, music, the art of war, astronomy, logic, architecture, canon-law, metaphysics, and controversial divinity, — to be forgotten by posterity.1
1 Nic. Antonio, torn. i. p. 505, devotes six folio columns to an imper- fect catalogue of his works. See also Meuselius, Bibliotkeca Historica,
CH. VIII.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Thomas
Labafia.
Francisco
Velazquez
Minaya.
Count of
Benevente.
Count of
Tula.
Pedro do Herrora.
Diego de Lucena.
Duke of Bejar.
Juan do Butron.
Don Thomas Labaiia, knight of Christ, Don Francisco Velazquez Minaya, knight of Santiago, and the Count of Benevente, painted for their amusement ; as also did the Count of Tula, to whom a Mexican facility of hand may have descended with the royal blood of Montezuma, which flowed in his veins. Don Pedro de Herrera, councillor of finance, modelled skilfully in wax, and executed some pieces of sculpture in bronze ; and Don Diego de Lucena, son of a great Andalusian house, towards the end of this reign, handled the brush with some credit to the school of Velazquez. The Duke of Bejar, son to the grandee of the same name, — who hesitated about accepting the dedication of " Don Quixote " l — added the reputation of a good painter to that of a gallant soldier. Don Juan de Butron, a young lawyer, who wrote an esteemed work on painting,2 practised, with considerable skill, the art
ii torn. 8vo, Lipsise, 1782-1804, torn. v. P. 2, p. 182 ; and the Biographic Universclle, torn. vii. p. 109, Svo, Paris, 1813. His Philippus Pru- dens Caroli Imp. filius, Lusitanice, Algarbice, Indiae, Bmsilice Icgiti- mus rex dcuionstratus, fol. Antuerpioe, 1639; — a work published in defence of Philip IV.'s right to the crown of Portugal, just at the time when the voice of the nation had transferred it to the house of Braganza, — is a fine specimen of the Plantine press, and remarkable for its beautiful title-page and royal portraits engraved by J. Neeffs. There is a beautiful copy of this volume, on large paper, in the Royal Library at Mafra.
1 Don Quijotc, comentado por Don Diego Clemencin, 6 tomos 4to, Madrid, 1633, torn. i. p. xliv.
2 Supra, p. 595, note 2.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
629
of which he defended with his pen the dignities and immunities.1 Don Esteban Hurtado de Mendoza, son of the Viscount of La Coranza, and knight of Santiago, distinguished himself, about 1630, as an amateur painter at Seville.
Maria de Guadalupe, Duchess of Aveiro,2 an accomplished linguist and a lover of letters,3 like- wise painted with taste ; and Dona Maria de Abarca, and the Countess of Villaumbrosa, were celebrated for their skill in taking likenesses. Art was some- times pursued as a profession by men of rank, without derogation of dignity ; as in the case of Crescenzi, who was rewarded with a Marquessate for his labours at the Escorial.4 And, on the out- break of the rebellion in Portugal, the Marquess of Montevelo,5 a nobleman of that country, being stripped of his estates, supported himself, at Madrid,
CH. VIII.
1 lie is not enumerated amongst artists, either by Palomino or Cean Bermudez, but I think the commendatory verses by Josef de Valdivielso, prefixed to his Discourses, afford evidence that he deserves a place in the list.
2 This lady was a friend of Lady Fanshawe, who duly chronicles the presents made by the Duchess to her daughters at their departure from Madrid. — Memoirs, Svo, London, 1829, p. 276 [edition 1830, pp. 233-4],
3 Palomino, torn. i. p. 187.
4 Supra, p. 605.
5 His name was Fells Machado de Silva Castro y Vasconcelas, and he was created Marquess of Montebello, in Milan, in 1630. He is honour- ably mentioned by Barbosa Machado, Biblioth. Lusitana, torn. ii. p. 6, col. 2 ; and a full account of him will be found in Jose da Cunha Taborcla's Rcpas de Arte de la Pmtitra, 4to, Li.sboa, 1815, p. 198, and C. Volkmar Machado, Mcmon'as, p. 82.
Esteban Hurtado de Men- doza.
Duchess of Aveiro.
Dona Maria do Abarca. Countess of Villaum- brosa.
Marquess of Monte velo.
630
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
C'H. VIII.
Visit of the Prince of Wales to Spain.
by teaching painting, until a pension was granted to him by the Crown. Artists and authors, and the lovers of art and letters, frequently met at one another's houses, to interchange knowledge and ideas, to examine pictures and statues, and discuss literary and artistic questions ; and the tertulias of Fonseca and Jauregui were not inferior in the graces of intellectual converse to the Roman conversazioni in the palaces of the Farnese and Barberini.
The refinement and artistic splendour of the court of Madrid, even at the beginning of this reign, are attested by the influence which his Spanish journey exerted on the taste of Charles, Prince of Wales. That love-pilgrimage, undertaken for the sake of the Infanta Maria, is one of the most interesting passages of his chequered life. The magic mirror of history presents to our gaze few figures more attractive than that well-graced prince and his fiery companion, Buckingham. Royal bull-fights, sword and cane playing, dramatic performances, religious ceremonies, hunting parties and balls, alternated with those diplomatic conferences in which the Prince and Steenie argued questions of state policy in the language of youthful passion, to the perplex- ment of grey intriguers, and the excitement of false hopes and fears in the doctors of Lambeth and Toledo. Statecraft, however, triumphed. The policy of Olivares required that King James and his
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
631
son should be kept in a state of hopeful suspense, until the Emperor had made sure of the Palatinate, from which he had chased their unfortunate kins- man, the Pfalzgrave Frederick, better known as the King of Bohemia. For five months, therefore, he was amused by the solemn and specious quibbles of the minister, the frank hospitality of the young King, and the stately coquetry of the Queen and the Infanta. They at last, indeed, discovered and outdid the insincerity of the Castilian court ; the prince presenting the object of his romantic passion with a diamond anchor1 as a token of his hopes and constancy, after he had resolved to bestow his hand and plumed crown elsewhere. But so well was the deception maintained on both sides, that as late as the igth of August, a few days before Charles took his leave, the English at Madrid, true to the habits of Newmarket, were betting thirty to one on the successful consummation of the match.2
If Charles won not, in this celebrated journey, a daughter of Spain for his bride, he at least acquired, or greatly increased, those tastes which adorned his few prosperous years, and still lend a grace to his
1 Andres de Mendoca, Relation dc la partida del Serm°- Principe dc Vvalia, folio of two leaves, Madrid, 1683. In this anchor was set, says Mendoca, un diamante que no le osan tussar.
- Epistolce IIo-Elia.no:, p. 146 [5th edition, I2mo, London, 1678, sec. 3, letter 23, p. 130].
CH. VIII.
Influence on his taste.
632
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Purchases of pictures.
memory. He saw the Spanish capital in its height of splendour, its palaces, churches, and convents filled with the fairest creations of art ; he witnessed the performance of magnificent services, at altars glowing with the pictures of Titian and El Mudo, and long processions, where the groves of silken banners were relieved by moving stages, whereon were displayed the fine statuary of Hernandez, and the glorious plate of Alvares and the d'Arphes. In the halls of the Escorial and the Pardo, his ambition was awakened to form a gallery of art worthy of the British Crown — the only object of his ambition which it ever was his fortune to attain. The nucleus of those treasures of painting, which he afterwards assembled at Whitehall, was formed from the col- lections of the Count of Villamediana,1 and the sculptor Pompeyo Leoni,2 sold by auction during his residence at Madrid. He offered Don Andres Velazquez 1,000 crowns for a small picture on copper, by Correggio, but was refused it ; and he met with the like ill success in his attempts to
1 The strange murder of this Count, who is supposed to have been the lover of Queen Isabella, and to have fallen a victim to the jealousy of Philip IV., is related by Lord Holland, Life of Lope dc Vega, p. 71. For anecdotes of his gallantries, see Madame d'Aulnoy, Voyage, torn. ii. p. 19, and for many curious details, in El Conde-Duque de Olivares y Felipe IV., por Adolfi de Castro, 4to, Cadiz, 1847, lib. iii. p. 47. It is there said that Alonso ( ? Juan, infra, p. 812, note i) Mateo, bullestero del rev, was suspected of being the assassin.
a Supra, chap. iv. p. 221.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
633
obtain the precious volumes of Da Vinci's drawings and manuscripts, from Don Juan de Espino, who excused himself on the plea that he intended to bequeath his collection of art to the King, his master.1 Many fine pictures were, however, pre- sented to him by the King and the courtiers. Besides a string of horses, mares, and asses of the best Moorish and Andalusian blood, jewellery, and choice Toledan blades, Philip gave him the famous Antiope, by Titian, his father's favourite picture,2 a truly royal gift, Diana bathing, Europa, and Daniie, works of the same master, which, although packed up, were left behind by the Prince, in his hasty retreat, and never reached England. Don Geronimo Fures presented him with eight pictures by the most esteemed masters, besides some swords of the right Toledan temper, and other ancient arms of Spain. His portrait 3 was begun by Velazquez, who came to settle at court about the time of his visit ; but Vandyck was destined to be unrivalled in de- lineating that noble and pensive countenance, and the work was never finished. It is strange that the Prince does not seem to have carried to England any specimen of Spanish painting. No Spanish name is to be found in the catalogues of his collec-
1 Carducho, Dial., fol. 156. 2 Supra, chap. vii. p. 474.
:! Infra, clmp. ix. p. 688. VOL. II. s
C'TT. VIII.
Presents made to him.
Portrait by Velazquez.
634
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Employs Miguel de la Cruz to copy pictures.
Foreign artists. Flemings. Peter Paul Rubens.
tions ; although ten years afterwards, when ominous clouds were gathering round his throne, he employed Miguel de la Cruz, a painter of promise, cut off by an early death, to execute copies of a number of pictures in the Alcazar at Madrid.
Of the foreign artists who visited Spain during this reign, the greatest was the prince of Flemish painters, Peter Paul Rubens.1 For twenty years he
1 Descamps (La Vie des Peintres Flamands, &c., torn. i. p. 299) says that Rubens was sent to Spain by the Duke of Mantua, whose gentleman of the chamber he was, with ricli presents — a carriage and seven horses, says Cean Bermudez — to Philip III. In the Hlstoire de la Vie dc P. P. Rubens, par J. F. M. Michel, 8vo, Bruxelles, 1771, pp. 169-70, the story is referred to the time of Rubens' first visit to the court of Philip IV., and the Duke is called King of Portugal — the author apparently not knowing that Spain and Portugal were then still one kingdom. Being invited by the Duke of Braganza, afterwards John IV., King of Portugal, to the castle of Villaviciosa, he set out thither from Madrid with so gallant a train that the Duke, fearing the cost of entertaining him, sent a messenger to request him to defer his visit, and to offer him fifty ducats for the loss of his time. Rubens declined the present, and coolly replied that he had come, not to paint, but to amuse himself for a few days at Villaviciosa, and had put a thousand pistoles in his purse to defray his expenses. This story has often been repeated, but will not bear exami- nation. [It is repeated in Original Unpublished Papers illustrative of the Life of Sir Peter Paul Rubens as an artist and a diplomatist, preserved in If. M. State Office, collected and edited by W. Noel Saintsbury, Svo, London, 1859, p. 3, and also in the notice of the artist given in the latest (1889) Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery (Foreign Schools). — ED.] If Rubens went to Spain as envoy from the Duke of Mantua, it must have been before 1608, when he left the service of that prince to return to Flanders. Braganza was born in 1604, and the part assigned to him, therefore, agrees neither with his years, nor witli his liberal disposition and magnificent mode of life. Although Cean Ber- mudez and Sir Edmund Head (Kugler's Handbook of Painting, part ii. with notes by Sir E. II., I2mo, London, 1846, p. 236, note) adopt the opinion, that Rubens came to Spain in the reign of Philip III., I am dis- posed to reject it, because it is neither borne out by Carducho nor Pacheco
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
635
had enjoyed the favour and confidence of the rulers of the Spanish Netherlands ; and the Archduke Albert, who had seen the budding and unfolding of his genius for affairs as well as for art, recommended him, shortly before his death, to the Infanta Isabella, his Archduchess, as a wise and trusty counsellor. By this sagacious daughter of Philip II. he was, therefore, sent to Madrid, to call the attention of the King, her nephew, to the misery and discontent of the Belgian provinces, and to urge the negotiation of peace with England, then on the eve of war with France. He arrived at the Spanish court in August 1628, and was received with the highest distinction by the King and Olivares. There, amongst many personages of note, whom he had known in Flanders, he found his friend, the great Spinola, Marquess of Los Balbases, who was so much attached to him that he was wont to say that his talents for painting were the least of his good qualities. These talents
nor sanctioned by Dr. Waagen, in his essay, Peter Paul Rubens, his Life and Genius, translated by Robert Noel, 8vo, London, 1840. Nor do the Lettres ineditcs de Pierre Paul Rubens, par Emile Gachet, 8vo, Bruxelles, 1840, afford any hint of a visit previous to 1628, except an anecdote of an occurrence which, says Rubens ambiguously, " sucesse nel mio tempo in Spagna al Re Don Filippo III." (p. 62) ; although there are two letters, dated Madrid, 1628. Palomino, torn. iii. p. 443, says that Rubens was sent by the Archduke and Duchess, Albert and Isabella, as ambassador to Philip III., and that he came again to Spain in the train of the Prince of Wales, in 1623, assertions corroborated by no other authority, and hardly Avorth notice except to show the conflicting evidence out of which the biographer must weave a probable story.
CH. VIII.
Diplomatic mission to Spain.
636
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
Royal por- traits.
CH. vni. | were, however, his best introduction to the tasteful King ; and he was formed, by his fine person, polished manners, and various accomplishments to adorn and captivate the court. The nine months which he spent at Madrid were amongst the most busy of his life. Spanish diplomacy, at all times slow in its operations, was, in this case, perhaps still more retarded in its course by the desire of the King to retain near his person the great artist of the north.
Rubens skilfully opened the negotiations, by pre- senting eight of his pictures, of various sizes, to the picture-loving King, who, though slow in entering upon his diplomatic business, immediately sat to him for an equestrian portrait, which Lope de Vega made the subject of a complimentary poem.1 He painted four other portraits of the King, and also pourtrayed every other member of the royal family, for his mistress the Archduchess. Of the Infanta Mar- garita, who had taken the veil in a convent of bare- foot nuns at Madrid, with the name of Margaret of the Cross, he painted a portrait, somewhat larger than half-length, and made several copies of it.2
1 "Silva al quadro y retrato de Su Magestad que hizo Pedro Pablo Rubens," beginning, " Durmiendo estaba, si dormir podia." Obras sueltas, 21 torn. 4to, Madrid, 1776-79, i. p. 256.
2 1'acheco, p. 100, says, that he "retrato a la Serenisima Sefiora Infanta de las Descalzas de mas de media cuerpo, i hizo della copias," &c. She is mentioned by name as " la Sefiora Infanta Margarita
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
637
He also painted a large picture of Philip II. on horseback, with the sickly countenance of his old age, with a figure of Victory leaning from a cloud and crowning him with laurel, a stiff and ungainly picture, and one of the worst he ever executed.1
Whilst he was thus employed, no day passed without a visit from the King, who loved to converse with his artists as they worked, and who impressed the acute Fleming, as he afterwards impressed Lord Clarendon,2 with a favourable opinion of his intel- lectual powers. " Well gifted both in body and mind," says Rubens, in one of his letters,3 " this prince were surely capable of ruling, in good or evil fortune, did he rely more on himself, and defer less to his ministers ; but now he pays for the credulity and follies of others, and is the victim of a hatred
Descalza," in the Carta al Duque de Medina Sidonia, escrita por Andres de Mendoca, 23 Nov. 1623, — a paper of 4 folio leaves, printed at Madrid, — p. 7. She was the Infanta Margarita, daughter of Maximilian (son of Ferdinand, Emperor), and Maria (daughter of the Emperor, Charles V.), and was born at Vienna, 25th June, 1567. Her life was written by Fr. Juan de Palma, Vida de la Screnissima Infanta Sra" Margarita de la Cruz, fol. Madrid, 1636. Her elder sister, Ana, was mother of Philip III., consequently she herself was grand-aunt to Philip IV. The above Life has an indifferent portrait of Philip IV., by Pedro Perret, Madrid, 1636, with a scroll border, and lettered " Philippus IV. utriusqne Dominator Orbis."
1 In the Queen of Spain's gallery. Catdlogo [1843], No. 1400 [edition 1889, No. 1607].
2 Hist, of the Rebellion, vol. vi. p. 385.
3 Gachet, Lcttres de Rubens, 8vo, Bruxelles, 1840, p. 226, from Cachet's translation of the original Flemish.
CII. VIII.
Converse with the King.
His opinion of him.
638
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
vin. in which he has no concern," — the personal animosity
of Buckingham and Olivares.
industry. His rapid pencil was interrupted during his stay
at Madrid, not only by the affairs of his mission, but by attacks of fever and gout.1 Nevertheless, besides the royal portraits, he found time to make careful copies of some of Titian's pictures, sarcastically styled in after days, by Mengs, his translations from the Italian into Dutch ; 2 to paint several works for private collectors and public institutions ; and to enlarge the canvas of his grand " Adoration of the Kings," painted at Antwerp some years before, then in the Alcazar, and now in the Iloyal Gallery at Madrid,3 one of those pictures which best display his skill of hand, and lavish splendour of imagination. Joining a piece to its left side, he added several figures to the composition, one of which was himself on a bay horse, an excellent portrait, most incongruously painted in the costume of the court, —not of Gaspar, Melchior, or Balthasar, but — of Philip IV.4 He likewise painted pictures, of the " Conception," for his friend the Marquess of Leganes, and of St. John, for Don Jayme de Car-
1 Gaclict, Lettres dc Rubens, 8vo, Bruxelles, 1840, p. 225.
2 Cumberland, Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 210.
3 [Catdloffo, 1889, No. 1559.]
4 Even the fastidious Mengs praises this picture ; see Obras de Don Antonio Rafael Mengs, por Don Joseph Nicholas de Azara, 4to, Madrid, 1797, p. 224.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 639 |
|
denas ; and a grand altar-piece, the " Martyrdom of St. Andrew," for the Hospital of the Flemings, at Madrid.1 He did not much frequent the society of the artists of the capital ; but his chief friends and companions were the Italian architect Crescenzi, and the painter Velazquez, with the latter of whom he had held epistolary correspondence before for- tune brought them together.2 With this Spanish Vandyck for a guide, he visited the Escorial and explored its treasuries of art and learning, with all the enthusiasm of a painter and a scholar. The unwearied activity of his well-stored mind is exem- plified by the fact that, amidst his many occupations in Spain, he was seeking in the libraries for materials for an edition of Marcus Aurelius, on which his friend Gaspard Gevaerts was then engaged.3 On the 2;th of April, his business being at length despatched, he turned his face northwards ; carry- ing with him a diamond ring worth 2,000 ducats, the gift of the King, an order of knighthood, a patent for life of the office of Secretary to the Privy Council of Brussels, and a mandate for |
CH. VIII. |
His friends. Visit to the Escorial with Velaz- j quez. |
|
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 455. 2 Paclieco, p. 103. 3 Lettrcs de Rubens, p. 224. Gevaerts wrote the inscriptions for the triumphal arches, designed by Rubens, for the hero of Nordlingen's entry into Antwerp in 1635, and also the letterpress for the magnificent work published on the subject, Pompa introitus Ser. Prin. Ferdinand, Aust. Hisp. Inf. <L-c., fol. Ant. 1641. |
640
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Mission to the court of Eng- land.
the payment of his expenses out of the Belgian treasury.1
Arriving at Brussels, he was sent by Isabella to England, to pave the way for peace.2 His reception at the court of Charles I., his knighthood3 and other honours received at the hands of that most grace- ful of princes, his success in society amongst the Arundels and Carlisles, his well-aimed stroke of diplomacy in the great allegorical picture of the " Blessings of Peace," 4 presented to the King, his less happy attempt to allegorise the achievements of " gentle King Jamie," for the ceiling of the banquet- iug-room at Whitehall, and his portraits of his royal and noble friends, are, perhaps, the passages and facts of his history best known to the English reader. Having accomplished his mission to the satisfac- tion of the Infanta, he is said to have returned to Madrid, to give an account of his proceedings at headquarters. This second journey is, however, in the opinion of his latest biographer, somewhat
J Lettrcs dc Rubens, p. xliv.
" ["He arrived in London about May 25th, 1629, and left about February 22111!, 1630." Saintsbury, p. 146, note. — ED.]
3 ["On 2ist Feb. 1630, Charles I. conferred on Rubens the honour of knighthood, as appears by a list of knights made by the King, in the State Paper Office ; and presented him with the sword enriched with diamonds which was used on the occasion, adding to the arms of the new knight, on a canton gules, a lion [rampant] or. " — Original unpublished 2^apcry by Saintsbury, p. 147. — ED.]
4 [Now, after many vicissitudes, in the National Gallery, Catalogue 1889, No. 46.]
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
641
doubtful. If it took place at all, it was probably in the spring or summer of 1630; and there can be no doubt that he was received with undiminished favour at court, for he was made honorary gentle- man of the King's chamber, and on the I5th of June, in that year, his patent as Secretary of Council was extended to the life of his son Albert.1 His stay at the Spanish capital could not have been long ; for on the 6th of December he led his second bride, the beautiful Helena Forman, in the bloom of sweet sixteen, to the altar of the church of St. James, at Antwerp.2
After Antwerp, Madrid is the city which most abounds with fine works of llubcns. The Royal Gallery still possesses sixty-two of his pictures ; and Spain, at one time, was perhaps richer in fine specimens than Flanders itself; while many of the finest efforts of his genius now in England were brought from Spain by the military robbers of France, or by the picture-dealers who followed in their wake. The " Adoration of the Kings," already noticed, is one of the grandest specimens of his grave majestic style; the "Peasants' Dance,"3 a
CH. VIII.
Works at Madrid.
1 Lcttres dc Rubens, p. xlvii.
2 For some new facts relating to Rubens in Spain, see the Particularitts ct Documens incdites sur Rubens, par M. Gachard, in the Bulletin de I' Academic dc Bruxclles.
3 Catdlogo [1843], No. 1373 [edition 1889, Xo. 1612].
642
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Seville and j Plasencia.
Fuen-Sal- daiia.
circle of joyous figures whirling round the trunk of a tree, amongst the branches of which their musician tunes his pipe, is perhaps the most pleasing of his scenes of rural merriment ; the " Cardinal- Infant Ferdinand on horseback," l is one of his most airy and life-like portraits; and the "Garden of Love,"' "Rodolph of Hapsburg giving his horse to the Host-bearing priest," 3 and many others in the royal collection at Madrid, are little inferior as pieces of narrative-painting to the celebrated works which are the glory of Antwerp. Many of the private collections of Madrid were enriched with works that were no unworthy compeers of the famous "Lion Hunt," now the property of Lord Ash^urton,4 which once adorned the Leganes and Altamira galleries. Nor was the popularity of Rubens con- fined to the capital. Seville and Plasencia5 placed his works in their Cathedrals, beside those of the great Castilian and Andalusian masters ; and the Museum at Valladolid 6 still preserves his three large altar-pieces, presented to the Franciscan nunnery
1 Catdlogo, No. 1350 [1608].
2 Catdlogo [1843], No. 1576 [1611]. — A duplicate of the " Liebesgarten " of the King of Saxony's gallery at Dresden ; Vcrzcichniss ; crstc Haupt- abtheilung, 8vo, Dresden, 1837, No. 747, p. 148. [Vcrzcichniss dcr Konig- lichen Gemalde-Gallerie, von Julius Hiibner, i2mo, Dresden, 1876, No. 839, p. 224].
3 Catdlogo, No. 1575 [1566].
4 Waagen's Rubens, p. 96. [Now in the Old Pinakothek at Munich, No. 734. Notes, by Charles L. Eastlake, sm. 8vo, London 1884, p. 180. ]
6 Ponz, torn. vii. p. no. 6 Compendia Hint., pp. 46-48.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
643
of Fuen-Saldana by the Count of the same name, and somewhat over-praised by Ponz, as his best works in the Peninsula.1 The Dominican nuns of Loeches possessed six colossal compositions, and three smaller pictures, painted by Rubens for their church, by order of Olivares. The first six repre- sented various subjects of sacred history and allegory, and became models for Flemish tapestry. Majestic, perhaps, in a lofty and dimly-lighted church, in the galleries where the chance of war has now placed them these gigantic pictures, filled with brawny sons and flabby daughters of Anak, are merely op- pressive and overwhelming. Two, "Elijah in the Desert," and the " Triumph of Christianity," are now in the Louvre;2 four, "Abraham and Melchizedec," "Israelites gathering Manna," the "Evangelists," and the "Fathers of the Church," are in the collec- tion of Lord Westminster.3 Lord Radnor4 has an interesting landscape, of which Rubens may have made the sketch during a ramble with Velaz- quez. It is a view of the Escorial, as seen from
1 Ponz, torn. xi. p. 144. See also supra, chap. i. p. 65.
2 Catalogue, Nos. 678 and 684 [edition 1889, Nos. 426 and 432]. The fine original sketch of the latter picture, far more desirable as an ornament for the cheerful haunts of everyday life than its giant offspring, is in the collection of Lord Gray, at Kinfauns Castle, Perthshire.
3 At Grosvenor House, London. These pictures are well described by Mrs. Jameson, Companion to the Private Galleries of Art in London, I2mo, Loud. 1844, p. 272. See supra, chap. i. pp. 18, 19.
4 At Longford Castle, Wilts.
CH. VIII.
Loeches.
View of the Escorial.
644
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CII. VIII.
G.ispard de
Crayer.
Visit to
Spain.
the Sierra, and apparently taken from the King's Chair : l the solitary monk, the wooden cross and the passing deer in the foreground, the rocky hills around, and the cold grey skies above, are in admir- able keeping with that solemn and suggestive scene. Gaspard de Crayer was a Flemish painter of Brussels, high in the favour of the Cardinal-Infant Ferdinand, whose fair pleasing countenance he fre- quently pourtrayed, and by whom he was honoured with a gold chain and medal, and a pension. The prince likewise offered him a place at his court, which the artist declined, wishing to be free to travel and labour where and as he listed. He made^a- journey into Spain, and resided for a short time at court, where he was already favourably known by a portrait of his royal protector ; and where he pro- bably painted the fine picture of Philip IV. in dark armour enriched with gold, formerly in the collection of Mr. Beckford.2 At Burgos, says Cean Bermudez, he made a longer sojourn, and painted a variety of works for the convent of St. Francis, in that city. Dying at Ghent in 1669, aged eighty-four, he left
1 Supra, chap. iv. p. 207. This I now (1849) think doubtful. It is more probably a view from some higher part of the hills, whence you look down on the building more than you can from the Silla del Rey. As to the history of this picture, see Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters, Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy, 7th year, 1876. Catalogue, No. 226, p. 27.
2 Now [1848] the property of Messrs. Graves, Pall Mall.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
645
behind him a multitude of works in the churches and convents there, and in the neighbouring cities, in proof of his unwearied industry. Looking at Crayer's picture for the refectory of the abbey of Affleghem, his friend Rubens, thinking aloud, ejacu- lated, " Grayer, Grayer, you will never be surpassed." l Of some of his portraits, this is not too much to say, so clear, true, and pleasing are their tones, and so lively their expression.
Cornelius Schut, called the Elder, to distinguish him from his nephew of the same name, who flour- ished as a painter at Seville, was a native of Antwerp, and so successful an imitator of the style of Rubens, whose scholar he was, that his works were sometimes attributed to that master. He executed many pic- tures for the churches of Flanders, and painted the dome of the church of Our Lady, at Angers.2 Passing into Spain, to visit his brother Peter Schut, an engineer in the service of Philip IV., he came to Madrid, and there painted, for the great staircase of the Imperial College, a large work representing " St. Francis Xavier baptizing his Indian converts." As a painter, his composition was superior to his colour- ing. He was also an engraver, and etched many of his own designs, amongst which was a "Martyrdom
1 Descamps, torn. i. p. 351.
2 Ibid. p. 398, where his portrait is engraved.
CH. VIII.
Praised by liubens.
Cornelius Schut el Viejo.
646
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Juan de Vander- hamen.
of St. Lawrence." The place and date of his death are unknown.
Juan de Vanderhamen y Leon, the son of a Flemish archer of the guard,1 was born at Madrid in 1596. His father amused his leisure with flower- painting, an art in which he excelled, and in which he instructed his son, who married a Castilian wife, Eugenia de Herrera, and adopted painting as a pro- fession. On the death of Gonzales, in 1627, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the vacant post amongst the painters to the King. The esteem in which he was held by his contemporaries, renders it probable that in time he might have achieved this honour^ but for his premature death, in 1632. Josef de Valdevielso 2 remarks of him, that although young in years he was old in genius, and that his pencil was an object of equal praise and envy ; and he repays the artist for painting his portrait, by com- posing and printing a sonnet in his honour. Lope de Vega also has left two sonnets3 addressed to Vanderhamen, in which, according to his usual cus- tom, he pays his painter-friend some handsome com- pliments at the expense of Apelles. In conjunction
1 Palomino, torn. ih. p. 473, says his mother was Spanish ; Cean Ber- mudez says she was Flemish, and named Dorotea Vitiman, but lie does not explain why both the painter and his brother bore the additional name of Leon.
2 In his paper in Carducho, Dial., fol. 183.
s Quoted by Palomino and Cean Bermudez.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
647
with Eugenio Caxes, Vanderhamen painted for the convent of the Holy Trinity at Madrid several pictures illustrative of Our Saviour's infancy ; and he painted independently, a series of six passages from the life of Christ, for the Carthusians of Paular. In these subjects of grave history, his style was dry and harsh ; but his portraits were smooth and agreeable. His chief excellence, however, lay in his fruit and flower pieces, and in " bodegones," in which he dis- played remarkable skill in painting sweetmeats and confections. The single specimen of his skill in the Royal Gallery of Madrid is a picture of this class.1 He had likewise some skill in poetry, and shared the literary tastes of his brother Lorenzo, who was a churchman of some learning, a writer of books, and, like Gil Bias, secretary to an Archbishop of Granada.2
Another Fleming, Anton Vandepere, flourished as a painter, at Madrid, about the middle of the century. He painted pictures of two holy bishops for the Carthusian church of Paular, and a number of sacred subjects for the Carmelite and Jeronymite convents of the capital, one of which bore his signature, and the date 1659. One Miguel, known
1 Catdlogo, No. 104 [1053].
2 He wrote Historia de D. Juan de Austria, 4to, Mad. 1627 ; Epitome de la Historia del Rey D. Felipe II., and some works of devotion. Nic. Antonio, Bib. Ilisp., torn. ii. p. 8.
CH. VIII.
Anton Vande- pere.
Miguel el Flamenco.
648
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Cornelius do Beer.
Maria Eugenia do Beer.
Engravers.
only as " el Flamenco," the Fleming, the scholar, first of Rubens at Antwerp, and afterwards of Giovanni Ferrari and Cornelius de Wael at Genoa, having distinguished himself in the latter city, likewise practised his art in Spain, where he died about the middle of the century.1 Cornelius de Beer came to Spain about 1630, and painted easel pictures of considerable merit. The Capuchins of Murcia preserved in their church one of his works, the " Triumph of the Holy Sacrament," a large com- position of many figures, with a landscape in the background. His daughter, Maria Eugenia, practised the art of engraving at Madrid, with considerable success ; she executed a good portrait of Prince Balthazar Carlos, and other plates for the works of Don Gregorio de Tapia y Salzedo on horsemanship 2 and the sports of the bull-ring ; 3 and she also published a collection of twenty-five prints of birds, which she dedicated to the same young prince.
Most of the other engravers who flourished in considerable numbers in Spain during this reign,
1 Soprani, Pittori Genovesi, p. 324.
2 Exercicios de la Gineta, al principc micstro sefior Don Tialtasar Carlos, por Don G. de T. y S. cav. del. ord. de Santiago, 4to, Madrid, 1643, with engraved title, portrait, and 28 plates, all by M. A. de Beer ; a treatise on the art of horsemanship in all its branches, bull- fighting, cane-playing, hawking, and hunting game of all kinds, from the lion to the hare.
3 A dvertencias para torcar, Mad., 1651.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
649
were Flemings or Frenchmen. Amongst these Pedro Ferret was distinguished by the length of his career and the number of his works. By birth a Flem- ing, he studied at Rome under Cornelius Cort, and afterwards lived at Antwerp, where he was much employed by the Electors of Bavaria and Cologne. His engravings of the Escorial 1 first recommended him to the notice of Philip II., who, in 1595, invited him to Madrid. Before coming to Spain, he had engraved a large allegorical subject designed by Otto Venius in honour of Juan de Herrera, in which Minerva was represented striving with Bacchus and Venus for the possession of the great architect, in allusion — say the commentators on the Latin verses inscribed on the plate — to the fact that he had been a prodigal son in his youth, and was driven by penury to study the art which gave him renown.2 This rare print was in the collection of Cean Ber- mudez. Ferret spent the rest of his life in Spain, and died at Madrid in 1637, having enjoyed the favour of Philip IV., as well as of the two preceding kings. He engraved for Garibay's " Ilustraciones Genealogicas de los Catliolicos Reyes de las Espanas" fol. Madrid, 1596, an excellent portrait of Prince Philip, afterwards the third monarch of the name. He executed his plates with neatness, but his graver
CH. VIII.
1 Supra, chap. iv. p. 216. VOL. II.
" Ponz, torn. ix. p. 187.
Pedro Ferret.
Print of the Youth of Juan de Herrera.
650
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Ilerm.in
ij;mnoolsi.
wanted character and force. His last works were eighteen small heads of celebrated personages, be- ginning with St. Leo and ending with the Great Captain, for a book written by Don Juan Antonio Tapia y Robles, to vindicate the claims of Philip IV. to the surname of Great.1 This piece of true Cas- tilian flattery, so solemn and so silly, and, now that it is two centuries old, so amusing, is likewise enriched by a tolerable head of Philip the Great in armour, and wearing the order of the Golden Fleece, and an excellent head of Olivares with the cross of Alcantara, both engraved by Herman Panneels, from pictures by Velazquez.2
Pedro Perret may perhaps have been the son of Clement Perret, who published a very beautiful work on penmanship, at Brussels, in I569,3 and he was perhaps father of Pedro Perret, who was engraver to Alfonso VI., King of Portugal, and whose name
1 Iliistracion del renombrc de Grande, principle, grandcza, y etimo- logia, &c., por cl Licenciado Don J. A. de T. i R., 4to, Madrid, 1638. It consists of panegyrics on various great men, amongst whom Philip is placed first. We are gravely told, in the first page, that the epithet Great has been earned, in the course of 5,726 years, by only nineteen persons, of whom his Majesty is the last and the greatest. The book is valuable, however, for its notice of the Prince of Wales's visit to Madrid, fol. 8,9.
2 Both are framed in tasteful borders; that of Philip has a motto inscribed — "A Religione Magnus."
3 Exercitatio Alphabetica nova ct utilissima variis exprcssa linguis ct characteribus, dementis Perreti, Bruxellani, long folio, N. P. 1569. It contains 34 specimens of writing, within elaborate scrolled borders, very finelv executed.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
651
appears on the title-page, engraved very much in the style of the Spanish Ferret, of Mariz's " History of the Portuguese Sovereigns," l published in 1674.
Juan Courbes, Diego de Astor, Juan van Noort, Juan Schorquens, Alardo de Popma, Robert Cordier, and Martin Rossvood, were engravers of good repute at Madrid ; and Isaac Lievendal, Francisco, Bernardo, and Anna Heylan, at Granada and Seville. Jacinto Tavernier practised the art, under the patronage of the learned at Salamanca ; and Pompeyo Roux executed pious prints for the devout at Barcelona. But the ingenuity of Spanish engravers was chiefly exercised on the quaint and fanciful title-pages of books, which were then in fashion in literature. Of these, there are some which arc highly effective, from the elegance of their conception and execution ; the designs, for the most part, are of an architectural character, garnished with appropriate allegorical and heraldic devices, or with historical figures connected with the subject of the book. Thus the History of the Military Orders l has for a frontispiece a trium-
1 Didlogos dc varia historia, dos Rcis de Portugal, por Pedro <le Mariz, acrecentados por Autonio Craesbeck de Mello, 4to, Lisboa, 1674. The engraved title, with scrolled border and coats of arms, bears the date 1672.
2 Fr°- Caro de Torres, Historia dc las Ordcncs M'ditarcs de Santiago, Calatrava y Alcantara, fol. Madrid, 1629. The fine title-page is by Alardo de Poprna, as also is that of Pedro Fernandez Navarrete, Con- servation dc Monarqnias y Discursos politicos, fol. Mad. 1626.
CH. VIII.
Juan do Courbes, Diego do Astor, Juan Van Noort, Juan Schor- quens, Alardo do Popma, Robert Cordior, Martin Rossvood, Isaac
Lievendal, Francisco, Bernardo, and Anna Heylan. Jacinto Tavernier, Pompeyo Rou x. Spanish engraved title-pages.
652
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. vin. phal arch, rich with sculptured crosses and the feats of the Blessed James, and sentinelled by Charles V. and Philip IV. mailed and sceptred ; and the reader approaches the Histories of Segovia,1 and Merida,2 by stately portals, flanked by the effigies of Hercules and St. Hierotheus, Tubal Cain and the Emperor Augustus. St. Onorato and St. Julian stand, and the river-gods of the Jucar and the Huecar sprawl, in the frontispiece of the History of Cuen9a ; 3 and old father Manzanares, often lord of a dusty bed,4 leaning on an urn worthy of the Oronooko or the\ Plate, reclines at the threshold of the Grandeurs of Madrid.5 In the title-page of the Ecclesiastical Annals of Granada, Our Lady of the Conception issues from a bursting pomegranate, the symbol of
1 Diego de Col men ares, Historia de Segovia, fol. Madrid, 1643. The title-page is by Astor, and one of his best works of the kind ; as also is that of Bonet's book on Speech for the Dumb, noticed in chap. v. p. 300.
- Bernabe Moreno de Vargas, Historia de Merida, 4to, Madrid, 1632, with a title-page and the grim author's portrait, by Courbes, whose graver may also be advantageously known in the title-page of the same writer's Discursos dc la noblcza de Espana, 4to, Mad. 1622.
3 Juan Pablo Martyrrico, Historia de Cuenca, fol. Madrid, 1629, in which the title-page and the nine portraits of the Mendozas of the house of Cafiete, with their rich and various borders, by Courbes, are executed as neatly as the best works of the De Brys.
4 Supra, chap. vii. p. 492.
6 Gil Gonzalez d'Avila, Tcatro dc las Grandezas de la villa de Madrid, fol., Madrid, 1623. Title-page by Schorquens, arms by Courbes. Schor- quens likewise engraved the elegant title-page and the good portrait in Thomas Tamaio de Vargas, Vida de Diego Garcia de Paredes, i Rela- cion breve de su tiempo, 4to, Madrid, 1621.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
653
the city ; l and in that of the Conquest of the Moluccas, the genius of those fragrant isles, crowned with feathers and bearing a horn of plenty, like an Indian Amalthea, contemplates a distant volcano, from the back of an alligator.2 A volume of poli- tical Emblems has a frontispiece which is, itself, an emblem of the mind of vain-glorious Spain. Sup- ported by the figures of Faith and Religion, heir- looms of the Catholic monarchy, Philip IV. sits enthroned at the top of the page, in all his habitual gravity, and using the world, upheld by Atlas, for his footstool.3
The architectural title-page of the Voyage of the Captains Nodal to the southern seas4 is adorned with two very neatly -executed portraits of those gallant mariners ; that of Bernal Diaz del Castillo's True History of the Conquest of New Spain,5 with full-length figures of Cortes and the good friar
CH. VIII.
Portraits.
1 Fr°. Bermuclez de Pudraza, Hiatoria Ecclcsiastica de Granada, corona de su poderosa Rei/no, fol. Gran., 1638. The title-page, rich iu design but carelessly finished, is by Anna Heylan.
2 Bart. Leonardo Argensola, Conquista de las Islas Molucas, fol. Madrid, 1609. The title-page is by 1'. Ferret. The architectural border is commonplace, and the whole poorly engraved.
3 Juan de Soloranza Pereira, Einblemata Pulitiiu, fol. Matriti, 1655. Title-page and 100 emblems by Cordier.
4 Relation del Viaje quepor orden de su Mag<i. hizieron los Capitanes Bart. Garcia de Nodal, y Gonfalo de Nodal, 4to, Madrid, 1621. Title- page by Juan de Courbes.
5 Historia vcrdadcra dc la Conquista de la Nueva Espana, escrita por el Capitan Bernal Diaz del Castillo, uuo de sus conquistadores ; fol. Madrid, 1632. Title-page, which is often wanting, by Juan de Courbes.
654
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Olmedo, and with an oval escutcheon, charged with the island-city of Montezuma ; and that of Simon's historical notices of the West Indian mainland,1 with a design representing Philip IV. kneeling in complete armour, in the act of doing homage to the Pope for his Transatlantic empire. The official account of the ceremonial observed, when the states of Castile took the oath of allegiance to the Prince of Asturias, at the Alcazar of Madrid, on the 2Olth February 1632^ has a title-page rich with warlike trophies ; Benavente's Hints for Kings, Princes, and Ambassadors,3 a frontispiece adorned with figures of lleligion and Prudence, and a fine portrait of the Infant Don Balthazar Carlos ; and Martinez de Espinar's book on the chase,4 a title-page displaying Diana and Adonis surrounded by venatical instru- ments, and a boldly-executed portrait of the author, a Castilian of sinewy frame and grave punctilious
1 Primera Par to de las Noticias historiales dc las Conquistas de Terra firmc en las Indias occidentals, por el Padre Fray Pedro Simon, fol. Madrid, 1626 ; title-page by Alardo de Popma, and one of his best. The second part of this scarce book was never published.
2 Relation del Jwamento que hizicron los Rcinos dc Castilla y Leon al Principe Don Baltasar Carlos, por Juan Gomez de Mora, tracador mayor de las obras reales, 4to, Madrid, 1632. Title-page by Juan de Noort.
3 Advertencias para, Reyes, Principes y Embaxadores, por Don Chris- toval de Benavente y Benavides, 4to, Madrid, 1643. Title and portrait by Juan de Noort. There is little doubt that the latter was taken from a picture by Velazquez.
4 Arte dc Ballcsteria y Montcria, escritd por Alonso Martinez de Espinar, que da el arcabuz d su Magestad. 4to, Madrid, 1644. Title and portrait by Juan de Noort.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
655
aspect. One of the best specimens of a Spanish illustrated book of the seventeenth century, is Lavana's account of Philip III.'s journey to Portugal and reception at Lisbon,1 which, besides its elegant and elaborate title-page adorned with figures of the River Tagus, Ulysses, and Alfonso I., has many well-executed views of the triumphal arches erected by the guilds, and a curious folding plate represent- ing the beautiful Lusitauian city, with the royal flotilla and innumerable barks gliding to and fro on its waters.
Diego and Francisco Romulo were the sons of the Italian painter Romulo Cincinato,2 whose pro- fession they followed. Diego, the elder, having evinced distinguished abilities as a painter, was taken to Rome by the Duke of Alcala, first ambas- sador from Philip IV. to Pope Urban VIII. His patron having employed him to paint, for the King of Spain, the portrait of that pontiff, he executed his task in three sittings, so much to the satisfac- tion of both the Italians and the Spaniards, that his Holiness presented him with a gold chain and medal of himself, and also gave him the Portuguese
1 Viaje dc la Catholica Real Magestad del lid D. Fllipe III. N. S. al Reino de Portugal, por Joan Uaptista Lavafia su conmisla mayor, fol. Madrid, 1622. Fifteen plates, including title-page by Juan Schorquens. There is an edition of the same size and date, and with the same plates, in Portuguese.
2 Supra, chap. iv. p. 234.
CH. VIII.
Diego and Francisco Romulo.
656
REIG'N OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
Barto- lomeo Cavarozzi.
Anirelo Nar'di.
order of Christ, with which he was invested by a Spanish Cardinal, in presence of the ambassador, in December 1625. His talents, so improved by his Castilian education, might have gained him still higher distinction, had he not been cut off, soon afterwards, in the prime of life. His scarcely- worn order was conferred, by the Pope, oil his brother Francisco, likewise an able painter, who, for the purpose of receiving it, repaired to Rome, where he died in 1635.
Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, born at Viterbo, and some- times called Crescenzi, from the family name of the Marquess of La Torre, of whom he was an humble dependant, was brought to Spain by that artist, when he came to build the Pantheon of the Escorial.1 He followed the style of his master, Cristofano Roncalli, and was esteemed a good painter, especi- ally of portraits ; but his pictures are now somewhat rare, as he died young in 1625, at Rome.2
Angelo Nardi, a Florentine, who had come to Spain, already a master of his art, towards the close of the reign of Philip III., was one of the most popu- lar of the foreign painters at Madrid during this reign. His history, wholly overlooked by Italian writers, has been preserved by the Spaniards with far less care than his skill as an artist deserved. Cean Bermudez,
Supra, chap. vii. pp. 478 and 605.
- Lanzi, torn. ii. p. 183.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 657
departing from his usual accuracy, says that he came CH. vin. to Spain soon after the accession of Philip IV., and that he was employed by Cardinal Sandoval, Arch- bishop of Toledo, to paint some altar-pieces for the church of a Recolete nunnery, founded by that pre- late at Alcald, de Henares, which first brought him into notice. As Archbishop Sandoval died in 1618, his patronage must have been bestowed on Nardi previous to that date ; nor can the painter have been born so late as 1601, as Palomino pretends,1 for works so important would hardly have been entrusted to a lad of sixteen or seventeen. The favour of the primate introduced him to the notice of his secretary, Don Sebastian de Herrera, and Don Melchor de Vera, his assistant bishop, who employed him to paint — the first, the pictures, in fresco and oil, in the chapel of the Conception at La Guardia — and the second, fifteen subjects on canvas for the altars of a convent of Bernardine nuns, which he had founded in the city of Jaen. In 1625 Nardi had acquired sufficient fame to obtain the post of court-painter to the King, which he held, without salary, until 1631, when the allowance of 6,000 maravedis was assigned him, over and above the price of his works. Being a diligent student and
1 Pal., torn. iii. p. 475. Lanzi, torn. iii. p. 179, has no information to give about Nardi, whom he calls Naudi, except what he finds in Palomino.
658
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VIII.
copyist of the old masters, and an excellent judge of their works, he was much employed by the King to assign the unnamed pictures, which came to the palace from Italy, to their proper authors. He was one of the most active supporters of Vincencio Carducho, in his contest with the tax-collectors, and mainly contributed to the triumph of his order in which that contest ended.1 His exertions in their cause, and his agreeable manners and conversa- tion, made him very popular amongst the artists of Madrid, and much regretted by them at his death, in 1660. Although worsted, with other rivals, by Velazquez, in a trial of artistic skill,2 Nardi seems to have been a painter of considerable power ; his pictures were well composed, and their colouring is said to have resembled that of Paul Veronese. His name does not occur in the catalogue of the Royal Gallery of Spain ; but, as he painted many works for the convents of Madrid, perhaps some memorial of his pencil may be found in the National Museum. His powers may be best appreciated at Alcald, de lienares, where several of his finest works, in ex- cellent preservation, still hang in their original places in the lofty and elegant oval church of the Bernardine nunnery (built for Cardinal- Archbishop Sandoval by J. B. Monegro). The " Martyrdom of
1 Supra, chap. vii. p. 494.
Ibid. p. 486.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
659
St. Lawrence," a grand picture, on the right of the huge gilt shrine, which serves as the high altar, is inscribed, in white letters upon the saint's gridiron, Angela Nardi, ft. ano 1620. The Virgin dropping milk into the mouth of St. Bernard, and the Assump- tion of the Virgin, to the right and left behind the altar, are also good ; but perhaps the best of all is that which represents Our Lady ascending from the tomb, around which stand the adoring apostles, a large picture in one of the side chapels. The heads are noble ; the composition is graceful ; and the colouring is of a Venetian richness and splendour.
Giovanni Campino, a native of Camerino, in the March of Ancona, reversing the usual order of art- istic travel, studied painting in early youth in the school of Abraham Janssens, at Antwerp ; and after- wards established himself at Home, and imitated the style of Caravaggio. He there formed a friendship with Miguel el Flamenco,1 by whom he was after- wards invited to Madrid, where he died in the service of Philip IV.
Orazio Borgianni was a Roman painter, who was taught drawing by his brother Giulio, a sculptor, and studied also in the Academy of St. Luke. Seeking his fortune in Spain, he married and settled at Madrid, where he painted an " Emperor's triumph"
1 Supra, p. 6^8.
CH. VIII.
Giovanni
Campino.
Orazio Borgianni.
66o
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. vin. for the antechamber of the Queen, at Buenretiro. On the death of his wife, he returned to Rome, and there was much employed by the ambassador of Spain and the general of the Spanish Augustines. The latter dignitary, who was his principal protector, offered to procure for him the oMer of Christ, but was diverted from this purpose oy Gaspar Celio, a rival painter, who slandered Borgianni, and finally obtained the cross for himself. Disappointed of his decoration, Borgianni is said to have died of chagrin.1 That he was a man of irritable and violent temper, seems probable from the story that, as he passed through the streets of Rome in a coach, seeing Caravaggio and some other painters laughing at him, and not content with the national mode of expressing displeasure that had satisfied Dello on a similar occasion,2 he sprang out, and snatching a bottle of varnish from the shop of a druggist, flung it at the heads of the offenders. He was a skilful engraver, and etched a number of sacred subjects from the pictures of Rafael.
1 The date is not known, and there is some uncertainty as to the time at which this artist flourished, some writers asserting that he was born in 1577, and others that the year of his birth was 1630, and that of his death 1681. The date 1615, however, i.s found on some of his engrav- ings ; and it is probable that he was employed at Buenretiro between 1630 and 1640. See Victionnaire des Monogrammcs, <L-c., par Fra^ois Brulliot, 3 tomes folio, Munich, 1832, tom. i. p. 122.
~ Supra, chap. ii. p. 91.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
66 1
Cosmo Lotti was a Florentine painter and mechanician in the service of Philip IV., who em- ployed him to lay out his gardens, and design their fountains and architectural adornments, and to sup- ply scenery and decorations for the court theatre. On the production of Lope de Vega's dramatic pastoral, called the " Selva de Amor," the scenes and machinery furnished by Lotti astonished the courtly audience by their beauty and ingenuity ; the marine and woodland prospects were various and excellent, and there were accurate pictures of the gardens of the Casa del Campo, and of the bridge of Segovia traversed by a throng of moving auto- maton figures.1
Angiol Michele Colonna, and Agostino Mitelli, celebrated fresco-painters of Bologna, having at- tracted the notice of Velazquez, were by him invited to enter the service of the King of Spain, and arrived nine years afterwards, at Madrid, in 1658. Born, the first in 1600, and the second in 1609, they were scholars of Girolamo Curti, better known as II Dentone, who practised the art of architectural decoration in fresco, with great success, in the palaces of Bologna and Ravenna, and even at Rome.2 At the death of their master, they inherited his reputation, and soon stood in the
CH. VIII.
1 Supra, p. 593, note i.
2 Lanzi, torn. v. p. 161.
Cosmo Lotti.
Angiol
Michelo
Colonna
and
Agostino
Mitelli.
662
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CIl. VIII.
Visit to Madrid.
Works in
the
Alcazar.
foremost rank of their profession. Like Petitot and Bordier, their contemporaries and antipodes in art, they always worked together ; and their adornments of ceilings, courts, and facades of palaces, were no less famous and fashionable' in the Italian cities, than were the delicate miniatures with which those Genevese enamellers embellished lockets and snuff- boxes for the fine ladies and gentlemen of Paris and London. The expenses of their journey to Spain were defrayed by the King ; and, in the capital, lodging was provided for them in the treasury,1 near the apartments of Velazquez. Under his superintendence, they executed, in the Alcazar, many of their best works ; Colonna painted the ceilings of three chambers, with designs representing Day, Night, and the Fall of Phaeton, to which his companion added appropriate architectural orna- ments. In an adjacent gallery, Mitelli displayed such admirable skill, in mingling painted architec- ture with real, that the difference could be detected only by the touch. There Colonna also executed a variety of figures and bas-reliefs, in imitation of bronze, heightened with gilding, a style of embellish- ment first introduced, it is said, by Dentone. They next proceeded to clothe the ceiling of a great hall with the fable of Pandora endowed by the deities
1 Supra, chap. vi. p. 448.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
663
of Olympus, working from a design by Velazquez. This fine fresco was executed with peculiar care, cartoons being first made of the full size required, of all its parts. The figures were painted by Colonna, who excelled in figures ; and the architectural parts of the design were furnished by Mitelli, whose fine taste for proportion and perspective obtained for him the name of the Guido of architectural draw- ing.1 Colonna completed the work, by adding some groups of beautiful children to the cornice, and a various garniture of trophies and scutcheons, and wreaths of fruit and flowers.
They were afterwards employed at Buenretiro, in decorating with frescoes the hermitage of St. Paul, and in painting the fable of Narcissus, on the dome of another pleasure-house in the gardens.2 In the garden of the Marquess of Heliche,3 within the walls of Madrid, they painted, on a wall, the re- presentation of a fountain adorned with statues, amongst which a figure of Atalanta was noted for its close resemblance to actual sculpture. They were about to commence painting the dome of the church of the convent of Mercy, when their long companionship was dissolved by the death of Mitelli. Being a keen sportsman, violent exercise in pursuit of game on the Sierra, beneath the sun of July,
CH. VIII.
1 Lanzi, torn. v. p. 164.
Supra, p. 60 1.
Ibid. p. 621.
Buen- retiro.
Death of
Mitelli ;
664
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CII. VIII.
his epitaph in the church of Mercy.
Sculptors.
caused him to be attacked by fever, which bleeding could not arrest, and which carried him off during the last illness of his friend Velazquez. He was buried with great pomp, on the 3rd of August, 1660, in the church which death had deprived of the benefit of his skill, beneath the following epitaph, from the pen of the painter Juan de Alfaro :—
D. M. S.
AVGVSTINVS METELLI, BONONIENSIS PICTOR
PRvECLARVS NATVR.E ^MVLVS ADMIRANDVS
AC PERSPECTIVA INCOMPARABILIS, CVIVS MANV
PROPE VIVEBANT IMAGINES, IPSA INVIDA
OCCVBVIT MANTV.E CARPENTANJ3, POSTRIDIE
KALENDAS AVGVSTI, ANNO M.DC.LX
H. S. E. S. T. T. L.
Mitelli was a poet and a man of letters ; and like- wise engraved some of his own designs, in a good style. Overwhelmed with grief for the loss of his friend, Colonna retired for some time to the house of the Marquess of Heliche ; and there, when his sorrow was abated, he left some memorials of his widowed pencil. He likewise undertook, and finished, the dome of the church of Mercy, in which he displayed considerable skill in those portions of the work which he formerly would have left to Mitelli. In September, 1662, he returned to Bologna, where he died in 1687.
Rutilio Gaxi was a Florentine gentleman, who
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
665
entered the service of Philip IV. as a sculptor, about 1630. His portraits, skilfully executed in coloured wax, were highly esteemed ; and he gave designs for several public fountains, afterwards executed for the capital, in bronze and marble. The most celebrated of his works was an equestrian figure in armour, of elaborate embellishment, and mounted on a steed, carefully modelled from the finest horses of the Cordobese race. Neither the material, pur- pose, nor fate of this statue has been recorded ; but Carducho praises a horse and mule, executed in silver, from the designs of Gaxi, for the cabinet of the Grand Duke of Florence.1
Giovanni Battista Ceroni was a Milanese sculptor, who wrought at the Escorial, under the directions of Crescenzi. The bronze torch-bearing cherubs, one of w7hich hovers between each pair of pilasters in the Pantheon, were executed by him ; and he likewise sculptured a bas-relief for the facade of a Dominican convent at Salamanca.
Virgilio Fanelli, a Florentine, was a sculptor of good repute at Genoa, and there executed, in 1646, the great chandelier, which hangs from the dome of the Pantheon of the Escorial. The design was sent by the King to the Marquess Serra, postmaster of the state of Milan, leaving to
1 Dii'dugos, fol. 150.
CH. vm.
Rutilio Gaxi.
: Giovanni
Battista
VUL. II.
Fanelii.
666
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. viii. that nobleman the selection of the artist. It is an elaborate composition, seven and a half feet high, of scrolls and angelic figures, arranged in three tiers, and sustaining twenty-four burners ; near the lower extremity are four bas-reliefs, representing the four Evangelists, and the final ornament con- sists of a pair of serpents twining themselves into a mystic knot.1 The whole is of bronze, richly gilt. When the work was finished, Fanelli carried it to Spain, and suspended it in its place in the Pantheon, where it still remains. The King was satisfied with his labours, and liberal in rewarding them. In 1655, Fanelli was employed to execute a throne for the image of the Virgin, in the Sagrario of Toledo Cathedral. The Chapter gave him three designs to choose from, by the sculptors Herrera-Barnuevo and Pedro de la Torre, and one Juan de Palldres, a goldsmith, none of which pleased him, for a con- tract was twice signed and twice set aside. At length, in 1659, a plan was fixed upon, and, with the assistance of Juan Ortiz de Ilibilla, the work was completed in 1674. The materials used were bronze and silver ; the value of the silver was 577,060 reals, and that of the workmanship 572,000. Besides this sumptuous throne, he made for the
1 An engraving and a long description of this chandelier will be found in Ximenes, Desci-ipcion dd Esrorkd, p. 346.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
667
Cathedral a silver statue of St. Ferdinand. For the Franciscan nuns of Toledo he executed the bronze ornaments of their high altar, and for the parish church of Casarrubios a silver crucifix. After thirty years passed in Spain, he died there, in 1678.
Girolamo Ferrer was a sculptor, residing at Rome in 1651, and invited to Madrid by Velazquez, for the purpose of casting in bronze some of the pieces of antique statuary, of which that painter had col- lected models in his second Italian journey. He executed his task to the satisfaction of Philip IV. and Velazquez, and many of his castings adorned the octagon hall of the Alcazar.1
Giovanni Battista Morelli, a native of Home, and scholar of the famous Algardi, had been sculptor to the King of France ; but, on some disgust, suddenly quitted Paris, and came, in 1659, to Valencia. There he executed several works in clay, for the Carthusians of Val de Cristo, and for private patrons. Having, perhaps, known Velazquez in Italy, or, at least, being aware of his influence with the King, he sent him a letter, and a small bas- relief in clay, representing Cherubims with the insignia of the Passion, as a specimen of his skill. Pleased with the work, the court-painter submitted
1 Supia, p. 609.
CH. VIII.
Girolaruo Ferrer.
Giovanni
Battista
Morelli.
663 REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. VITI. It to his Majesty, who ordered it to be placed in the palace, and a liberal price to be paid to the artist. Thus encouraged, Morelly produced a larger com- position, a "Dead Christ supported by angels," and some other plaster figures, which so delighted Velazquez, that he soon after invited him to Madrid. He did not, however, arrive there until 1661, when his generous protector was no more. But he was received into the royal service, and executed for the Alcazar, a large statue of Apollo, with a child bearing his lyre, and another, of a Muse, both of which doubtless perished in the conflagration of 1734. While at work on these, the King frequently visited the sculptor in his studio, to observe his progress. He was afterwards employed to make the moulds for a variety of masks, to be cast in bronze, for the fountains of the island-garden at Aranjuez. At the King's death, in 1665, he was modelling some stucco ornaments for a chamber of the palace ; but the work being stopped, and occupation failing, he returned to Valencia. Re- called thence, under Charles II., to finish his under- taking, he died a few days after his arrival at Madrid.
Manuel Manuel Pereyra was a Portuguese sculptor, who
had studied his art in Italy, or, according to another account, at Valladolid. He enjoyed a high reputa- tion at Madrid, where he executed for the church
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 669
of San Felipe el Real, at the price of 200 ducats, a CH. vm. stone statue of the Apostle, which was placed over one of the lateral doors in 1647. Of many other saintly figures which he sculptured for the religious edifices of the capital, the most famous was that of St. Bruno, which adorned the portal of the hospice of the Chartreuse of Paular, and which Philip IV. was never weary of admiring.1 He executed a repe- tition of this statue for the chapter-room of the Carthusians of Mirafiores. Towards the end of his life he had the misfortune to lose his sight ; but he continued to practise his art, and modelled a figure of San Juan de Dios, which was executed by his &m Juan
do Dioa.
disciple, Manuel Delgado, for the convent of the Saint. This worthy was a Portuguese, who had served in his youth against the Turks in Hungary. Settling, after various adventures, at Granada, he devoted himself to self-mortification and good works, clothing and feeding the poor, tending the sick, reclaiming harlots, and risking his neck at fires, '> His holy life obtained for him the name, "John of God ; " he founded an hospital and a charitable order in the Augustine rule, and, dying in 1550, he j became a Saint of the Calendar, the idol of Granada, and a popular subject for the pencil and the chisel
1 Supra, p. 609. I have the original pencil drawing for it. It seems to have been in Coesvelt's collection. [There is a fine engraving of it by Manuel Salvador Cannona.]
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
en. viii. all over the Peninsula.1 Pereyra died at Madrid, in 1667, leaving considerable wealth to his children, of whom one was in priest's orders, and another was wife to a knight of Santiago.
1 Ribadencira, Flcur dcs vies des Saints, torn. ii. p. 708. See also the Dublin Review, vol. xviii. 8vo, London, 1845, !'• 454-
CHAPTER IX.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 1621-1665 — (continued).
PANISH art was now about CH. ix.
to achieve its greatest triumphs, and attain its highest honours, by the pencil and in the person of Velazquez — an artist nurtured beneath the bright skies of Anda- lusia, but early called to Madrid to become the chief of the school of Castile. In the reign of Philip II. that school could boast of, perhaps, a greater number of distinguished names, native to the province, than in the reign of his grand- son. But it is the peculiar glory of Philip IV. to have discovered and rewarded talent, as well in the provinces as in the capital ; and to have promoted the artistic union of the three kingdoms of Castile, Valencia, and Andalusia, We have already seen
Artists of Castile.
672
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
Diego Velazquez de Silva.
CH. ix. ! how in the last century Vargas, Cespedes, and Joanes, each the pride of his native city, were unhonoured and unknown at the Escorial. But now Seville and Granada furnished the King with Velazquez, Cano, and Zurbaran, his ablest painters ; and the Valencian Ribera, by his pictures at least, was as well known at Madrid as at Naples. With the life of the first of these great artists we shall commence our notice of Castilian painting under Philip IV.
Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Velazquez, or, as he is more commonly, but incorrectly, called, Diego Velazquez de Silva, was born at Seville, in 1599 — the same year in which Vandyck saw the light at Antwerp — and on the i6th of June he was baptized
Parentage, , in the parish church of San Pedro. Both his parents were of gentle blood. Juan Rodriguez de Silva, his father, was descended from the great Portuguese house which traced its pedigree up to the Kings of Alba Longa ; and his mother, Geronima Velazquez, by whose name— according to the frequent usage of Andalusia — her son came to be known,1 was. born of a noble family of Seville. To the poverty of his paternal grandfather, who, inheriting nothing from his illustrious ancestors but an historical name, crossed the Guadiana to seek his fortune at Seville,
1 So the poet Gongora y Argote, in forming his own appellation, gave the name of his mother the precedence. Nic. Antonio, Bip. Hisp., om. ii. p. 29.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
673
Spain owes her greatest painter ; as she owes one of her most graceful poets to the bright eyes of the Castilian Marfida, who lured Jorge de Montemayor from his native land and language of Portugal.1 The father of the artist, being settled at Seville, acquired a decent competence by following the legal profes- sion. He and his wife Geronima bestowed great care on the training of their son Diego, betimes in- stilling into his young mind the principles of virtue and " the milk of the fear of God." They likewise gave him the best scholastic education that Seville afforded, in the course of which he showed an excel- lent capacity, and acquired a competent knowledge of languages and philosophy. But, like Nicolas Poussin,3 he was still more diligent in drawing on his grammars and copy-books than in using them for their legitimate purpose ; and the efforts of his schoolboy pencil evincing considerable talent as well as a strong predilection for art, his father was content that he should embrace the profession of a painter.
Francisco Herrera the Elder had the honour of becoming the first master of Velazquez. The dash-
en. IX.
education,
early love of drawing-.
Enters the school of Herrera ol Viejo.
1 Bouterwek's Span, and Port. Literature, translated by lloss, vol. i.
!>• 217.
'* Palomino, torn. iii. p. 479.
3 Memoirs of N. Poussin, by Maria Graham (afterwards Lady Callcott), 8vo, London, 1820, p. 7.
674
REIGN OF PHILir IV.
CH. IX.
Becomes the scholar of Pacheco.
ing and effective, and yet natural, style of this artist, and his singular speed and dexterity of hand, attracted to his house a large band of disciples, whom his fiery temper and rough usage frequently scattered in dismay.1 Velazquez being a lad of gentle and kindly disposition, was amongst those who soon grew weary of his tyranny. Having studied his methods of work- ing, which a kindred genius soon enabled him to understand and acquire, he removed to a more peace- ful and orderly school. His new instructor, Fran- cisco Pacheco, was, as a man and an artist, the very opposite of Herrera. A busy scholar and polished gentleman, with something of the tendencies of a Boswell, a slow and laborious painter, whose works, sometimes graceful, were always deficient in force, he was as incapable of painting Herrera's St. Her- menegild2 as he was of thrashing his pupils or of uttering base coin.3 Velazquez entered his studio with a determination to learn all that was taught there; and Pacheco, on his part, willingly taught him all that he himself knew. But the scholar seems speedily to have discovered that he had quitted a practical painter for a man of rules and precepts ; and that, if the one knew more about the artistic usages of Cos and Ephesus, Florence and Home, the other had far more skill in representing on his
1 Supra, chap. vii. p. 530.
- Ibid.
Ibid.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
675
canvas, men and women as they lived and moved at Seville.
He discovered, also, that nature herself is the artist's best teacher, and industry his surest guide to perfection. He very early resolved neither to sketch nor to colour any object without having the thing itself before him. That he might have a model of the human countenance ever at hand, " he kept," says Pacheco,1 "a peasant lad, as an apprentice, who served him for a study in different actions and pos- tures— sometimes crying, sometimes laughing — till he had grappled with every difficulty of expression ; and from him he executed an infinite variety of heads in charcoal and chalk, on blue paper, by which he arrived at certainty in taking likenesses." He thus laid the foundation of the inimitable ease and perfection with which he afterwards painted heads, in which his excellence was admitted even by his detractors, in a precious piece of criticism often in their mouths — that he could paint a head, and nothing else. To this, when it was once repeated to him by Philip IV., he replied, with the noble humility of a great master and the good-humour which most effectually turns the edge of sarcasm, that they flattered him, for he knew nobody of whom it could be said that he painted a head thoroughly well.
1 Artf tie la Pintura, p. 101.
CH. IX.
Carefully
studies
nature.
Retains a peasant lad as a model.
Skill in
painting
beads.
676
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Studies of still life.
To acquire facility and brilliancy in colouring, he devoted himself for a wfyile to the study of animals and still life, painting all sorts of objects rich in tones and tints, and simple in configuration, such as pieces of plate, metal and earthen pots and pans, and other domestic utensils, and the birds, fish, and fruits which the woods and waters around Seville so lavishly supply to its markets. These " bode- gones " of his early days are worthy of the best pencils of Flanders, and now are no less rare than excellent. The Museum of Valladolid possesses a fine one, enriched with two figures of life-size l keeping watch over a multitude of culinary utensils and a picturesque heap of melons and those other vegetables, for which the chosen people, too mind- ful of Egypt, murmured in the wilderness of Sinai. At Seville, Don Aniceto Bravo has, or had, a large picture of the same character, but without figures, displaying much more of the manner of the master ; and Don Juan de Govantes 2 possesses a small and admirably-painted study of a " cardo," cut ready for the table.
The next step of Velazquez, in his progress of
1 In the great hall, No. 6 ; Compendia Historico de Valladolid, sm. Svo, Valladolid, 1843, p. 47.
2 The collection of this gentleman, in his house, Calle de A. B. C., No. 17, contains many excellent specimens of the Spanish and old German masters.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
677
self-instruction, was the study of subjects of low life, found in such rich and picturesque variety in the streets and on the waysides of Andalusia, to which he brought a fine sense of humour and discrimination of character. To this epoch is referred his celebrated picture of the "Water-carrier of Seville," stolen by King Joseph, in his flight from the palace of Madrid, and taken in his carriage, with a quantity of the Bourbon plate and jewels, at the rout of Vittoria. Presented by King Ferdinand VII. to the great English captain who placed him on his hereditary throne, it is now [1848] one of the Wellington trophies at Apsley House.1 It is a composition of
CH. IX.
Studies of low life.
"El Agua- dor de Sevilla."
1 The Duke of Wellington had repeatedly applied to the Spanish Government, sending lists of the pictures taken, and begging to return those which belonged to the King. No notice appears to have been taken of these applications At length, having applied both verbally and by letter, in 1816, to Count Fenian Nunez, Uuque de Montellano, he re- ceived a reply in which was an extract from a despatch from the Spanish Secretary of State — "As to that which your excellency tells me respect- ing the generous conduct of the Duke of Wellington, in repeatedly send- ing to the Spanish Government lists of the pictures which fell into his hands after the battle of Salamanca, and the communication which he has since made in writing to your excellency, it is his Majesty's plea- sure that your excellency should reply to the Duke, thanking him in the name of the King for ' su dclicadcza y ntiramento por los lieales in- terests bicn acreditada con los 2^asos quc did con cl gobierno interino.' " Count Feman Nunez, in a private letter which accompanied his official one, says, in enclosing the latter, the "repuesta de oficio que he tenido de la Corte, y por ello refiero que S. M. agradecido a tu delicadeza no quiere tampoco privarte de lo que ha venido a su posesion por unos medios tan justos como honorificos. Esta es idea mea y asi creo deber dexar la casa en este estado, y no hablar mas de ello " — and both letters are dated London, 29 Nov. 1816. [Exhibited Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1886, No. 119.]
6y8
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
en. ix. three figures ; a sunburnt wayworn seller of water, dressed in a tattered brown jerkin, with his huge earthen jars, and two lads, one of whom receives a sparkling glass of the pure element, whilst his com- panion quenches his thirst from a pipkin.1 The execution of the heads and all the details is perfect ; and the ragged trader, dispensing a few maravedis' worth of his simple stock, maintains, during the transaction, a grave dignity of deportment, highly Spanish and characteristic, and worthy of an Em- peror pledging a great vassal in Tokay. This excel- lent work was finely engraved at Madrid, before the war, by Bias Ametler, under the direction of Car- mona. Palomino enumerates several other pictures, by Velazquez, of similar familiar subjects, which have either perished or been forgotten. One of these represented two beggars, sitting at a humble board spread with earthen pots, bread, and oranges; another, a ragged urchin, with jar in his hand, keeping watch over a chafing-dish, on which is a pipkin of smoking broth ; and a third, a boy, seated amongst pots and vegetables, counting some money, whilst his dog, behind, licks his lips at an adjacent dish of fish,
1 Cumberland, who saw the picture at Buenretiro (Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 6), with his usual inaccuracy, describes the aguador's tattered garment as " discovering through its rents naked parts of his body," and praises " the precision in muscular anatomy " which it displays. The rents, now at least, discover something less usual with Spanish water-carriers, some clean linen.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
679
in which the canvas was signed with the artist's
name.
CH. IX.
Foreign and C;is- tilian pic- tures
Seville.
He imitates llibera
Whilst he was thus rivalling the painters of Holland in accurate studies of common life and manners, and acquiring, in the delineation of rags, that skill which he was soon to exercise on the purple and fine linen of royalty, an importation into Seville of pictures by foreign masters, and by Spaniards of the other schools, drew his atten- tion to new models of imitation, and to a new class of subjects. His " Adoration of the Shep- herds," a large composition of nine figures, once in the collection of the Count of Aguila, at Seville, after- wards in the Spanish gallery of the Louvre, and now in our National Gallery in London,2 displays his admiration for the works of llibera, for it is not only painted in close imitation of that master's style, but is, by an able critic, held to be a mere copy of one of his pictures.3 The execution has much of the power of Spagnoletto ; the models, too, are taken from the vulgar life which that master loved to paint ; and some of them, the kneeling shepherds, for instance, and the old woman behind them, may have been gipsies of Triana.4 The Virgin, a simple
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 480. - [Catalogue, 1889, No. 232.]
3 Penny Cyclopaedia, vol. xxvi. p. 189, article Velazquez [by Richard Ford].
4 Foreign Quarterly Ucctcn:, vol. vii. p. 257 [by Sir Edmund Head. Dart.].
68o
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
and Tristan.
peasant maiden, with little beauty or dignity, is full of truth and nature ; and the Infant in the manger, diffusing the miraculous light of the Divine presence, is painted with admirable delicacy of touch and brilliancy of effect. The votive lambs in the fore- ground are careful studies from nature. It is a picture of great interest, and the most important of the earlier works of the author.
But of all those painters with whose works Velazquez now became acquainted, it was Luis Tristan of Toledo who produced the most lasting impression on his mind. The favourite scholar of El Greco,1 Tristan had formed for himself a style in which the sober tones of Castile were blended with the brighter colouring of Venice. Could the indi- vidual powers of master and scholar have been united, a new artist, superior to both, would have been given to Spain. But, though a better colourist than El Greco, Tristan was not to be compared to him for originality of conception or for vigour of execution. His works may have enabled Velazquez to add to his palette some brilliant tints, which he applied to his canvas with a still more skilful and effective pencil. Beyond this, it is difficult to under- stand what he can have learnt from the Toledan.
1 Martinez (p. 179) says that Tristan had been long in Italy with Spagnoletto,
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
68 1
Nevertheless, he always confessed obligations to Tristan, and spoke of him with a warmth of admira- tion which his existing works do not justify, and scarcely explain.
In spite of his extended knowledge of other masters, Velazquez still remained constant in his preference of the common and the actual to the elevated and ideal, partly from the bent of his taste, and partly because he thought that in that direction there remained greater room for distinction. To those who proposed to him a loftier flight, and suggested Rafael as a nobler model, he used to reply that he would rather be the first of vulgar, than the second of refined, painters.
After a long and laborious course of study, Velazquez became the son-in-law of his master. "At the end of five years of education and teach- ing," says Pacheco, " I married him to my daughter, (Dona Juana) moved thereto by his virtue, honour, and excellent qualities, and the hopefulness of his great natural genius." l The violence of Herrera had driven him from the school of an able master : perhaps the soft influence of Pacheco's daughter kept him a willing scholar in a studio, inferior in the artistic instruction that it afforded to others which he might have chosen, — that of Roelas,2 for
CH. IX.
Marries the daughter of Pacheco.
1 Pacheco, Arte de la Pintura, p. 101. VOL. II.
2 Supra, chap. vii. p. 524. x
682
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Family.
Social life.
example, or that of Juan de Castillo.1 As in the case of Ribalta, love may have, in some sort, helped to make him a painter, by spurring his industry and teaching him the great lesson of self-reliance. Little is known of the woman of his choice, beyond the fact of her marriage. Her portrait, in the Queen of Spain's gallery,2 painted by her husband, represents her as dark of complexion, with a good profile, but not remarkable for beauty of feature. From the family picture in the Imperial Gallery, at Vienna,3 in which they are seen surrounded by their offspring, she appears to have borne him at least six children, four boys and two girls. Of their domestic life, with its joys and sorrows, nothing has been recorded ; but there is no reason to believe that Juana Pacheco proved herself in any respect unworthy of the affec- tions of her father's ablest scholar. For nearly forty years the companion of his brilliant career, she closed his dying eyes, and, within a few days, was laid beside him in the grave.
If the artistic instructions of Pacheco were of little value to Velazquez, he must at least have benefited by his residence in a house wrhich was, as regards its society, the best academy of taste
1 Supra, chap. vii. p. 535.
2 Catulogo [1843], No. 320 [edition 1889, No. 1086].
3 VerzeicJiniss Nicderl Sch. Zim. vi. No. 47, p. 169. [Beschriebendes Verzeichniss, von Ed. R. V. Engerth, 8vo, Wien, 1884, Band I., No. 622, pp. 443-5 ; see supra, p. 76, note i.]
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 683
which Seville afforded. There he saw and conversed CH. ix. writh all that Andalusia could boast of intellect and refinement ; he heard art discussed by the best artists of the province ; he listened to the talk of men of science and letters, and drank the new superfine principles of poetry from the lips of their author, Luis de Gongora.1 His connection with Pacheco ensured him an introduction to the Duke of Alcala, and admission to that nobleman's house, rich in pictures, statues, and books, and the resort of an elegant society, well fitted to give ease and polish to the manners and conversation of the future courtier.2 Much of his leisure time was devoted to reading ; Reading. a taste which the well-chosen library of Pacheco enabled him to indulge. Books on art and on kindred subjects were especially acceptable to him. For the proportions and anatomy of the human frame he studied, says Palomino, the writings of Albert Durer and Vesalius ; for physiognomy and perspective, those of Giovanni Battista Porta,3 and Daniel Barbaro ; he made himself master of Euclid's geometry and Moya's 4 treatise on arithmetic ; and he learned something of architecture from Vitruvius
1 Supra, chap. vii. pp. 343 and 569.
2 Ibid. p. 569.
8 He wrote De Humana Physiognotnia, libri vi., fol. Neapoli, 1602.
4 Juan Perez de Moya, author of Fragmentos Mathemdticos, 8vo, Salamanca, 1568. The portion of this work, DC Arithmttica, was reprinted in Svo, at Madrid, 1615.
684
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Visits Madrid.
and Vignola ; from these various authors, gathering, like a, bee, knowledge for his own use and for the advantage of posterity. He likewise read the works of Federigo Zuccaro,1 Alberti Romano,2 and Rafael Borghini,3 which gave him some acquaintance with the arts, artists, and language of Italy. We know not if he shared in his father-in-law's love of theology and Sta- Teresa ; 4 but we are told that he had some taste for poetry, an art akin to his own, working with finer skill and nobler materials, the painting of the mind.
Having attained the age of twenty-three, and learned all that Seville could teach him of his pro- fession, Velazquez conceived a desire to study the great painters of Castile on their native soil, and to improve his style by examining the treasures of Italian painting accumulated in the royal galleries. He accordingly made a journey, in April 1622, attended by a single servant, to Madrid, the scene of his future glory, and, in the opinion of all true Spaniards, as well as in the pompous phrase of Palomino, " the noble theatre of the greatest talents
1 Of these the best was L'Idea de* Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti, fol. Torino, 1607.
2 He wrote Origini e progrcssi dell' Academia del disegno, 4to, Pavia, 1604.
3 Author of the Riposo della Pittura c ddla Scultura, 8vo, Firenze, 1584.
4 Supra, chap. vii. p. 545.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
685
in the world." 1 Pacheco, being well known there, had furnished him with various introductions, and he was kindly received by Don Luis and Don Melchor Alcazar, gentlemen of Seville, and especially by Don Juan Fonseca,2 a noted amateur and patron of art, and likewise his countryman. The latter courtier, who was usher of the curtain to Philip IV., procured for him admission to all the royal gal- leries, and used his influence to induce the King to sit to the stranger for his portrait. But Philip had not yet exhausted the new pleasures of reigning, and was too busy to indulge in that sedentary amuse- ment, which afterwards became one of his favourite means of killing time. After some months' study at the Pardo and the Escorial, therefore, Velazquez returned to Seville, carrying with him the portrait of the poet Gongora, painted by desire of Pacheco. This, or another portrait by Velazquez of the same date, is now in the Queen of Spain's gallery ; 3 it represents the boasted Pindar of Andalusia, as a grave bald-headed priest of sixty, and more likely to be taken for an inquisitor, jealous of all novelty
CH. IX.
1 " Noble teatro de los mayores ingeuios delorbe." Palomiiio, torn. iii. p. 483.
2 Supra, chap. viii. p. 625.
3 Catdlogo [1843], No. 527 [edition 1889, No. 1085]; from this picture the small engraving, by M. S. Carmona, in the Parnaso Espanol, torn. vii. p. 171, and the larger one, by Amettler, in the Espanoles Ilustres, are probably taken.
686
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Second visit to Madrid.
Paints the portrait of Fonseca.
and freedom of thought, than for a fashionable writer of extravagant conceits, and the leader of a new school of poetry.
Velazquez having visited Madrid as an unknown student, was soon to be recalled thither as a candidate for fame. During the next few months after his departure, Fonseca, now his warm friend, succeeded in interesting Olivares in his behalf, and obtained from that minister a letter commanding the young Sevillian to repair to court, and assigning him an allowance of fifty ducats to defray the expense of the journey. Attended by his slave, Juan Pareja, a mulatto lad, who afterwards became an excellent painter,1 he lost no time in obeying this order, and he was now accompanied to Madrid by Pacheco, who foresaw, and wished to share, the triumph which awaited his scholar. Their journey took place in the spring, probably in March, of 1623. Arriving at the capital, they were lodged in the house of Fonseca, who caused Velazquez to paint his portrait. When finished, it was carried, the same evening, to the palace, by a son of the Count of Penaranda, chamberlain to the Cardinal-Infant. Within an hour
1 There is a poor French lithograph, oval in form, of a Spanish boy, entitled " Pareia modele de Velazquez;" "Velazquez pinx. Gab. Rolin del." It is possible that Pareja may be identical with the model appren- tice mentioned in p. 675 ; but I do not think Pacheco's expression, " country- lad," " aldeanillo,'" would have been applied to a mulatto.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
687
it was seen and admired by that prince, the King, and Don Carlos, besides many of the grandees, and the fortune of Velazquez was made.
It so much delighted the King that he immediately issued the following memorandum to Pedro de Hof Huerta, an officer in whose department artistic appointments were managed : — " I have informed Diego Velazquez that you receive him into my service, to occupy himself in his profession as I shall hereafter command ; and I have appointed him a monthly salary of twenty ducats, payable at the office of works for the royal palaces, the Casa del Campo and the Pardo ; you will prepare the necessary commission according to the form observed with other persons of his profession. Given at Madrid on the 6th of April, 1623." Velazquez likewise received the royal commands to paint the portrait of the Infant Don Fernando ; and his Majesty, growing impatient, caused his own solemn counte- nance to be commenced about the same time. The completion of these pictures was, however, delayed by the festivities which celebrated the famous love- pilgrimage of Charles, Prince of Wales, to the court of Spain.2 Velazquez improved the interval, Pacheco
CH. IX.
Retained for the King's ser- vice.
1 Spanish sovereigns do not speak of themselves in the first person plural, like other potentates, " Yo el Rey " being the signature appended to all documents issued by the crown.
" Supra, chap, viii. p. 630.
68S
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Sketches the Prince of Wales.
informs us, by making a sketch of the English Prince, whom he frequently saw -riding about Madrid, and Charles was so pleased with it that he presented the artist with a hundred crowns.1 The Prince's departure 2 seems to have prevented the completion of this interesting picture, of the fate of which no notice has been preserved.3
1 The words of Pacheco, who records the circumstance, are " Hizo de camino un bosquexo del Principe de Gales, que le di6 cien escudos." — Arte de la Pintura, p. 102. Cumberland says "He (the Prince) did not sit to him, but Velazquez took a sketch of him as he was accompanying King Philip in the chase." — Anec., vol. ii. p. 16.
" There is a strange discrepancy betwixt the contemporary authorities as to the date of Charles's departure from Madrid. Howell, writing from that capital to Sir James Crofts, on the 2ist of August, says — " The Prince is now on his journey to the sea-side." Medoca, in the paper quoted in chap. viii. p. 631, note i, gives the gth September as the day when he set out, in which he is confirmed by another print of the day, Relation de la Salida quo hizo dcstc villa de Madrid, el Ser'H°- Principe de Guiles ; dase cuenta de lasjoi/as repartition, por S. Magd> y por S. Alta., folio of two leaves, Mad. 1623. The Annals of King James and King Charles I., London, 1681, a book which contains a very detailed account of the jour- ney, says that the Prince left Madrid on the I2th of September.
3 In the summer of 1847, a portrait of Charles I. was exhibited in London as the missing picture by Velazquez ; and the proprietor, Mr. John Snare, a bookseller at Reading, and an amateur of pictures, after- wards published a volume about it, entitled The, History and Pedigree of the Portrait of Prince Charles (afterwards Charles I.) painted by Velazquez in 1623, 8vo, Reading 1847, pp. iii. 228. From this work it appears that Mr. Snare bought the picture for £& at a sale in the country, and that he believes it to be identical with a portrait of Charles I. by Velazquez, mentioned in a privately printed catalogue of the gallery of the Earl of Fife, who died in 1809. He has shown great industry in collecting, and skill in arranging, the presumptive evidence as to this point, which I do not think, however, that he has proved. But, sup- posing it proved, it establishes nothing more than the opinion of Lord Fife ; and all the previous history of the picture offered by Mr. Snare is mere ingenious conjecture. I cannot agree with him in considering that this picture, more than three parts finished, can be the work spoken of by Pacheco as a " bosqncxo" or sketch ; I think Charles looks consider-
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
689
Velazquez finished the portrait of the King on the 3oth of August, and the work at once fixed his posi- tion as the most popular artist of the day. Philip was
ably older than twenty- three, his age in 1623 ; and I see no resemblance in the style of the execution to any of the acknowledged works of Velaz- quez. Mr. Snare's book, however, is no less candid than curious, and deserves a place amongst works on Spanish art, were it only for the translation of Pacheco's notice of Velazquez with which it concludes.
To this note, published in 1848, Mr. Snare made a reply, in a pamphlet entitled Proofs of the Authenticity of the Portrait of Charles I. by Velaz- quez, 8vo, Heading, 1848. Here he informs us, on the authority of Mr. C. H. Vizer, of Lloyds, that bosquexo or bosquejo means a painting in an unfinished state; and he alleges that in rendering that word "sketch" I proved my ignorance of its true meaning. I at once confess that the meaning of the word, as well as my own meaning, would have been more precisely conveyed had I translated it "sketch upon canvas," or " beginning of a picture." But this hardly affects the real point at issue, namely, whether the term bosquejo can be reasonably applied to the picture in question. The Dictionary of the Academy (6 vol. fol. Madrid, 1726-39) defines the verb bosquejar thus: "To give to canvas, plates of metal, walls, or boards, their first colours, which, from being confused, and without lines or profiles, shades or lights, show the design indistinctly ; or to give the first strokes (dar la priniera mano) to a picture afterwards to be finished. Lat. Picturani adumbrare, primore manu et opera infonnare. The substantive bosquejo is defined, Painting in the first indistinct colours. It seems to be derived from bosque (wood, Lat. luctis, nemus, sylva) from the analogy between the confusion and obscurity of the tints in a bosquejo, and the confusion and shade of the boughs in a bosque. The term is applied in a metaphorical sense to any- thing unfinished or indistinct." The word borron (blot, Lat. litura) is explained in one of its senses as being used by painters to express "the first ideas of their pictures, or parts of them as they appear en bosquejo y confusas." Palomino, who published his work some years before the Dictionary appeared (Museo Pictoriro, 3 vols. fol. Madrid, 1715-24, ii. p. 40), devotes a folio page to directions for the modo de bosquejar una cabeza, which is to be done on canvas with a neutral tint, tinta oscura. The bosquejo being finished and quite dry, he next explains how the colours are to be laid on. Carducho (Didlogos, 4to, Madrid, 1633, fol. 133) says it is the business of the pupil or servant (oficial) to make, from the master's original cartoon, the outline of the composition on the canvas or wall, and then to bosquejar it, after which it is time to lay on the colours, meter los colorcs. But Pacheco himself is so copious and
CH. IX.
Equestrian portrait of the King.
690
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. ix. pourtrayed in his armour, and mounted on a fine Andalusian charger, the position which best became him, for we have it on the authority of the great master
jninute in his directions for the various methods of makinga bosqucjo (Arte de la Pinturti, p. 386), that lie himself is the best commentator on the word of which his use has given rise to so long a discussion. He says, after the outline of the picture has been completed, the artist must begin the bosqucjo ; and that some make it in white and black, while others use the same colours as arc afterwards to be employed; he, himself pre- ferring the latter method, when the painter has acquired sufficient skill and certainty of hand to avoid the necessity for subsequent changes. Amongst other rules, he especially enforces it on the tyro that the flesh of his picture is the (irst thing that he ought to bosqucjar, and the last that he ought to finish. From these passages I venture, therefore, to infer that the word bosr/uejo was generally applied, in Pacheco's time, and by himself, to a picture upon which the first pigments had been crudely laid, and of which no part was finished, and that he would not have applied it to a picture so nearly finished as that exhibited by Mr. Snare. Had the Prince of Wales's portrait emerged from its bosqitcjo state, and been made into a picture by Velazquez between 1623 and 1649, the date of Pacheco's book, I believe that Pacheco would have told us so. There was no reason why the fact should be suppressed ; and those who have read the book will acquit the author of any disposition to suppress facts for the mere purpose of sparing words.
Assuming the picture to have belonged to Lord Fife, Mr. Snare at- tached great importance to the assertion in the Fife catalogue that it had once belonged to the Duke of Buckingham. The historical weight of this fact, if it be a fact, depends on another assumption of Mr. Snare's, that the Duke meant was George Villiers, Charles's companion in Spain, or his son, and not one of the Slieffields, Dukes of Buckingham, of whom the second died so late as 1735. I was not, and am not, convinced that the picture ever belonged to Lord Fife at all. But Mr. Snare succeeded in convincing the trustees of the Earl's estate, who procured a sheriffs warrant and seized the picture during its exhibition in Edinburgh, in February, 1849. Hence arose legal proceedings, in which Mr. Snare successfully vindicated his rights as proprietor, somewhat, of course, to the detriment of the picture's pedigree. In July, 1851, he made reprisals in a new action, in which he obtained ,£1,000 damages, and matter for another pamphlet (The Velazquez Cause, 8vo, Edinburgh, 1851, pp. iv. 100), even more candid and entertaining than its predecessors. Amongst his witnesses were several picture-dealers who valued the picture at from £5,000 to £10,000. The Fife party, who defended their claim to the pic-
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
691
of equitation, the Duke of Newcastle, that " he was absolutely the best horseman in all Spain." l
The picture was exhibited, by the royal permis- sion, on a day of festival, in front of the church of
ture mainly on the evidence of Mr. Snare's writings, produced other picture-dealers, of equal reputation, who did not consider it worth more than from £5 to ^15. Sir John Watson Gordon, P.E.S.A., than whom no man living had a better title to pronounce with authority on the merits of a portrait, was of opinion that it had nothing of the style of Velazquez, was "not good," and wanted "force and decision;" and I believe that those who are familiar with the great works of the master will agree with the worthy occupant of the chair of Raeburn. In artistic criticism, however, nothing is certain but vaguest uncertainty and irre- concilable difference amongst the doctors. No position is so strong that it may not be assailed; and every combatant takes the field with the bull-dog spirit of the Briton, who never knows when he is beaten. Mr. Snare has fought his battle with equal skill, courage, and good faith ; and he has inseparably connected his name with the names of Pachcco and Velazquez. His published writings 011 the subject of his picture were, in 1851, eight in number, containing together upwards of 490 pages, and he has probably since added something to the catalogue. I under- stand he is now exhibiting his picture in America. ["In view of the annoyance to which he had been subjected, the owner withdrew it from the public view." — Curtis, Velazquez and Murillo, V. 1500. p. 64. Ford (Handbook, fifth edition, 1855, p. 689) says, " The ' Fife ' daub is a complete snare and delusion : if it be a Spanish picture at all, which is very doubt- ful, it is certainly not by Velazquez." Sir Edmund Head (Handbook of Painting, 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1854, p. 142, note) " cannot express a belief in the authenticity of the picture."]
1 A new Method and extraordinary Invention to dress horses, &c., p. 8. Calderon, in his play, The Scarf and the Flower (La ttanda y la Flor), Obras, iv. p. 294, describes the King's horse and horsemanship. Life's a Dream: the great theatre of the world. From the Spanish of Calderon, ivith an Essay on his Life and Genius, by Pdchaid Chenevix Trench, i2mo, London, 1856. Essay, chap. ii. p. 66. '"Twas notably said of Carneades that Princes are seldom dealt truly with, but when they are taught to ride the Great Horse, because the proud Beast is not capable to learn the art of dissembling, nor does he know how to distinguish betwixt men, but will as soon throw an Emperor as a groom." — The Refined Courtier, 121110, London, 1679, p. 114. The author calls the book, in his preface, " Paraphrase of Casa's Galateus icu de morum elegantia " (1503-56).
CH. IX.
Its exhibi- tion and success.
692
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. ix. San Felipe el Real, in the High Street (Calle Mayor) of Madrid, amidst the admiration of the citizens and the envy of the artists. " There, in the open air, did Velazquez, like the painters of Greece, listen to the praises of a delighted public." The King was charmed with his own likeness ; the court re-echoed the royal raptures ; Velez de Guevara composed a sonnet, extolling the picture to the skies ; 2 and the Count-Duke, proud of his young countryman, de- clared that the portrait of his Majesty had never been painted until now. Such a remark, from the lips of a prime minister with pretensions to con- noisseurship, must have been no less galling to Carducho, Caxes, and the other court-painters who had accomplished the same task with credit, than flattering to Velazquez. The King followed up the blow by talking of collecting and cancelling his existing portraits. lie paid the handsome sum of 300 ducats for the present picture.3 And emulous
1 Penny Cyclopedia, article Velazquez [by Richard Ford]. If the Prince of Wales were amongst the spectators, the scene must have been recalled to his mind ten years afterwards in his own city of Edinburgh, when, in his solemn entry "at the west of the Tolbuith, he saw the royal pedigree of the Kings of Scotland, frae Fergus I., delicately painted." John Spalding, History of the Troubles in Scotland and England, 2 vols. 4to, Edinb., 1828-9, vol. i. p. 16. Some, if not all, of these imaginary portraits, thus exposed to the east wind, were painted by George Jameson, so justly called the Scottish Vandyck ; so at least, I am informed by that eminent antiquary and my very good friend, Mark Napier, the elegant historian of Montrose.
2 It is quoted by Palomino, torn. iii. p. 487.
3 Pachcco, p. 102.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 693
of Alexander the Great l and Charles V.,2 and believ- CH. ix. ing that he had now found an Apelles or a Titian, he resolved that in future Velazquez should have the monopoly of his royal countenance for all purposes of painting. This resolution he kept far more religiously than his marriage vows, for he appears to have departed from it during the lifetime of his chosen artist, in favour only of Rubens 3 and Grayer.4
Meanwhile honest Pacheco was overjoyed at the success of his son-in-law. It gratified his pride as a father, a master, and a townsman, and it did not, in the least degree, awaken his jealousy as a rival artist. Nothing disturbed his serenity but pretensions put forward by others, perhaps by his surly neighbour Herrera, who had certainly good foundations for pre- tensions to the honour of having been the master of Velazquez. "I am justified," he wrote, many years afterwards, " in resisting the insolent attempts of some who would attribute this glory to themselves, taking from me the crown of my latter years. Leonardo da Vinci lost nothing of his renown in having Eafael for a disciple, nor Giorgio de Castel-
1 Who, says Horace (Epist. Lib. ii. i, 239)—
" Edicto vetuit ne quis se, prseter Apellen, Pingeret."
2 Supra, chap. iii. p. 121. 3 Supra, chap. viii. p. 636. 4 Ibid. p. 645.
694
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Pacheco addresses a sonnet to Velazquez.
franco in Titian, nor Plato in Aristotle, who never deprived him of the title of Divine ! " l In the first flush of his delight, he poured out the fulness of his heart in the following sonnet, which he addressed to Velazquez. To place Philip IV. above Alexander is a piece of flattery sufficiently intrepid. But in justice to the good-natured poet, let it be remem- bered that our Queen Katherine Parr, in a devo- tional treatise, called Henry VIII. a second Moses,2 and that Dryden had the audacity to liken Charles II. of England to Hezekiah of Judah.3 The glory of Philip at least equalled the meek- ness of Henry, and the piety of Charles.
" Vuela, 6 joven valieute ! en la ventura De tu raro principle : la privanza Honre la posesion, no la esperauza, D'el lugar que alcanzaste en la pintura :
Animete 1' augusta alta figura D'el nionarca mayor qn' el orbe alcanza, En cuyo aspecto teme la mudanza Aquel que tanta luz mirar procura.
1 Arte de la Pintura, p. 100.
2 " C mean fag tfjts fHopscs, ISting iLjenrg tfjc (Eight, ing moste sobcragne fafaourable ILorB anti l^usbano," &c. See " STfjc ILamtntatton of a Sinner, fag tfyc most bertuous Eafcg ©ucen ISatfymnt, &c. ; 8bo, £mprintt& at ILonoon, fag Sofjn SU&e, 1563." Pages not numbered, but the above passage occurs in sheet E. i.
3 See the Threnodia Augustalis, at the passage beginning —
" Oh ! wondnnis changes of a fatal scene, Still varying to the last ! "
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 695 |
|
Al calor d' este sol tiempla tu vuelo, |
CH. IX. |
Y verds quanto extiende tu memoria |
|
La fama, por tu ingenio y tus pinceles, |
|
Qu' el planeta benigno a tanto cielo |
|
Tu nombre ilustrara con nueva gloria |
|
Pues es mas que Alexandro y tu su Apeles." l |
|
Speed thee ! brave youth, in thy adventurous race, |
|
Eight well begun ; yet dawning hope alone |
|
No guerdon wins ; then up and make thine own |
|
Our painting's richest wreath and loftiest place. |
|
The form august inspire thee, and fair face |
|
Of our great King, the greatest earth hath known : |
|
In whose bright aspect to his people shown |
|
We fear but change, so perfect is its grace. |
|
"Wing through the warmth of this our sun thy flight, |
|
So shall thy genius and thy pencil's fame |
|
To other days and men immortal shine, |
|
Touched with his royal rays' benignant light, |
|
And blent with greater Alexander's name, |
|
The glory of Apelles shall be thine ! |
|
A longer poem was written in praise of this lucky |
Poetical praises of |
portrait, by Don Geronimo Gonzalez de Villanueva, |
Gonzalez de Villa- |
a " florid wit " of Seville,2 in which Philip was hailed |
nueva. |
as a |
|
" Copia felix de Numa 6 de Trujano," |
|
and Velazquez was, of course, promised eternity of |
|
fame. |
|
Velazquez was formally appointed painter-in-ordi- |
Appointed |
painter to |
|
naiy to the King on the 3ist of October, 1623, with |
the King. |
1 Pacheco, p. no. |
|
2 Ibid. p. 106, where the poem is printed, and the poet styled " flurido |
|
ingenio Sevillano." |
696
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. TX. the monthly salary assigned to him in April, and the addition of payment for his works, and the attendance of the royal physician, surgeon, and apothecary. He was ordered to bring his family to Madrid, and received three hundred ducats to defray the expenses of removal. The King soon afterwards conferred on him a second pension of three hundred ducats, granted from some source that necessitated a papal dispensation, which was not obtained until 1626. In that year he was pro- vided with apartments in the Treasury, which were reckoned worth two hundred ducats a year more. To pourtray the royal family seems at this time to have been his chief duty ; and he painted many pictures of the King, Queen, and Infants, in various attire. Of these the portraits of Philip and Ferdi- nand in shooting costume, with their dogs and guns, in the Royal Gallery of Madrid,1 are especially de- serving of notice ; they are executed with that admirable and felicitous ease which vouches for the truth of the likeness ; and they show that Velazquez adhered to nature as closely in painting a prince of the house of Austria as in painting a water-carrier of Seville, or a basket of pot-herbs from the gardens of Alcald.
Early in the year 1624 the King paid a visit to his
1 Catulogo [1843], Nos. 200 and 278 [edition 1889, Nos. 1074 and 1075].
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
697
southern provinces, and passed a few weeks in the Alcazar of Seville and the Alhambra of Granada.1 It is probable that Velazquez remained at Madrid ; otherwise Pacheco would doubtless have been the companion and chronicler of the royal progress, which he has passed over in silence. The equestrian portrait of Philip IV., now in the Royal Gallery of Madrid, seems to have been painted by Velazquez soon after his Majesty's return.2 Far more pleasing
1 He left Madrid on the Sth of February, aud returned on the igtli of April ; Joseph Ortiz y Sanz, Compendia Cronologico dc la Historia de Espana, 7 torn. 8vo, Madrid, 1796-1803, toni. vi. p. 364.
2 Catdlogo [1843], No. 299 [edition 1889, No. 1066]. But for Philip's formidable moustachios, I should suppose this to be the first celebrated portrait, mentioned at p. 690, as Ceau Bermudez seems to imply, when he says that its present companion piece (of the same size, 10 feet 9 inches high, by n feet 3 inches wide), Isabella on horseback, " Sirve de com- pafiero al quo pinto del Rey ;i caballo, recien venido de Sevilla." But as a boy of eighteen is seldom thus " bearded like a pard," I think this must be a later picture. The Handbook [1843], PP- 744~752 tISS5, p. 689], au authority not to be lightly questioned, says it was painted as a model for the sculptor Tacca, and in the dress Philip wore when he entered Lcrida in triumph. One or other of these statements may be correct, but not both, because Lerida was not taken till 1644, when Tacca's statue had been prancing for four years in the gardens of Buenretiro. Velazquez, indeed, painted the king at Le'rida, but, as we shall see, in a different dress ; besides, he was then thirty-nine years old, and pro- bably looked older from his excesses, whereas, in this picture, he cannot be more than twenty-live. [The passage quoted from the Handbook (p. 744) was omitted in the third edition (1855); and in the author's Velazquez and his Works, London, 1855, the note from this point was omitted. In the Catdlogo, 1872, it is stated that "Se equivoco el erndito Cean Bermudez al suponer que este retrato es el quo pinto Velazquez en Agosto del auo 1623. . . . En aquella epoca no tenia Felipe IV. mas que 18 ailos, y bien claramente maniiiesta el personaje del presente lienzo quo ie dobla la edad a aquel. ... El que ahora
VOL. ii. Y
CH. IX.
Royal pro- gress to Andalusia.
His eques- trian por- trait by Velazquez.
698
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
than any other representation of the man, it is also one of the finest portraits in the world. The King is in the glow of youth and health, and in the full enjoyment of his fine horse, and the breeze blowing freshly from the distant hills ; he wears dark armour, over which flutters a crimson scarf; a hat with black plumes covers his head, and his right hand grasps a truncheon. All the accessories, the saddle, embroidered breastplate, and long sharp bit, are painted with the utmost care. The horse, evidently a portrait of some favourite of the royal stud, is bright bay, with a white face and white legs ; his tail is a vast avalanche of black hair, and his mane streams far below the golden stirrup ; l and, as he springs into the air in a sprightly ballotade, he realises Cespedes' poetical description,2 and justifies
ilustramos fud pintado segun indican su cstilo y la edad del Rey, hdcia el alio 1644."
Carl Justi (Diego Velazquez and his Times, translated by A. H. Keane, London, 1889, p. 306), says, "It agrees quite well with the date 1635, when the work was painted which was to serve as the model for Tacca's statue," and that it " also agrees as far as could be expected with Tacca's statue." — ED.]
1 Cumberland, Anecdotes, vol. ii. p. 15, remarks of Velazquez's horses, " that there seems a pleonasm in their manes and tails that borders on extravagance." But Velazquez was an Andalusian, and painted a horse according to the notions, not of Newmarket, but of Cordoba and Maircna, where extravagant manes and tails are to this day much admired. "Bref pour conclure des chevaux d'Espagne, ils sont d'ordinaire bons a la guerre, forts et allaigres, fideles et vistes, avec la bouche bonne, et a inon jugement ils passent tous autres chevaux." — Jean Tacquet, Philippica, ou Haras de Chevaux, 4to, Anvers, 1614, p. 82. Those of Andalusia, especially of the mountainous districts, are the best.
" Supra, chap. vi. p. 397.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
Newcastle's praise of the Cordobese barb, the proud king of horses and the fittest horse for a king.1 In the same year2 his famous picture of the
699
CH. IX.
1 New Method, etc., Address to the readers. In the palace of Grips- liolm, the Versailles of Sweden, rich in historical portraits, there is a very fine equestrian portrait of Philip IV., by Velazquez. The figures are about a third of life size, and the canvas is six feet three inches high by live feet six inches wide. Philip is young and beardless, so young that it is not impassible that this may be the portrait, or a small copy of it, which made the fortune of the artist. He is in a black dress, with long white boots, and he holds his hat in his right hand against his hip. The saddle is of crimson velvet, richly embroidered with gold. The horse is snow-white, with very long mane and tail, the mane tied with three bands of scarlet riband. He is not prancing, but pacing, or going at a slow trot. The background is simple, a Avail and a pillar. The whole is painted with the greatest freshness and vivacity — the king's head tine and expressive, the seat of the figure on horseback excellent, and the bit of crimson of the saddle, and the mane, indeed the whole forehand of the horse, executed with the most masterly spirit. The Catalogue (Gripsholm, Dcss Ilistoria, of Octavia Corlen, sm. 8vo, Stockholm, 1862, p. 170, No. 636) says the picture was presented by Philip's ambassador in Sweden, Pimentel, to Queen Christina. E. Corlett told me he thought some notice of its presentation would be found in the Embassy to Sweden, by Bulstrode Whitelocke.
[The picture is now in the Stockholm Museum, No. 762. Curtis (p. 46, V. No. 104), points out that, in this picture, the horse moves to the left, while that of the portrait in the Madrid Gallery (No. 1066) is described by him (p. 44, V. No. 97) as going to the right ; and he states (p. 47) that, "according to Palomino, the latter represented the king armed and in a landscape ; " he accordingly throws doubt on the suggestion made in the above note (first published in the French translation, Velazquez et ses CEuvres, traduit par G. Brunet (T. There), 8vo, Paris, 1865, p. ix.), that the Stockholm portrait is a copy of the other. — ED.]
2 [Doubts have been expressed as to the correctness of this date (1624), which is based upon the signature and date on Lord Heytesbury's sketch, next noticed. Don Pedro de Madrazo (Catdlogo descriptivo e histdrico del Museo del Prado de Madrid, Madrid, 1872, p. 598) saya it was not the practice of artists to sign their sketches, and, without pretending to deny the authenticity of the sketch or the possibility that it was executed by Velazquez at the date given, ventures to doubt the authenticity of the signature which it bears. From a document dated
700
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Los Bor- rachos.
Topers, Los Bebadores or Los Borrachos, of the Spanish Royal Gallery, gave evidence that in paint- ing princes he had not forgotten how to paint clowns.1 It is a composition of nine figures, life size, representing a vulgar Bacchus, crowned with vine-leaves, and enthroned on a cask, investing a boon companion with a similar Bacchic crown. This ceremony is performed, with true drunken gravity, before a party of rustics, in various stages of intoxication. One sits in a state of owlish medi- tation; another has delivered himself of a jest which arrests the brimming bowl half-way to the lips of a third ruffian, and causes him to exhibit a set of ill-favoured teeth in a broad grin ; a fourth, somewhat behind, has stripped himself to the skin,
2gth July, 1629, in the Archive del Palacio (Felipe IV., Casa Real, leg. 129), it appears that Velazquez was only then paid for the picture. '•' Diego Velazquez pintor. Cargo de quatrocientos ducados en plata, los trescientos a cuenta de sus obras, y los cieuto por la de una pintura de Baco que hizo para servicio de S. M." From this evidence it is suggested by both Curtis (p. 18, V. No. 27) and Paul Lefort (Gazette des Beaux Arts, Nov. 1879, p. 421, and Les artistes celibrcs — Velazquez, 8vo, Paris, i8S8, pp. 39, 41) that the proper date is 1629. — ED.]
1 Catdlogo [1843], No. 138 [edition 1889, No. 1058]. The lively M. Viardot, M us&es d'Esjmgnc, <fe., p. 152, notices the admiration in which this picture was held by Sir David Wilkie, who, he says, preferred it to all the Avorks of Velazquez at Madrid. " Chaque jour, quelque fut le temps, il venait au musee, il s'etablissait devant son cadre cheri, passait, trois heures dans une silencieuse extase, puis, quand, la fatigue et 1'admiratioii 1'epuisaient, il laissait echapper un oufl du fond de sa poitrine, et prenait son chapeau. Sans etre peintre, sans etre Anglais, j'en ai presque fait autant que lui." I find no mention, however, of the picture in Wilkie's Letters or Diary printed in his Life, by Allan Cunningham, 3 vols. 8vo, London, 1843.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 701
like the president, and, lolling on a bank, eyes his bell-mouthed beaker with the indolent satisfaction of a Trinculo. For force of character and strength of colouring, this picture has never been excelled ; and its humour entitles Velazquez to the name of the Hogarth of Andalusia. It has been engraved by Carmona, and etched by Goya, whose work has been copied in the present engraving. In subject, treatment, and colouring, it bears a strong resemb- lance to the " Drunken Silenus and Satyrs," the famous work of Bibera, in the Royal Gallery at Naples. As this picture was painted two years later, in I626,1 the Valencian may perhaps have had the subject suggested to him by the work of the young Castilian, from whom it is not impossible that he may even have borrowed some hints. The original sketch of Velazquez's composition, now at Heytes- bury House, Wilts, certainly found its way to Naples, where it was purchased2 by its present possessor, Lord Heytesbury. It bears the signature 3 11 Diego Velazquez, 1624," and is finely coloured, but contains only six figures, one of which, a hideous negro boy, is omitted with advantage in the larger composition.
1 It is signed and dated. Stan. d'Aloo, Naples, ses moimmens, Ac., I2mo, Naples, 1852, p. 501.
2 [From Simone, a picture-dealer. Curtis, p. 18, V. No. 28.]
3 [See supra, p. 699, note 2.]
CH. IX.
First sketch.
702
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. ix.
" Philip III. expel- ling the Moriscos," proposed as the sub- ject for a pictorial competi- tion.
Philip IV., like :most monarchs of a loose life, was a devoted servant of the Church. Had he not inherited, says Lope de Vega, he would have earned the title of the Catholic.1 He therefore regarded his father's expulsion of the Moriscos with dutiful admiration, not unmingled, perhaps, with envy of the favour it had obtained at the Vatican. The Old Christians of Castile took the same view of the matter, and Lope de Vega spoke only the sense of the nation, when, singing the praises of the Philips, he especially extolled the third monarch of the name for robbing
O
his fairest provinces of the flower of their people.
" Por el tercero santo, el mar profundo Al Africa passo (sentencia justa) Despreciando sus barbaros tesoros Las ultimas reliquias de los Moros." 2
" The third, with just decree, to Afric's coast Banish'd the remnants of that pest of old, The Moors ; and nobly ventured to contemn Treasures which flow'd from barbarous hordes like them. ;> 3
For want of a sufficient infidel or heretic popula- tion to persecute, Philip IV., being unable to
1 Lope de Vega, Corona Trdgica ; Vida y Muerte de la Serenissima Reyna de Escocia, Maria Estuarda, 4to, Madrid. 1627, fol. 20. This volume contains a curious portrait of Mary, engraved by Courbes. The passage referred to praises Philip's devout performance of his religious duties in presence of the Prince of Wales, and seems also to allude to the occurrence which gave rise to the ceremonial in the Alcazar mentioned in chap. viii. p. 619.
2 Corona Trdgica, fol. 20.
3 Lord Holland, Life of Lope de Vega, vol. i. p. no.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
7°3
rival,1 determined at least to commemorate this act of his sire, whom courtly and Catholic historians have dubbed "pious and good." : In 1627, he ordered Carducho,3 Caxes,4 Nardi,5 and Velazquez, to paint, each of them, a picture on the subject. The wand of usher of the royal chamber was offered as a prize for the best performance, and the artists Mayno 6 and Crescenzi,7 both well qualified to decide the merits of the rivals, were declared judges of the competition.
Velazquez gained a complete victory over his more experienced competitors, one of whom, it must be remembered, was a Florentine who had not long left the banks of the Arno. He received the prize, and the picture of the "Expulsion of the Moriscos" was hung in the great hall of the Alcazar. In the centre of this composition, in which Velazquez was degraded by the evil spirit of the age into a pane-
en. IX.
1 Dr. Pedro dc Salazar y Mendoza, Canon of Toledo, in his Origenes de las Dignidadcs seglares dc Castilla y Leon, fol. Madrid, 1657, fol. 184, reckons up the numbers of the exiled Moriscos, whom he estimates at 310,000, and chuckles over their cold reception in Barbary with a satis- faction quite orthodox and revolting. He even starts some fresh game for the pious pack to hunt down. " Falta agora," lie says (fol. 185), " para que Espafia quede limpia, quo se haga otro tanto de los Gitanos, . . . gente tan perniciosa, perjudical, y perversa " — " There still remains, that Spain may be wholly pure, the same thing to be done with the gipsies, a most pernicious, pestilent, perverse people."
2 " Pio y bueno," are epithets usually bestowed on him. See Goncalo Cespedes y Meneses, Hist, dc Felipe IV., p. 34.
3 Supra, chap. vii. p. 485. 4 Ibid. p. 497.
5 Supra, chap. viii. p. 656. 6 Supra, chap. vii. p. 499.
7 Ibid. p. 478, and chap. viii. p. 605.
Velazquez the victor.
Is made usher of the chamber.
7°4
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. ix. gyrist of cruelty anjl wrong, appeared Philip III., mean in figure, and foolish in face, pointing with his truncheon to the sea, where ships were riding, and whither some Christian soldiers were conducting a company of Moors and their weeping women and children ; and on his right, Spain in the form of a stately dame, armed in Roman fashion, sate at the base of a temple, benignly smiling on the oppressors. On a pedestal, the following inscription explained the subject of the picture, and a bigot's notions of piety and justice, peace and goodwill to men.
PHILIPPO III. HISPAN. REGI CATIIOL. REGVM PIENTISSIMO, BEL- GICO, GERM. AFRIC. PACTS, ET JVSTITIyE CVLTORI ; PVBLIC^ QVIETIS ASSERTORI; OB ELIMINATOS F/ELICITER MAVROS, PIII- LIPPVS IV. ROBORE AC VIRTVTI MAGNVS, IN MAGNIS MAXIMVS, AD MAIORA NATVS, PROPTER ANTIQ. TANTI PARENTIS ET PIE- TATIS, OBSERVANTIyEQVE ERGO TROPIICEVM HOC ERIGIT ANNO
M.DC.XXVII.
On a label beneath, was the signature of the painter : —
DIDACVS VELAZQVEZ HISPALENSIS. PHILIP IV. REGIS HISPAN.
PICTOR. IPSIVSQVE JVSSV FECIT ANNO
M.DC.XXVII.
It is probable that the picture perished in the fire of the Alcazar, in I735-1 Notwithstanding its interest and traditional merits as a specimen of art, it is the
1 No mention of this famous painting is to be found in Ponz, torn. ii. pp. 2-79, where the new palace of Madrid is described at great length, nor in the Viaje de Espana, &c., por D. Nic. de la Cruz, Conde de Maule,
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
70S
work of Velazquez that may be spared with the least reluctance by those who hold in just abhor- rence the last and wickedest of the Crusades.
Besides the post of usher, the King gave Velaz- quez the rank of gentleman of the chamber, with its emoluments of 1 2 reals a day,1 and the annual allowance of 90 ducats for a dress. Nor was his bounty confined to the artist himself; he bestowed on his father, Don Juan Rodriguez de Silva, three legal appointments in the government offices at Seville, each worth 1,000 ducats annually.
In the summer of 1628, Rubens, as we have already seen,2 came to Madrid as envoy from the Infanta Arch- duchess Isabella, Governess of the Low Countries. He and Velazquez had exchanged letters before they met, and they met predisposed to become friends. The frank and generous Fleming, in the maturity of his genius and fame, could not but look with in- terest on the young Spaniard, much akin to him in disposition, talents, and accomplishments, and des- tined, like him, to lead the taste of his country and
14 tomos 8vo, Cadiz, 1812, toin. xi. p. 1-27. Cumberland omits it in his Catalogue of the pictures there ; and his description of it in the Anec- dotes, vol. ii. p. 18, is, like my own, borrowed from Palomino, torn. iii. p. 486. Cean Bernuulez neither enumerates it amongst the works of Velaz- quez extant in his day, nor accounts for its disappearance ; and Don Jose de Madrazo, Director of the Royal Gallery of Spain, to whom I ap- plied for information, had neither seen the picture nor ascertained its fate.
1 In this Palomino is confirmed by the Inventaire general des plus curicuses rechcrchcs dcs royaitmes d'Espagne, 4to, Paris, 1615, p. 163.
2 Supra, chap. viii. p. 635.
CH. IX.
Royal bounty to Velazquez and his father.
Intimacy of Rubens and Velazquez.
706
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Visit to the Escorial.
Velazquez sails for Italy.
extend the limits and/ renown of their common art. The Spaniard could not fail to value the regard and seek the society of one of the most famous painters and worthiest men of the age. He became the companion of the artist-envoy's leisure ; he led him to the churches and galleries, and showed him the glories of the Escorial. Few finer subjects could be devised for a picture illustrative of the history of art, than these two men, both noble in person, the one in the dignity of mature manhood, the other still in the prime of youth, in the grand refectory or in the prior's chamber of the matchless monastery, con- versing beneath Titian's "Last Supper,"1 or pausing in expressive silence before the " Pearl " 2 of Rafael, — the chiefs of Flemish and Castilian painting doing homage to the sovereign masters of Italy.
The advice and example of Rubens increased the desire long entertained by Velazquez, to visit Italy. After many promises and delays, the King at last consented to the journey, giving him leave of absence for two years, without loss of salary, and a gift of 400 ducats. The Count-Duke, at parting, made him a present of 200 ducats, and a medal of the King, and furnished him with many letters of introduction. With his trusty Pareja3 for a follower, he sailed on
1 Sxipra, chap. i. p. n.
2 Supra, chap. viii. p. 607.
3 Supra, p. 675.
Catdlogo, 1889, No. 369.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
707
the loth of August, 1629, from Barcelona, in the company of the great Captain Ambrosio Spinola, then on his way to govern the Duchy of Milan, and com- mand the Spanish and Imperial troops before Casal.1 The pilgrim's first step on the promised-land of art, was on the stately quays of Venice.2 He was
1 Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 143.
2 The Spanish authorities, Palomino, Ceaii Bermudez, &c., seem to say so ; but it is impossible. Spinola was going to Milan, and, most likely, landed at Genoa. The following letter is interesting. It was sent to me by Don Valentin de Carderera, who informs me that it was sent to him from Venice by Mr. Rawdon Brown, who had received it from M. Armand Baschet, a Frenchman of letters, who had been long working in the Archives there (June 13, 1860) : —
"Letter, written by Alvire Moccnigo, Venetian Ambassador at Madrid, to the Council of Ten.
" Mi ha fatto sapere Don Giovanni di Veghella ch'e il Seeretario di Stato (et ha anco titolo di consigliero) die il Sor. Conte di Olivares per ordine del Re le ha commandato di procurare passaporte et lettere di raccom- mandatione per Diego Velazquez, pitore di camera di Sua Maestsi se ne passa con lo Spinola a Milano ; poi da se in altre cittd d'ltalia, et partico- larmente in cotesta di Venetia, per trattenervisi vcdere et aprendere le cose della sua professione, 1'istesso ufficio e stato fatto appresso le nuntij et qualche altro ambasciator ancora. lo, per corrispondere al desiderio di S. E. in riguardo delle commissione di S. Mti£ e per complire all 'ufficio della creanza le ho fatto il passaporto, e le ho dato lettere per il Sor. Giorgio Contarini fii di S. Marco, per il Sor. Vicenzo Grimani fu del Sr. Piero ; et in terra ferma per il Sr. Cap0, di Verona et per il Commrio. mio fratello.
" Questo pitore e giovane e per quello quo d me pare, non puo esser di sospetto questo suo passagio costi ; solo mi persuado che per acquistare maggior peritia nella sua professione habbe procurato questa licenza dal He di vedere le cittd principale d'ltalia e le cose notabili dell' arte sua : con tutto cib perche questo 6 per fermarsi come mi ha detto, in Venetia, ho guidicato expediente darne questo ragnaglio all 'Ecc20. Vro. lequale con la loro prudenza potranno fare osservare cio che le parera intorno a questa persona che dovera capitare con 1'indivezza delle predette lettere costi ct nello stato. ALVIRE MOCENIGO.
"MADKID, 28 Jnylio, 1629."
CH. IX.
Lands at Venice.
708
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
State of
Venetian
painting-.
II Pado- vanino.
Libertino.
Turchi.
honourably received in that city by the ambassador of Spain, who lodged him in his palace and enter- tained him at his own table.
The Republic of the hundred isles had now de- clined into the silver age of her arts as well as of her power. The bold spirit which had sustained and repelled the shock of the Leaguers of Cambray had departed from her councils. No longer were
" Le donne, i cavalier, 1'arme, gli amori,"
of the great old houses, painted by Giorgione, Titian, Pordenone, Paul Caliari, or Tintoret ; the close of the last century had seen extinguished the last star of that glorious constellation. Their successors, feeble if not few, lived upon the ideas and the fame of the former age. Of these, Alessandro Varotari, known as II Padovanino, was one of the most con- siderable ; he affected in his works the spacious banquet-halls and imposing figures, the sumptuous draperies and snarling dogs, " ad uso Paolesco ; " and the " Marriage of Cana," esteemed his master- piece, had somewhat of the grandeur of the Veronese.1 Pietro Liberi was commencing his career as a painter of altar-pieces, which faintly reflected the style of Titian, and of naked Venuses, which gained him the name of Libertino. Turchi, perhaps the ablest of
Lanzi, torn. iii. p. 227.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
709
the band, who had painted much, and tolerably well, for the city churches, was now residing at Rome. The degenerate age of the dark colourists, the tenebrosi, had already begun to cast its gloom over the art of the island-city.
Such being the state of Venetian art at this time, Velazquez conversed during his stay rather with the mighty dead than with the living masters of his profession. In the patriarchal church of St. Peter and its subject temples, in the ducal palace of St. Mark and in the stately mansions of the great patricians, he found many new motives for that admiration of Giorgione, Titian, and their fellows, which he had already learned at the Escorial. He spent his time chiefly in making copies of the more remarkable pictures, amongst others, of Tintoret's " Crucifixion " and " Last Supper," the latter of which he afterwards presented to the King of Spain.
His studies were, however, disturbed by the war of the Mantuan succession, then raging in Lombardy. The hostile troops of France, or the friendly forces of the Emperor and the Catholic King, equally dangerous to the peaceful traveller, hovered so near the city, that, in his excursions, he always went attended by a guard of the ambassador's servants. Fearing lest the communication with Rome might be cut off, he left Venice, though with reluctance,
CH. IX.
Studies of Velazquez.
Departure.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
Ferrara.
CH. ix. about the end of the year, and proceeded to Ferrara. In that ancient city he presented his letters to the ruling Legate, Cardinal Giulio Sachetti, who for- merly had been Nuncio to Spain, and who, after- wards, unsuccessfully contested the keys of St. Peter with Giovanni Battista Panfili, Innocent X.1 His eminence received the King of Spain's painter with the utmost courtesy, lodging him in his palace, and even inviting him to his table, an honour which Velazquez, not being prepared for such a condescen- sion from a prelate with a red hat, respectfully de- clined. A Spanish gentleman of the household was, however, appointed to wait upon him during his two days' sojourn, and show him the pictures of Garofalo, and other wonders of Ferrara ; and his farewell in- terview with the Legate, who loved, or affected to love, Spain, lasted for three hours. Horses were provided for his journey to Bologna, and his Spanish friend accompanied him as far as Cento, a distance of sixteen miles.
The fine school of Bologna hardly detained him in that city ; and, although he had letters for the Cardinals Nicolas Lodovisi and Balthasar Spada,
Bologna.
1 La Giusta statera de' Porporati, lamo, Genevra, 1650, p. 92. This curious and scurrilous volume has been translated : The Scarlet Goivn, or History of all the present Cardinals, translated out of the Italian by Hugh Cogan, Gent., 8vo, London, 1653, p. 51. Sachetti made so sure of being chosen, that it was said of him, after the election of Innocent X., in a pasquinade of the day — " He that entered the conclave Pope, came out Cardinal," p. 96, translation, p. 55.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
711
he suppressed them, fearing the delay that might be caused by their civilities. Taking the way of Loretto, the more pious if the less direct road, he hurried forward to Rome. From the celebrated shrine of Our Lady, the journey across the Apennine could not fail to delight his fine taste and cultivated intellect. He was advancing towards the Eternal City, amidst the monuments of her ancient and modern glory. The old gate of Spoleto, whence Hannibal, fresh from Thrasymene, was repulsed, and the aqueduct, second only to that of Segovia ; the bridge of Augustus, at Narni, and the delicate temple of Clitumnus, lay almost beside his path to the Pantheon and the Flavian Amphitheatre. The little town of Foligno afforded him a foretaste of the Vatican, in that lovely Madonna of Rafael, then in the convent of the Contesse, and still known in the Papal gallery l as the Virgin of Foligno. And Velazquez, happily, was in a condition to enjoy these things ; to indulge all the emotions of an accomplished mind, as the landmarks, new and yet familiar, appeared, and as the dome of the great Basilica, rising above the classic heights around, harbingered the mother-city of his art and his faith. Unlike most painters, he entered these sacred pre- cincts with a name and a position already established,
CH. IX.
Road from Loretto to Home.
[Vatican, Room II. ]
712
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Home. Urban VIII.
Offers Velazquez lodging in the Vatican.
moved perhaps by hopes of higher distinction, but with no fears of failure to disturb his serenity, no visions of penury —
"To freeze the genial current of his soul."
In far different circumstances, and with different feel- ings, that road had been traversed, but a few years before, by two brethren of his craft, who were to be- come his equals in renown, Nicolas Poussin, an adven- turer fresh from his Norman village, and Claude Gelee, a pastrycook's runaway apprentice from Lorraine.
The Papal chair was, at this time, filled by Urban VIII. , Maffeo Barberini, a pontiff chiefly remarkable for his long incumbency of that splendid preferment, his elegant Latin verses,1 and two works executed at his cost from the designs of Bernini, the grand high altar of St. Peter's, and the Barberini palace, for which the Coliseum served as a quarry.2 lie and his Cardinal-nephew, Francesco Barberini, received Velazquez very graciously, and offered him a suite of apartments in the Vatican ; which the artist humbly declined, contenting himself with less
1 They found an English editor above a century ago. Maphcci. S. R. E. Card. Barberini postca Urban P. P. VIII. Pocmata, Pncmissis quibusdam de vita auctoris et annotationibus adjectis. Edidit Josephus Brown, A. M. Coll. Ilegiu. Oxon., 8vo, Oxon. 1726; is a handsome volume.
2 Hence the Roman saying, " Quod non fecerunt Barbari, fecere Barbe- rini." The Farnese, Paul III. and his nephews, were, however, the first and greatest destroyers. — Gibbon's Decline and Fall, 8 vols. 8vo, London, 1828, vol. viii. chap. Ixxi. § iv. p. 461.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
magnificent lodgings, and the right of access, granted as soon as asked, at his own hours to the Papal galleries. There he applied himself with great diligence to study, and with his crayon or colours, culled some flowers from the new world of painting which now burst upon his gaze. Michael Angelo's " Last Judgment," in the Sistine chapel, scarce ninety years old, was yet undimmed by the morning and evening incense of centuries. Of this he copied many portions, as well as the " Prophets " and the "Sibyls;" and he copied, also, the "Parnassus," "Theology," "Burning of the Borgo," and other frescoes of Rafael.
Happier than Venice, Rome at this epoch could boast more artistic talent than had been found within her walls at one time since the days of Michael Angelo. Many of the Bolognese masters were sojourning for a season, or had fixed their abode, in the capital. Domenichino and Guercino were now engaged on some of their best works, the " Communion of St. Jerome," and the "Finding of the Body of St. Petronilla ; " the Grotto Ferrata, and the Lodovisi frescoes. Guido Reni alternated between the excitements of the gaming table and the sweet creations of his smooth-flowing pencil. Albani, the Anacreon of painting,1 was adorning
1 Lauzi, Storm Pittorica, torn, \. p. 105.
VOL, II.
CH. IX.
Studies and copies.
Art at Rome.
Domeni- chino. Guercino.
Guido.
Albani.
7*4
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
on. ix.
Pou.ssin.
Claude.
Bernini.
Velazquez lives at the Villa- Medici.
the halls of the Borjghese and the Aldobrandini with cool forest glades, peopled with sportive loves and graces. The great landscape painters of France, — Poussin and Claude, — were laying the foundations of their delightful and fertile schools. Beautiful fountains, palaces, and churches, rising in all quarters of the city, displayed the architectural genius of Bernini, the friend of Popes, the favourite of princes, and the most busy and versatile of men.1 This society of able artists was unhappily divided, by ignoble jealousies and personal quarrels, into many factions ; from which Velazquez stood aloof, without avoiding the society of the better spirits of the band.
Attracted, as spring advanced, by the airy and agreeable situation of the Villa-Medici, built on the ancient gardens of Lucullus, he obtained per- mission from the Tuscan government, through the good offices of the tasteful Count of Monterey, ambassador of Spain, to take up his quarters there for a season. This villa, hanging on the wooded brow of the Pincian hill, commands from its windows and garden-Belvedere the whole circuit of the city,
1 Evelyn, in his Diary at Rome, 1644, notices Bernini as a "sculptor, architect, painter, and poet, who, a little before my coming to this citty, gave a publiq opera (for so they call shews of that kind), wherein he painted the scenes, cut the statues, invented the engines, composed the musiq, writ the comedy, and built the theatre." Memoirs attd Diary of John Evelyn, 5 vols. Svo, London, 1827, vol. i. pp. 189-190.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
the Campagna bestrode by hoary aqueducts, and the yellow windings of the Anio and the Tiber. It contained, at this time, a noble collection of antique marbles ; and the stranger from the land of painted wooden sculpture lodged under the same roof with the peerless Venus of Adrian and the Medici. Bought thirty-seven years afterwards by Colbert, for the French Academy of Painting founded by Louis XIV., this temporary residence of Velazquez has since been the home of most of the great artists of France, during their student days, since the time of Poussin. Its beautiful garden, long a fashionable resort, has now fallen into comparative neglect ; but the lover of scenery and meditation, once attracted thither, will find his " due feet never fail " to linger, at noon beneath the alleys of tufted ilex, or at sunset on the crumbling terrace, while twilight closes over the city and its giant dome.1
From this pleasant retreat Velazquez was driven, at the end of two months, by an attack of tertian fever induced by the malaria, which, in the warm season, hangs round the heights of Rome and renders the Pincian villas pernicious to foreign constitutions. He \vas carried down into a lodging in the city,
CII. IX.
Fever.
1 A good .account of this villa may be found in the London Magazine,, Svo, London, 1820, vol. i. p. 44.
7i6
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Removal to the city.
Original works at Rome.
Portrait of himself.
"La Fragua do Vul- cuno. "
near the palace of/Monterey, who showed him un- remitting kindness and attention, causing him to be attended, free of cost, by his private physician, and supplying him with all necessary comforts from his own house.
Velazquez, at this time, lived for nearly a year at Rome. He went there to study the great masters, and he appears to have studied them diligently ; but, like Rubens, he copied their works, and noted their style, yet adhered to his own. The oak had shot up with too vigorous a growth to be trained in a new direction. While at Rome, he seems to have painted only three original pictures : an excellent portrait of himself for Pacheco,1 and the "Forge of Vulcan,"2 and "Joseph's Coat," which are amongst the most celebrated of his works.
The Forge is a large composition, on a canvas ten feet and a half wide by eight feet high, of six figures, by which his skill in anatomy is fully proved. It represents Vulcan in his cavern, surrounded by the Cyclops, hearing from Apollo the tale of the in- fidelity of Venus. Had the speaker been conceived and painted with as much force and truth as his auditory, this picture would have been unexcelled
1 Pacheco, p. 105.
" [Museo del Prado, CaltH.oyo, 1889, No. 1059.]
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 717
in dramatic effect by any production of the pencil. But unhappily the Delian god —
" f ulgente decorus arcu Phoibus,"— i
is wanting in all the attributes of beauty and grace with which poetry has invested him, and as he stands pointing with his upraised finger, he might be mistaken, but for his laurel crown and floating drapery, for some commonplace youngster, telling some commonplace story. Beneath the shadow of the Vatican, and with the models of Phidias and Rafael at hand, it is difficult to understand how Velazquez came to paint an Apollo so ignoble. Vulcan and his swart crew atone, however, for the faults of Apollo. The armourer of the gods is painted from the sketch of Homer, brawny and halting. Stunned by the tidings of his dishonour, he gazes half in anger half in sorrow at the speaker, his hammer sinking to his side, the iron cooling on the anvil, and his feelings as yet unsoothed by hope or scheme of vengeance. Rage and grief, pathos of expression and ugliness of feature, the most difficult of combinations for the artist, arc combined in his countenance. The three Cyclops at the anvil, and the bellows-blower behind, have likewise suspended
Horat. Cat: S(tc.. I. 61-62.
CJI. IX.
718
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
"La
Tunica de Josef."
their labours, and/ stare with fierce dazzled eyes and gaping curiosity at the bright visitor, bending forward their shaggy heads, the better to catch the tale of celestial scandal. The blaze of light around the god of day falls full on their smirched and stalwart forms, and dies away in the gloomy recesses of the cavern. This picture, formerly in the Palace of Madrid, is now in the Queen of Spain's gallery ; it was indifferently engraved by Glairon in 1 798.
" Joseph's Coat " has not been engraved, and after a brief visit to Napoleon's Louvre, has returned to its original place at the Escorial.1 It represents the sons of Jacob bringing to their father their brother's bloody garment, which is not depicted as a coat of many colours, but a plain brown jerkin, with a blood- stained white lining. The patriarch, dressed in a blue robe and brown mantle, is seated on the left side of the picture, with a Turkey carpet, on which a black and white dog stands barking, at his feet ; on the other side of this carpet stand three of his sons, one of them turning away with uplifted arms, as if overcome with grief, and the other two unfold- ing the coat ; and in the centre of the canvas, two
1 Penny Cyclopccdia, art. Velazquez. It does not appear in the Notice dcs Tableaux exposes dans la Galcrie Napoleon, i2mo, Paris, 1811. But I am informed by Mrs. Butt that she saw it at Malmaison, in May 1814, when the palace was shown as left at the death of the Empress Josephine. [It is now in the Sala Vicarial of the Escorial, No. 341.]
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
719
others are dimly visible in the deep shadow of the background. In force of colouring and expression, the head of Jacob is equal to anything that the artist ever painted. But the emotion of the old man is not all sorrow, — it is sorrow, mingled with anger, and suspicion of foul play, and ready to vent itself in reproaches. Hence the Jacob of Velaz- quez is far less touching than the Jacob of Moses. The pathos of that inimitable story lies in the much-abused patriarch's submission to the stroke, without a word of distrust, murmur, or reproof. Looking at the coat, says the Law-giver, "he knew it and said, It is my son's coat ; an evil beast hath devoured him ; Joseph is, without doubt, rent in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days." l The three more prominent brethren
1 Genesis xxxvii. 32-34. It is fair to mention that Mr. Beckford calls "Joseph's Coat" " the most profoundly pathetic of pictures," and " the loftiest proof in existence of the extraordinary powers of Velazquez." — Letters from Spain, No. x. I have not seen the picture at the Escorial, where I believe it still remains, although the fact is denied in the Hand- book [1845], P- 816 [1855, p. 758], and my notes were made on the line duplicate, which I saw in 1845, i'1 tne possession of Don Jose Madrazo, at Madrid. This picture differs, I think, in some details, from the original ; the dog, for example, lying asleep at Jacob's feet, instead of barking at the bearers of the coat, for Udal ap Ithys, Account of Spain, p. 77, in describing the latter, says, that "in order to heighten the horror, the painter has introduced a black and white dog, enraged at the sight of the bloody clothes." 1'onz, torn. ii. p. 126, merely says that the dog is well painted ; and N. de la Cruz, torn. xiL p. 77, does not notice it, although
720
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. ix. are sturdy knaves, in brown raiment, two of them nearly naked, one of them with a broad black hat ; their faces and figures so closely resemble those of the Cyclops, that they appear to have been painted from the same models.1 These two pictures show how closely Velazquez adhered, when at Rome, to his original style ; overawed, perhaps, by Rafael and Michael Angclo, and choosing rather to display his unrivalled skill in delineating vulgar forms, than to risk his reputation in the pursuit of a more re- fined and idealised style.2 His Hebrew patriarchs are swineherds of Estremadura, or shepherds of the Sierra Morena ; his Cyclops, common blacksmiths,
he speaks of the picture as being then, 1812, at the Escorial, which renders it doubtful whether it went to Paris.
[Mrs. W. A. Tollemache, Spanish Towns and Spanish Pictures, 8vo, London, 1870, p. 26, says, "The hall of the Chapter contains the first picture we had yet seen by Vela/quez. It lias for its touching subject Jacob receiving from the hands of his elder children the blood-stained coat of Joseph. This . . . deserves a better light than it has here."]
1 I remember another example of pictorial transformation, yet more extraordinary, on account of the contrast of the subjects and the juxta- position of the pictures in which it occurs. The King of Denmark's gallery at Copenhagen possesses two pictures, eacli containing two iigures, by Carlo Cignani, representing, the one the Chastity of Joseph, and the other the Rape of Lucrece, in which the Lucrece is identical with Potiphar's wife, and the Roman ravisher with the self-denying Hebrew. Fortegnelse over den Konrjcliye Maleriesamling paa Christiansborg Slot, Svo, Kjoobenhavn, 1842, Nos. 125 and 128, p. 7. [Catalogue dcs Ouvmgcs dc Pcinturc dc la Galcric Royalc de Christiansborg, Copenhague, 1880, Nos. 64 and 65, p. ir.] The first of these is a full-length picture, from which the Joseph and Potiphar's wife in the Dresden Gallery, Verzeich- jiiss, Hauptabth. ii. No. 337, p. 68 [edition of 1876, by Julius Hiibner, No. 528], is an extract.
2 See his own saying, supra, p. 68 1.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 721
Visit to
like those who may have shod his horse in some CH. ix.
remote hamlet of La Mancha, as he rode to Madrid.
As the market or the smithy seldom affords models
for a painter in search of an Apollo, the composition
into which such a character enters is that in which
he has been least successful.
In the autumn of the year 1630, Velazquez visited
Naples.
Naples, where his father-in-law's friend and patron, the Duke of Alcala, was then Viceroy. It is not improbable that the painter travelled in the train of the Count of Monterey, who left his post at Rome to kiss the hand of the Infanta Maria, the Infanta who in her girlhood had rejected the Prince of Wales, and who, as the affianced bride of her cousin, Ferdinand, King of Hungary, was now on her way to Vienna and the Imperial throne. At Naples Velazquez had the tact to conciliate the esteem, without incurring the jealousy of his countryman, the Valencian Ribera ; who, with his ruffianly partisans, Corenzio and Caracciolo, had established a sort of reign of terror in the republic of art. Amongst the eminent masters who then illustrated the school of Naples, at its brightest epoch, the brilliant Massimo Stanzione, who was called the Neapolitan Guido Reni, appears principally to have attracted the admiration of Velazquez ; and the influence of the style of the Italian may often be traced in the subsequent per- formances of the Spaniard.
722
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Return to Madrid ;
reception at Court.
During the Infanta's visit of four months, Naples was the scene of constant festivities, which the ex- chequer of the kingdom could ill afford, but which enabled Velazquez to see the gay city in its gayest aspect. The Infanta did not neglect the opportunity of sitting to him for her portrait. The picture was painted for the gallery of her brother of Spain. Embarking, probably at Naples, for one of the Spanish ports, Velazquez reached Madrid in the spring of 1631.
Arriving at Madrid, he was kindly received by Olivares, who highly commended his moderation in returning home within the two years allowed for his tour. By the minister's advice, he lost no time in appearing in the royal presence, to kiss hands, and thank his Majesty for his faithful observance of his promise that no other artist should paint his portrait,1 a fidelity for which Philip, indeed, deserves some credit, if Rubens paid a second visit to Madrid dur- ing the absence of the patentee of the monopoly.2 Like the favourite, the King received him graci- ously ; and directed that his studio should be removed to the northern gallery of the Alcazar, com- manding a view of the Escorial, and probably situated nearer to the royal apartments than his previous rooms in the Treasury. Here Philip was accustomed
1 Supra, p. 693.
2 Supra, cliap. viii. p. 640.
REIGN OF PHILir IV.
723
to visit Velazquez, almost every day, and mark the progress of his works, letting himself in at pleasure, by means of a private key ; and here he would sit for his portrait, sometimes for three hours at a time.1
The first picture painted by Velazquez, after his return, was a portrait, the first of many, of the Infant Balthazar Carlos, Prince of Asturias, born during his absence in Italy. He was soon afterwards called to assist in the deliberations of the King and the Count-Duke, on the subject of a statue of the former, for the gardens of Buenretiro. The Florentine Tacca being chosen to execute the work, the minister wrote to the Grand l)uke and Duchess of Tuscany, to obtain their co-operation and advice. To guide the sculptor in the attitude and the likeness, the Duke suggested that an equestrian portrait should be sent, which was accordingly executed, as well as a half- length portrait, by Velazquez. To make assurance doubly sure, the Sevillian Montafies furnished a model, and the result was the noble bronze statue which now stands in front of the Palace at Madrid,2 bearing the impress of the mind of Velazquez.
Portraiture seems to have chiefly occupied, for some years, the pencil of Velazquez. His fine eques- trian pictures of Philip III. and Queen Margaret,
1 Pacheco, p. 105. 2 Supra, chap. viii. p.
601.
CH. IX.
Portrait of Infant Bal- thazar Carlos.
Equestrian portrait of the King.
Equestrian portraits of Philip III. and Queen Margaret.
724
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CHVIX.
Equestrian portrait of the Count- Duke of Olivares.
in which he, doubtless, availed himself of the works of Pantoja, were probably executed soon after his return from Italy. They are now in the Royal Gallery at Madrid.1 The solemn, stolid king, baton in hand, and dressed in trunk hose, cuirass, ruff, and a small black hat, goes prancing along the sea- shore on a dun horse, which he sits with the easy air of a man who, in his youth, had distinguished himself in the games of the manege.2 His consort, in a rich dark dress, and mounted on a piebald jennet, of which the mane and embroidered housings almost sweep the ground, takes the air at the gentler pace befitting a matronly queen ; behind her extends a wide landscape, closed by solitary mountains.
To the same period may be referred another equestrian portrait of life-size, that of the Count- Duke of Olivares, which graces the same gallery.3 Velazquez, doubtless, put forth all his skill in pour- traying this powerful patron ; and the picture en- joyed so high a reputation in Spain, that Cean Ijermudez considered it superfluous either to describe or to praise it. The minister, dressed in a cuirass and crimson scarf, looks back over his left shoulder,
1 Catdlogo [1843], Nos. 230, 234 [edition 1889, Nos. 1064 and 1065].
2 Florez, Las Reynas Cath6licas, torn. ii. p. 927. Vicente Espinel, Vida de Marcos de Obreyon, 4to, Madrid, 1744, p. 167, records the gallantry with which Philip III. led his quadrilla in tkcjucgos de canas.
3 Catdlogo [1843], No- *77 [edition 1889, No. 1069].
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
725
as he turns his horse's head towards a battle raging in the far distance, in the conduct of which, by a poetical licence, he is supposed to be concerned. His countenance, shaded by a broad black hat, is noble and commanding ; he has a profusion of brown locks, and his long thick moustachios curl with still greater fierceness than those of his lord and master. The horse is a prancing bay stallion, of the Andalusian breed, which, says Palomino, with a pleasant pomp of diction, " drinks from the Betis, not only the swiftness of its waters, but also the majesty of its flow." l Both in face and figure, this portrait confirms the literary sketch by Voiture, who describes the Count-Duke as one of the best horse- men and handsomest gallants of Spain,2 and belies the hideous caricature of Le Sage.3 Lord Elgin4 possesses a fine repetition of this picture, of a smaller size, in which the horse is white instead of bay. If there be any fault in these delightful pieces of true history-painting, it is that the saddle is rather nearer the shoulder of the horse than the
1 " Que bebio del JBetis, no solo la ligereza con que corren sus aguas sino la magestad con que camiuan." Pal., torn. iii. p. 494.
2 (Euvrcs tie Voiture, torn. ii. p. 270; see also Marcos de Obregon, p. 1 68.
3 Gil Bias, book xi. ch. 2, where he is described as having shoulders so high that he appears humpbacked, an enormous head, sallow skin, long face, and pointed chin turning upwards.
4 At Broomhall, Fifeshire. [Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition, 1857, No. 789 ; Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1876.]
CH. IX.
726
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
en. ix,
Duke of Modcna.
fore - shortening jus;tifies. Velazquez painted many other portraits of Olivares. That which hung in the late King of Holland's private gallery, now dis- persed, is one of the best of those in which the minister is not painted in the saddle. It represents him standing in a black velvet dress, with the green cross of Alcantara on his breast, and knots of green ribbon on his cloak, and looking to perfection his three-fold character, as the high-bred noble, the sleek favourite, and the adroit politician.1
In 1638, Duke Francis I., of Modena,2 came to Madrid to act as godfather to the Infanta Maria Theresa, who was baptized on the 7th October in that year. He caused Velazquez to paint his portrait, and was so pleased with the performance, that he rewarded him with a gold chain, which the artist used to wear on days of gala.
1 [Sold in 1850, and now in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg, No. 421.] There is an excellent repetition of this picture in the collection of Colonel Hugh Baillie, M.P., 34 Mortimer Street, Cavendish Square, London [sold I5th May 1858 ; again sold at the Charles Scans- brick sale, loth May 1861; now in the possession of Robert S. Holford, Esq., London ; British Institution, 1855 ; Manchester Art Treasures, 1857, No. 737], and an indifferent one in the Louvre, Gal. Esp., No. 291. [Sold at the Louis-Philippe sale, May 1853 (No. 151), to Henry Farrar, and again sold by him in 1863 to Henry Huth, Esq. ; now in possession of Mrs. Huth, Wykehurst, Surrey ; British Institution, 1864. In the article (by Richard Ford) on the Louis-Philippe sale, Athenaeum, May I4th, 1853, it is called "a tine painting attributed to Velazquez, but very much in the manner of Zurbaran."]
2 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 492, says Francis III., in which lie is followed by Cumberland, Ancc., vol. ii. p. 25, although that Duke was contem- porary with the latter. [Justi, p. 291, says Francis II.]
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
727
In 1639, Velazquez produced one of his noblest pictures ; which proved that, although from choice his pencil dwelt chiefly on subjects of the earth, it could rise to the height of the loftiest theme. It was the " Crucifixion," painted for the [Benedictine] nunnery of San Placido, at Madrid. Unrelieved by the usual dim landscape, or lowering clouds, the cross in this picture has no footing upon earth, but is placed on a plain dark ground, like an ivory carv- ing on its velvet pall. Never was that great agony more powerfully depicted. The head of Our Lord droops on His right shoulder, over which falls a mass of dark hair, while drops of blood trickle from His thorn-pierced brows. The anatomy of the naked body and limbs is executed with as much precision as in Cellini's marble, which may have served Velaz- quez as a model ; and the linen cloth wrapped about the loins, and even the fir wood of the cross, display his accurate attention to the smallest details of a great subject. In conformity with the rule laid down by Pacheco,1 Our Lord's feet are held, each by a separate nail ; at the foot of the cross are the usual skull and bones, and a serpent twines itself around the accursed tree. " If there were nothing," says Cumberland, " but this single figure to immor- talize the fame of Velazquez, this alone were
CH. IX.
1 Supra, chap. vii. p. 555.
" Cruci- fixion" de las Monjaa of San Placido,
728
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Portrait of
Don
Adrian
Pulido
Pareja,
sufficient." l The sisterhood of San Placido placed it in their sacristy, a wretched cell, badly lighted by an unglazed grated window, where it remained until King Joseph and his Frenchmen came to Madrid 2 to discover
" Here in the dark so many precious things Of colour glorious and effect so rare." 3
It was afterwards exposed for sale in Paris, and redeemed at a large price by the Duke of San Fernando, who presented it to the lloyal Gallery of Spain,4 where it has been lithographed ; an in- different engraving having been previously executed by Carmona.5
In the same year, Velazquez painted a portrait of Don Adrian Pulido Pareja, knight of Santiago, and admiral of the fleet of New7 Spain. Mindful of the practice of Herrera, he executed this work with brushes of unusual length, in a bold free style, so that the canvas, highly effective when viewed from a proper distance, seemed a mere mass of blotched colours if approached too closely. It is related of Titian, that his portraits of Pope Paul III. and the
1 Cumberland, Ancc., vol. ii. p. 25.
2 [In 1808. Carl Justi, Velazquez and his Times, 8vo, London, 1889, p. 240.]
3 Paradise Lost, b. iii. 11. 611-12.
4 Catulogo [1843], ^°- S1 [edition 1889, No. 1055].
5 The engraving has a landscape background, which is quite invisible in the picture. Our sketch is taken from the lithograph.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
729
Emperor Charles V., exposed to the open air, the one on a terrace, the other beneath a colonnade, were reverently saluted by the people who went by, as if they had been the living and actual possessors of the keys of St. Peter and the sceptre of Charlemagne.1 But of this picture Palomino tells a story still more curious in itself, and flattering to Velazquez, inas- much as the scene of the deception was the studio and not the streets, and the person deceived, not a Switzer pikeman " much bemused in beer," or a simple monk from the Apennine, but one of the most acute of picture-loving kings. The admiral's portrait being finished and set aside in an obscure corner of the artist's painting room, was taken by Philip IV., in one of his morning lounges there, for the bold officer himself. " Still here ! " cried the King — in some displeasure at finding the admiral, wTho ought to have been ploughing the main, still lurking about the palace, — " having received your orders, why are you not gone ? " No excuse being offered for the delay, the royal disciplinarian dis- covered his mistake, and turning to Velazquez, said, " I assure you I was taken in." This picture was rendered interesting, both by its story, and by the artist's signature, which he rarely placed on his works, " Didacus Velazquez fecit Philip IV. a cubi-
1 Northcote, Life of Titian, vol. ii. p. 39 ; Ridolfi, Vite dci Pittori Vencti, 2 vols. Svo, Padova, 1836, vol. i. p. 222.
VOL. II. 2 A
CH. IX.
taken by the King for the original.
73°
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Portraits of Pulido Pareja in England.
culo, ejusque pictor anno j6jy." l It was afterwards in the possession of the Duke of Arcos. There are in England two full-length portraits of this admiral, both fine works of Velazquez. That in the collec- tion of Lord Kadnor,2 is painted on a brown back- ground, with no accessory object whatever, and the canvas is inscribed with the name, " Adrian Pulido- pareja" It represents a grave Castilian gentleman, with a bronze weather-beaten face, and a head of thick black hair ; his dress is of black velvet, with sleeves of flowered white satin, and a broad falling collar of white lace ; he has a sword girt to his side by a white belt ; and in his right hand he holds a truncheon, and in the left, a hat. The Duke of Bedford's portrait bears the insciption, " Adrian Pulido Pareja, Capitan General de la Armada y flota de Nueva Espana, fallecio en la ciudad de Nueva Vera Cruz 1664? The admiral is there depicted as a swarthy man of singularly surly aspect, with beetling brows and shaggy hair and mous- tachios ; his dress is black, with white sleeves and collar, and the red cross of Santiago on his breast ;
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 492.
2 At Longford Castle [Royal Academy, 1873. It has just been bought from Lord Radnor for the National Gallery. Athenaeum, i2th July 1890. —ED.].
8 [At Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire.] Exhibited at the British Institu- tion, Pall Mall [1818], 1846 [Manchester Art Treasures, 1857, No. 727 ; Koyui Academy Winter Exhibition, 1800, No. 133].
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
and he stands as before, hat and truncheon in hand. Behind his head there is a red curtain, and in the background a tall galleon under a cloud of canvas.
The Alcazar of Madrid abounded with dwarfs in the days of Philip IV., wrho was very fond of having them about him, and collected curious specimens of the race, like other rarities. The Queen of Spain's gallery is, in consequence, rich in portraits of these little monsters, executed by Velazquez. They are, for the most part, very ugly, displaying, sometimes in an extreme degree, the deformities peculiar to their stunted growth. Maria Barbola, immortalised by a place in one of Velazquez's most celebrated pictures,1 was a little dame about three feet and a half in height, with head and shoulders of a large woman, and a countenance much under-jawed, and almost ferocious in expression. Her companion, Nicolasito Pertusano, although better proportioned than the lady, and of a more amiable aspect, wras very inferior in elegance as a royal plaything to his contemporary, the valiant Sir Geoffrey Hudson,2 or to his successor in the next reign, the pretty Luisillo of Queen Louisa of Orleans.3 Velazquez painted
1 Catdlogo [1843], ^°- J55 [edition 1889, No. 1062 ; Las Meninas, see infra, p. 769].
2 At least as he appears, with a little monkey on his shoulder, in Vandyck's fine portrait, of Henrietta Maria, in the collection of Lord Fiuwilliam, exhibited at the British Institution in 1846.
3 Mine. d'Aulnoy, Voyage, torn. iii. p. 225,
CH. IX.
Portraits of dwarfs.
Maria Barbola.
Nicolasito Pertusano.
732
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
"I3obo de Coria."
" Nino de Balleeas."
Revolts in Catalonia and Portu- gal.
many portraits of these little creatures, generally seated on the ground ;l and there is a large picture in the Louvre representing two of them, leading by a cord a great spotted hound, to which they bear the same proportion that men of the usual size bear to a horse.2 He also left a curious study of one of the women dwarfs, in the nude state, and in the char- acter of Silenus.3 Amongst his grotesque pictures of this time, his Laughing Idiot, known as the Bobo de Coria,* deserves notice for its humour ; as also does the "Boy of Balleeas,"5 who passed for a pheno- menon, having been born, it is said, of a prodigious bulk, and, like Richard III., with a mouth full of teeth, so
" That he could gnaw a crust at two hours old." 6
Whilst these pleasant pictures were starting into life in the northern gallery of the Alcazar, the un- wise and unjust government of Olivares had driven Catalonia into disaffection, and at last into revolt.
1 Catdlogo [1843], Nos. 246, 255, 279 [edition 1889, Nos. 1095-7].
2 Gal. Esp,, No. 299 [sold in Louis-Philippe sale, 1853, No. 319, as " Two children of Philip IV." (Ford, Athcnceum, 2ist May 1853). "The picture now belongs to Count Raczynski, Berlin, who attributes it to Van Kessel."— Curtis, V. No. 75b. p. 33].
3 Captain Widdrington says he saw it ; Spain and the Spaniards in 1843, vol. ii. p. 20. [Curtis, V. No. 750. p. 33, says, "This is doubtless the picture by Carrefio, belonging to the heirs of the Infant Don Sebastian at Pau."]
4 Catdlogo [1843], No. 291 [edition 1889, No. 1099].
5 Ibid. No. 284 [edition 1889, No. 1098].
6 King Richard HI,, act ii. sc. 4 [1. 28].
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
733
The turbulent citizens of Barcelona, ever ripe for a bombardment, having slain their Viceroy and seized the fortress of Monjuich, received a strong French garrison with open arms. On the opposite frontier, Portugal, improving the favourable moment, threw off the yoke of Spain, and placed the Duke of 13ra- ganza on the throne. Philip IV. was at last roused, and in the spring of 1642 he determined to overawe the Catalans by his presence. The household, in- cluding Velazquez, and the court comedians, were summoned to attend him to Zaragoza. The first stage, however, in the royal progress, was Aranjuez, lying on the road, not to Aragon, but to Andalusia. Embosomed in a valley and an unshorn forest, and refreshed by the Tagus and the Xarama, which mingle their streams beneath the palace- walls, Aranjuez has long been the Tivoli or Windsor of the princes, and the Tempe of the poets of Castile.1 Even now, the
1 Anil even of the grave divines, for Fray Juan de Tolosa, Prior of the Augustines of Zaragoza, wrote a religious treatise, which he dedicated to the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, and called Aranjuez del Alma, a modo de didlofjos, 4to, impresso en el Monesterio de Augustinos de Qara- goca, 1589. In the prologo, the good Prior informs us that he wrote chiefly to "desterrar de nuestra Espafia esta polvareda de libros de cavallerias (que Hainan) o de vellaquerias (que yo llamo) que tienen ciegos los ojos de tantas personas, que (sin reparar en el dano que hazen a sus almas) se dan a ellos, consumiendo la mayor parte del afro, en saber si Don Belianis de Grecia vencio el castillo encantado, y si Don Florisen de Niquea (despues de tantas batallas) celebro el casamiento que deseava." And the better to entrap the readers of books of chivalry, the worthy forerunner of Don Quixote's curate called his curious dialogues the .4 raw-
CH. IX.
Northern journey of the Court.
Aranjuez.
734
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. ix. 1 traveller who comes weary and adust from brown La Mancha, and from the edge of the desert looks down on the palace, sparkling with its long white arcades and gilded vanes amongst woods and waters, may share the raptures of Garcilasso and Calderon. The island garden, after being for long deserted by royalty and grandeeship, and left alone with its bright sun and rivers, its marble statues and foun- tains half hid in thickets, is again carefully kept ; the elms of Charles V.1 and his son, huge and vener- able ruins, are shrouded by the vigorous growth of younger trees ; and cathedral-walks of hornbeam and plane, peopled with a melodious multitude of night- ingales, lead to blooming parterres and fragrant gardens of trimly-trained roses. The water-pipes that once climbed unseen amongst the branches, and played from the tops of the trees,2 have indeed ceased to play ; but those of the architectural foun- tains are still in full force ; and a few camels, parad- ing to and fro with garden burdens, preserve an oriental custom of the place, as old as the days of
j'uez of the Soul, "par parccer.se en algo," that is, in a spiritual sense, " al quo tan cerca de su Corte tiene el Hey nue^tro sefior, tan lleno de diversas cosas, que pueden dar gusto a la vista corporal."
1 Beckford, Letters from Spain, No. xvii.
2 Lady Faushawe, Memoirs, pp. 222-3. Voyage en JSspagne, 4to, Paris,
1669, p. 50. Voyages fails en Espagne, en Portugal, rt-c., par M. M ,
121110, Amsterdam, 1699, p. 70. Both the English ambassadress and the French abbe confess that they never saw garden-alleys so noble as those at Aranjuez.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
735
Philip II.1 Here Velazquez attended his master in his walks, or sat retired in " pleached bowers," not- ing the fine effects of summer sunlight and silvan shade, and making many sketches of sweet garden scenes. Some of these have found their way to the Royal Gallery ; such as the fine view of the Avenue of the Queen,2 enlivened by coaches and promenaders from the palace. Another is a study of the Fountain of the Tritons,3 a rich piece of sculpture in white marble sometimes attributed to the chisel of Berru- guete,4 not unlike that which refreshed the garden of Boccaccio's immortal palace.5 Through the boughs of over-arching trees, the light falls brokenly on a group of courtly figures, that might pass for the fair sisterhood and gallant following of Pampinea.
From Aranjuez the King moved in June to the ancient city of Cuenca, and resided there for a month, amusing himself with the chase and the drama. After a short halt at Molina, he proceeded to Zaragoza, where he spent part of the autumn, returning, before winter, to Madrid. Although
CH. IX.
Views of Aranjuez, by Velaz- quez.
Visit to Cuenca, Molina, and Zara- goza.
1 J. A. Alvarez de Quindos y Bacna, Description Hist6rica de Aranjuez, 8vo, Madrid, 1804, p. 332. The breed was suffered to become extinct iu 1774, but has since been revived.
2 Catdlogo [1843], No. 540 [edition 1889, No. mo].
3 Ibid. No. 145 [edition 1889, No. 1109].
4 Ponz, torn. i. p. 248.
B Decamerone, Giorn. iii. Nov. i ; Operc volgari di Boccaccio, 6 vo's. 8vo, Firenze, 1827, vol. ii. p. 15, a passage that can never be sufficiently studied by painters and landscape architects.
736
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. ix. Philip did not take any very active part in the campaign, this northern progress must have afforded
Velazquez an opportunity of studying the picturesque in military affairs.
We have a slight glimpse of Velazquez during his residence at Zaragoza. The capital of Aragon
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
737
had hardly fulfilled its early promise of artistic eminence. In the fifteenth century it had furnished Ferdinand the Catholic with a court portrait-painter of some skill, Pedro Aponte,1 to whom was attributed the trick which imposed on the Moors of Granada, and secured the camp at Santa Fe with walls of painted canvas. A generation later, the sculptor Damian Forment 2 had erected in the cathedrals of Zaragoza and Huesca two of the most rich and beautiful marble altars in the world. In no city of Spain were the nobles lodged in finer palaces, remarkable for the architectural grandeur of their galleried courts, their sculptured staircases, and spacious halls and chambers of state. As regards painting, however, the capitals of the Castiles, Valencia, and the southern kingdoms had far out- stripped the metropolis of less polished Aragon. But it happened that there was living here, at this time, a painter of considerable ability, Jusepe Martinez, whose practical " Discourses on Painting " 3
1 [" The true founder of the Aragonese school was Pedro de Aponte, who studied in Italy under Luca Signorelli and Ghirlandajo, and brought back their precepts to Spain. He was painter to Juan II. of Aragon, and after- wards to Ferdinand V., whom he accompanied to Castile in 1479." — Paint- ing, Spanish and French, by Gerard W. Smith, i2mo, London, 1884, p. 14.]
2 [Supra, chap. iii. p. 152.]
3 Discursos practicablcs del nobilisimo arte de lapintura, sus rudimentos medios y fines que enseiia la espcriencia con los ejeinplares de obras insignes de artifices ilustres ; por Jusepe Martinez, pintor de S. M. D. Felipe IV., y del Serenisimo Sr D. Juan de Austria a quien dedicaesta obra, sm. 4to, Zaragoza, 1853, pp. 216 and two leaves 01 index. This work, although
CH. TX.
Pedro
Aponte.
Jnsepe Martinez.
738
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. ix. give him also an important place amongst the few early Spanish writers on art. Born at Zaragoza in 1612, he had spent some years in his youth — one of them was 1625 — in Italy, studying his pro- fession, and he was now the acknowledged head of it in his native city. With Velazquez he imme- diately formed an intimate friendship, and various notices of the Castilian's conversation occur in the book of the Aragonese. When Velazquez had a picture to paint, or a portrait to finish, he seems to have used the studio of Martinez. On one of these occasions he was engaged on the portrait of a young lady, " a work," says his friend, " of great excellence, like the other productions of his hand." But its merits did not ensure him against the vexa- tions to which portrait-painters, of all degrees, are liable, and which neither Titian nor Vandyck escaped. When the picture was taken home, although the father was content, the daughter was so dissatisfied that she refused to allow it to be left in the house. The perplexed parent, asking the reason, was told by the young lady that she was generally disappointed with the performance, and especially with the great
known to Ponz and Cean Bermudez, and highly praised by them, re- mained in MS. till 1853, when it was published by Don Mariano Nougouds Secall, Secretary of the Academy of S. Luis, first in the shape of a feuillcton, in the Diario Zaragozano, and afterwards in the form men- tioned above. The latter impression was very small, not exceeding, I believe, forty copies.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
739
injustice that had been done to her collar, which had been of the finest point lace of Flanders.
It seems probable that many of the notices and anecdotes of the painters of Madrid, Toledo, and other southern schools, which occur in Martinez's volume, were given him by Velazquez ; and he cites his authority expressly, when he says that the Sevil- lian Delgado was a still better sculptor than his master, Gaspar Becerra.1
Amongst the more remarkable works of Martinez still existing are a series of fifteen or sixteen pictures of the life of Our Lady, which decorate the Chapel Nra- Senora de la Blanca2 in the Cathedral of the Seu at Zaragoza. They are finely disposed and coloured, and contain heads which afford evidence that he had been strongly impressed, during his travels in Italy, by the style of Parmegiano. The portrait of the Archbishop of Apaolara, who is repre- sented kneeling before the Virgin, in one of these pictures, renders it probable that the series was presented to the chapel by that prelate. It is one of the best of the collection ; and the Archbishop's likeness is painted with something of the force of
1 Discursos Practicables, p. 176.
2 Ceau Bermudez has fallen into the mistake of attributing to Martinez instead of these pictures, a collection of works by a very inferior hand in the chapel of Nra- Senora de las Nieves, a name for which de la Blanca is sometimes used. I am enabled to correct the error on the authority of my friend Don Valentin Carderera, himself an eminent son of Zaragoza, and a leading artist at Madrid.
CH. IX.
740
REIGN OF PHILIP IV,
CH. IX.
Don Hen. de Guz- man, alias Julian do Valcarcel, adopted son of Olivures.
Velazquez. He engraved, in 1631, an excellent portrait of Matias Piedra.
Philip IV. honoured Martinez by naming him one of his painters-in-ordinary, on the loth of June, 1642, on the recommendation of Velazquez. At the King's death Martinez executed two large pictures, one of them the equestrian portrait of Philip, for the catafalque which was erected by the corporation for the funeral rites celebrated in the Cathedral. The other represented the magistrates of the city, clad in mourning, and gazing at some allegorical figures in the clouds. Both are preserved, though in a very sorry plight, in the noble and neglected hall of the Exchange. Martinez enjoyed the favour of Don Juan of Austria, as well as that of his father ; but he was not induced, by hopes of further patronage and advancement, to leave his nation- ality for the capital. He died at Zaragoza, in 1682, aged seventy.
The year 1643 saw the disgrace and banishment of the minister Olivares. The proximate cause of his downfall was the adoption of a bastard, of ques- tionable paternity, as his heir, which alienated the support of his own great house, and embittered the enmity of others. This Julianillo, as he was called, was son of a celebrated courtezan, whose favours Olivares, in his youth, had shared with half the gallants of Madrid. His reputed father was one
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
Valcarcel, who, having spent his fortune on the mother, had formerly been compelled, by Olivares himself, to acknowledge the child. Growing up a worthless profligate, the hopeful youth went to seek his fortune in Mexico, where he narrowly escaped the gallows, and he afterwards served as a common soldier in Flanders and Italy. Returning to Spain, when the Count-Duke had lost his only daughter, and all hopes of legitimate offspring, Julianillo be- came the opportune instrument in the hands of an unscrupulous statesman to frustrate the expectations of his hated kindred of the houses of Medina-Sidonia and Carpio. Not only did Olivares declare him his heir, by the name of Don Henrique de Guzman, and procure the annulment of his marriage with a prostitute, but he re-married him to the daughter of the Constable of Castile, invested him with orders, titles, and high offices of state, and actually con- ceived the design of making this baseborn vagabond —once a ballad-singer in the streets of the capital l — governor of the heir-apparent, and in the end, prime-minister of Spain. Amongst other means which he took of introducing the new Guzman — his reclaimed prodigal — to the world, was to cause Velazquez to paint his portrait. There he appears in a buff coat, with a red scarf and breeches, holding
Voyage (VEspagnc, Pari.s, 1669, p. 284.
C1I. IX.
His por- trait
painted by Velazquez.
742
CH. IX.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
in one hand a hat with blue and white feathers, and in the other a badge of an order ; l the new fine clothes, and the new cross of Alcantara given by his new father, that he might do honour to his new name and new rank in the presence of his new wife.2 His complexion is dark, and his countenance somewhat melancholy ; but his air, in spite of a youth spent in stews and sutlers' booths, is that of a gentleman and Castilian.3 Of this interesting historical portrait, the upper part only is finished, the rest being left incomplete, perhaps because Julianillo had relapsed into his proper obscurity. Formerly in the collection of the Count of Altamira, it is now in England, in the gallery of the Earl of Ellesmere.4
1 Of Alcantara ; Curtis, V. No. 194, p. So.
2 One of the pasquinades circulated about the upstart Guzman ran thus —
" Enriquez de dos nombres y de dos mugeres Hijo de dos padres y de dos madres, Valgate el diablo el hombre que mas quisieres."
Guidi, Rdation. p. 123, and Ferrante Pallavicino, La disgratia del Cotite d'Olivarez ; Opere scclte, 121110, Villafranca, 1671-3, p. 314.
3 "II somblait avoir toujours 6t6 ce qu'il est deveuu par hazard," says Le Sage. — Gil Bias, b. xii. chap. iv.
4 Mrs. Jameson, Companion to the Private Galleries, p. 132 [note], says "the figure in this picture is that of a youth of eighteen or nineteen." Juiianillo did not go to Mexico till nearly that age, and was not recog- nised by Olivares till he was nearly thirty. — Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. i. pp. 345, 346. Lord Eliesmere made the acquaintance of the pretender to the Guzman grandeeships in the Altamira Gallery, at Madrid, and meet- ing him some years after in a sale-room in London, bought him for a trifle. The strange story of the man, and the merits of the picture, render this one of the most interesting portraits by Velazquez in England,
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
743
The last portrait of the Count-Duke, while yet in his pride of place, which Velazquez painted, is per- haps that which occurs in the small picture of the royal court of manege, now in the possession of the Duke of Westminster.1 In the foreground, the Infant Balthazar Carlos, a boy of twelve or thirteen, prances on a piebald jennet, behind which a dwarf is dimly discernible ; farther off Olivares, who held, amongst a countless number of offices, that of riding-master to the heir-apparent, stands in a dark dress and white boots, conversing with two men, one of whom offers him a lance ; and from a balcony at an adjacent window, the King, Queen, and a little Infanta look down upon the scene.
This picture was probably completed only a short time before the Count-Duke, finding his position in the royal closet seriously affected by the pressure from without, tendered his resignation of office, which, to his surprise and mortification, was imme-
where his works are so rare. Yet, at the time that it was sold for an old song, fashion-led amateurs were giving vast sums for the faces of obscure Genoese nobles, merely as specimens of Vandyck. May Julianillo long grace the Egerton gallery, a proof that its lord can appreciate, as well as pay for, its pearls of great price, and, with nicer judgment than the noble patron of Herrera (infra, chap, xii.), choose the rose in a wilderness of thistles.
1 Mrs. Jameson, Comp. to Priv. Gal., p. 262. [Royal Academy Winter Exhibition, 1890, No. 138.] A duplicate was in the possession of Don Jose" Madrazo at Madrid, in 1827 (Allan Cunningham's Life of Sir David Wilkie, vol. ii. p. 496), but I did not see it in his collection in 1845. The picture is mentioned by Palomino, torn. iii. p. 494, as being in his time a highly-prized ornament of the palace of the Marquess of Heliche.
CH. IX.
Last por- trait of the Count- Duke.
Fall of Olivares.
"44
REIGN OF PHILIP IV,
OH. IX.
Remem- bered by the Grand Inquisitor and Velaz- quez.
diately accepted. Retiring by the King's order to Loeches, he amused himself for six months with his farm and his dogs, by writing an apology for his life, and perhaps by visiting the pictures of Rubens, which he had given to the conventual church. But his place of exile being changed to Toro, a decaying town on the Duero, thirty- seven leagues from the capital, he sank into melancholy and the study of magic, and died, in two years, of a broken heart. Of all the courtiers and statesmen whose fortunes he had made, there were few who failed to display the proverbial ingratitude of their order. Amongst those of them who could remember a fallen minister, one was the Grand Inquisitor, who requited Olivares for two mitres by quietly interposing difficulties in the way of a prosecution raised against him before the Holy Office, as a practitioner of the black art. Another was Velazquez, who sincerely mourned the misfortunes of his benefactor, and visited him in his exile, probably at Loeches. In an age when a disgraced favourite was treated, generally perhaps with much justice, as a state criminal, this act of gratitude was highly honourable to the artist. It is no less honourable to the King, his master, that friendly intercourse with the late minister was not punished by the withdrawal of court favour. Indeed, it seems to have had a contrary effect on his fortunes, for in the very year of Olivares's dismissal, Velaz-
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
745
quez was made gentleman of the royal chamber (ayuda de camara).
In this year, and the next, 1644, Velazquez again accompanied the Court on expeditions to Aragon. On the Flemish field of Eocroy, the great Conde had just reaped his first laurels, and the Austrian eagle had been beaten, as that imperial bird had never been beaten before, by the Gallic cock. Vigorous measures were now needful ; and the rebels and their French allies in Catalonia could no longer be safely trifled with. Philip IV. therefore took the field in person ; pranced at the head of his troops, attired in regal purple ; laid siege to Lerida ; and, after displaying considerable energy and ability, entered that city in triumph on the 7th of August, I644-1 He made his entry, dressed in a splendid suit of purple and gold, glittering with gems, and waving with plumes, and mounted on a fine Neapolitan charger.2 In this gallant guise he caused Velazquez to paint his portrait.
The joy at Court which followed the fall of Lerida was soon changed to mourning by the death of the good Queen Isabella, " the best and most lamented
1 Cean Bermudez says the 8th of August, but I prefer adopting the date which I find iu Ortiz, Compendia Cronol6gico de la Hist, dc Espaiia, torn. vi. p. 446.
2 Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 372.
VOL. II. 2 B
CH. IX.
Excursions to Ara- gon.
Taking of Lorida.
Portrait by Velazquez.
Death of Queen
Isabella.
746
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Her last pen-trait by Velazquez.
Portraits of Infant Don Bal- thazar Car- los.
Queen of Spain " 1 since the days of Isabella the Catholic.2 The last portrait which Velazquez painted of this royal lady was the fine equestrian picture, now in the Queen of Spain's gallery.3 Here the dress of Isabella is of black velvet, richly embroidered with pearls ; and contrasts well with the flowing mane of her gently-pacing steed, milk-white in colour, and in shape the perfection of an Andalusian palfrey. Her cheeks whisper that the pencil and rouge-pot, the bane of Castilian beauty,4 were not banished from her toilette ; but the artificial roses have been planted by the dexterous hand of a French- woman, and merely heighten the lustre of her large black eyes. This picture was painted as a com- panion piece to the equestrian portrait of the King, executed seventeen or eighteen years before, soon after his return from Seville.5
Velazquez afterwards painted the Prince of Asturias, nearly of life-size, mounted on a bay pony, and galloping out of the picture towards the spec- tator. The little cavalier is dressed, like his father,
1 So Bossuet calls her, in his funeral sermon on the death of her daughter, Maria Theresa, Queen of France ; CEuvres Comjiletes, 19 tomes, 8vo, Besangon, torn. vii. p. 68 1.
- Many hundred verses in her honour may be read in the Pompa funeral, honras y cxcquias en la muertc dc la mny alta y Catulica Scnora Dona Isabel de Borbon, 4to, Madrid, 1645, with her portrait, by Villa- franca.
3 Catalogo [1843], No. 303 [edition 1889, No. 1067].
4 Supra, chap. i. p. 45. 5 Supra, p. 697.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
747
in a cuirass, crimson scarf, and plumed hat; he is full of boyish glee and spirit ; and his miniature steed is admirably foreshortened. There is a small repetition of this picture at Dulwich College ; l another is in the collection of Mr. Rogers.2 Besides this picture,3 the Royal Gallery of Madrid possesses three other full-length portraits of this Infant, all by Velazquez. In two of them he appears in shooting costume,4 on one occasion with an admirably painted dog ; and in the third he is in a rich gala dress.5 In the choice collection of Mr. Wells0 he may likewise be seen, charmingly pourtrayed by the same master, in a suit of black velvet, slashed and richly laced. Behind him is a chest covered with
1 [Mrs. Jameson, Handbook to the, Public Galleries, London, 1845 (Dulwich, No. 194), p. 474. Catalogue of the Pictures in the Dulwich College Gallery, by Jean Paul Riehter, Ph.D., and John C. L. Sparkes, 8vo, London, 1880, p. 172. Justi (p. 313) says this " is not a sketch" (as Mrs. Jameson calls it), " but an old copy, without a trace of the colour and light effects of (lie original."]
" In 22 St. James's Place, London [sold at Samuel Rogers's sale, May 2nd, 1856, to the Marquess of Hertford ; now the property of Sir Richard Wallace, Bart.; Manchester Exhibition, 1857 ; Royal Academy, Old Masters, 1890, No. 136].
3 Catdlogo [1843], No. 332 [edition 1889, No. 1068].
4 Ibid. [1843], Nos. 270 (with dog) and 308 [edition 1889, Nos. 1076 and mS ; the last-mentioned has been catalogued since 1872 as only "of the school of Velazquez." In the Catdlogo dcscriptivo e histtfrico, por Don Pedro de Madrazo, Madrid, 1872, the grounds for its rejection as a veri- table Velazquez are stated, p. 643].
5 Ibid. No. 115 [edition 1889, No. 1083].
0 At Redleaf, Kent [sold May latli, 1848, to the Marquess of Hertford ; now the property of Sir Richard Wallace, Bart.; British Institution, 1828, 1837; Manchester, 1857; Royal Academy, 1872].
CTT. IX.
748
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
" Sur- render of Breda," or " Cua- dro de las Lanzas."
crimson velvet and adorned with gold, which deserves notice, because it exactly agrees with the description of those which contained the rich toilette furniture presented by Philip IV. to the Prince of Wales.1 Few pictures excel this in lustre and brilliancy of colour. The Prince, whom Velazquez has thus immortalised, was a good-humoured round- faced boy, who gave no promise of intellectual excellence, and who died in his seventeenth year.
Between 1645 an^ 1648, Velazquez painted, for the palace of Buenretiro,2 his noble " Surrender of Breda," 3 a picture executed with peculiar care, per- haps out of regard for the memory of his illustrious friend and fellow-traveller Spinola,4 who died not long after they parted, in his Italian command, a victim of the ingratitude of the Spanish court. It represents that great general, the last Spain ever had, in one of the proudest moments of his career, receiving, in 1625, the keys of Breda from Prince Justin of Nassau, who conducted the obstinate defence. The victor, clad in dark mail, and re-
1 Annals of King James and King Charles I., p. 75.
2 [Now in the Museo del Prado, Catdlogo, 1889, No. 1060. Probably the iinest representation of this fine picture is the beautiful etching by Mr. Robert W. Macbeth, A.R.A., published in London in 1888, which he executed from the picture itself, and in which he seems to have repro- duced everything but colour. — ED.]
3 Calderon, who was present at the siege, has made it the subject of a play, The Siege of Breda. See Trench's Calderon, p. 20.
4 Supra, p. 707.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
749
markable for easy dignity of mien, meets his van- quished foe hat in hand, and prepares to embrace him with generous cordiality. Behind the leaders stand their horses and attendants, and beyond the staff of Spinola there is a line of pikemen, whose pikes, striping the blue sky, have caused the picture to be known as that of " The Lances." Prince Justin lacks the high-bred air of the Genoese noble ; and indeed the contrast between the soldiers of Spain and Holland is marked throughout with a somewhat malicious pencil, the former being all gentlemen and Castilians, and the latter all Dutch boors with immeasurable breeches, looking on with stupid wonder, like the Swiss guards in Rafael's "Mass of Bolscna," at the Vatican. The dark handsome head with a plumed hat, to the extreme left of the picture, is said to be the portrait of the artist.1
1 [Justi, p. 205, says the figure "is certainly not Velazquez."] The original sketch, in oils, for this great historical picture is still in existence. I saw it in London (April 231x1, iS6o), in the possession of Don Ricardo de Bouquet, of St. Sebastian. It is on canvas, 35 inches high by 43^ in width. The design appears to have been more extended than the size of the finished work permitted ; and the sketch contains a greater number of figures, which are also less crowded together than those in the picture. The general arrangement and grouping are nearly the same in both. But, in several important particulars, the sketch is superior to the picture in both sentiment and efl'ect. In the former, Spinola stands, bowing slightly, yet very courteously, to his approaching foe ; while in the latter he bends rather lower and is in the act of placing his right hand on Prince Justin's left shoulder. The distance between the Nether- lander and his conqueror is greater in the sketch, and that gives effect to
CH. IX.
75°
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Unsuccess- ful portrait of the King.
About this time he painted the King once more, armed and upon horseback. But this portrait, on being exhibited, did not meet with the applause generally rendered to his works. While some praised, others censured, alleging that the horse was not drawn according to the rules and models of the manege. Teased with the contrary opinions of the critics, Velazquez at last expunged the greater part of the picture, writing at the same time on the can- vas, " Didacus Velazquius, Pictor Regis, expinxit" l
both. Spinola is also rather farther from his horse, which supposes him not to have waited to dismount — as the picture does — until his foe was close to his stirrup. Spinola's dress is the same in both. Justin, in the picture, holds one key, and wears a brown suit ; in the sketch he has two keys, and is in black — whether with or without a cuirass is uncertain. The lances, instead of being ranged in hedge-like order close to the eye, are thrown farther back, and more into perspective ; and their formality is broken up by a couple of crimson Hags, lying in folds on their staves. The chequered ilag with its red bar, is, in the sketch, white ; and the perfect accuracy and straightness with which each lance appears to have been marked on the canvas at one stroke with very little paint, is worthy of notice. The figure which is supposed to be Velazquez himself occupies a more prominent place in the sketch than in the picture. Dressed in black, and with his hat off, he stands behind and beyond Spinola, pre- senting a full front to the spectator. The sky, in the sketch, is very hastily rubbed in, and is very blue. On the whole, the picture would have been liner had it more closely followed the sketch ; and there is reason to believe that the painter must have been curtailed in his plan by too small a canvas, or some similar cause. The sketch was bought by Don llicardo de Bouquet at Valladolid, where it once belonged to a Duchess de Gor, descending to her from her ancestors, the Vizcondes de Valloria.
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 496, says this picture bore also an inscription, signifying that it belonged to the year 1625, the twentieth of the King's age. If it were painted at this time, between 1644-8, it must have been taken from an earlier portrait, perhaps that executed in 1624-5; see supra, p. 697.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
751
He was more fortunate in the portrait of his friend the poet Francisco de Quevedo, now in the col- lection of the Duke of Wellington, which has several times been engraved.1 By his pencil the world has been informed that this celebrated writer had a lively countenance and a bushy head of hair ; that he wore the cross of Santiago on his breast, and a huge pair of spectacles on his nose ; not indeed for show, like the fine ladies and gentlemen of the next reign,2 but because he had injured his sight by over- study in his youth at AlcaM.3 For the castle of Gandia he executed the portrait of Cardinal Caspar de Borja, who successively wore the mitres of Seville and Toledo, and gave the magnificent benevolence of 500,000 crowns towards the prosecution of the naval war with the Dutch.4 He likewise painted portraits of Pereira, master of the royal household ;
1 In Lopez Sedano, Parnaso Espafiol, torn. iv. p. 186, by Carmona ; and in the Espauolcs Ilustrcs, by Lrandi. About seventy years ago this picture was in the collection of Don Francisco de Bruna, at Seville. — Travels through Portugal and Spoilt, by Richard Twiss, 4to, London, J77S) P- 3°8- [A wood engraving is given in Justi's Iticrjo Velazquez and his Times, p. 279.]
- Madame d'Aulnoy observed the custom with wonder, and relates some curious instances of its prevalence. The grandees wore glasses " as broad as one's hand ; " and a Marquess of Astorga insisted that a pair should be placed on the marble nose of his statue. Permission to wear spectacles was the sole reward which a young friar, who had done his convent an important service, thought of asking of his superior. — Voyage, let. viii.
3 Ross's Boutcrwclc, vol. i. p. 461.
4 Dunlop's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 168.
CTI. IX.
Portraits of Quevedo
nnd others.
752
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Second journey to Italy.
of Fernando de Fonseca Ruiz de Contreras, Mar- quess of La Lapilla ; of the blessed Simon de E,oxas, confessor to Queen Isabella, whose holiness and family interest raised him to the Calendar, a like- ness which he executed from the corpse of the good man ; l and of a nameless lady of singular beauty, celebrated in an^epigram by Gabriel Bocangel.2
In 1648 Velazquez was sent by the King on a second journey to Italy, to collect works of art, partly for the royal galleries and partly for the academy which Philip desired to establish at Madrid.3 His orders were to purchase everything that was to be sold, that he thought worth buy- ing— a commission sufficiently large and confiden- tial. Leaving the capital in November, attended as usual by his faithful Pareja, he crossed the Sierra Morena, and took shipping at Malaga. He embarked in the train of Don Jayme Manuel de Cardenas, Duke of Naxera and Maqueda, who was on his way to Trent, to receive the Arch-Duchess Mariana, whom Philip had selected for his new Queen. A squadron of four Spanish ships of war and a Genoese galley awaited the Duke and his suite at Malaga, under the command of Don Luis Fernandez de Cordoba. The Duke embarked on board La Patrona de Espana, and they sailed at
1 Palomino, toni. hi. p. 498. " Ibid., where it is printed.
3 Supra, chap. viii. p. 598.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
753
five o'clock P.M. on Thursday the 2nd of January, being the Feast of Sta- Ines, 1649. The weather was stormy, and the fear of the plague, then raging on the coast, forced them to avoid Carthagena and other convenient ports. They took refuge, however, at Denia, Ensenada, Palamos, Colibre, and other places, and finally landed at Genoa on the nth of February.1 There Velazquez spent some days, ex- ploring the churches and galleries, and enjoying the beauty of the city and its shores. In those sump- tuous palaces, hung on breezy terraces over the blue haven, in which his friend Rubens had been a welcome guest, and which he had sketched early in the century,2 he improved his acquaintance with the works of Vandyck, who, thirty years before, had been welcomed to the proud city by the Balbi and the Spinole. These lords were the first nobles pourtrayed by the peculiar painter of the order ; and the walls of their mansions were still rich with memorials of his pencil.3 Nor was Genoa, at this
CH. IX.
Genoa.
Vandyck.
1 Viagc do la Serenissima Reyna Doila Mariana dc Austria, segunda muger dc Don Philipc IV., hasta de la real corte dc Madrid dcsdc dc hi Imperial de Viena, por Hieronymo Mascareflas, Cav. de la ord. dc Cala- trava Obispo elector de Lcyria, 4to, Madrid, 1650.
- He published these architectural drawings in a volume dedicated, in elegant Italian, to Signor Don Carlo Grimaldi, and entitled Palazzi di Genova, fol. D'Anversa, 1622 ; of which another edition, with a second part, appeared in 1 708.
3 W. H. Carpenter, Memoirs of Sir Anthony Van Dyck, 4 to, London, 1844, p. 13.
754
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Castig- lione.
Giovanni Ferrari.
Giovanni
Carbono.
Milan.
Ercolc
1'roccac-
cini.
Padua. Venice.
time, wanting in good native artists. The elder Cas- tiglione, remarkable for his industry and versatile powers, was daily adding to his reputation by new altar-pieces, studies of animals, and pictures of classical story.1 From the school of Strozzi, the refractory Capuchin, better known as II Prete Geno- vese, had issued Giovanni Ferrari, who excelled his master as a painter of sacred subjects,2 and his scholar, Giov. Carbone, executed portraits somewhat in the manner of Vandyck.3
Velazquez next visited Milan, also untrodden ground. Here he found the school of Lombardy but poorly represented by Ercole Proccaccini, the last of a race which had produced painters for five generations. But the Borromean Gallery, with its treasures of ancient art, was there to instruct and delight him ; and above all, the " Last Supper " of Leonardo da Vinci, in the refectory of Santa Maria dclle Gratie. Proceeding on his journey, without waiting for the feasts and pageants with which Milan celebrated the arrival of the imperial bride in her triumphal progress to the Spanish throne, he went to Padua, and thence to Venice. In the city of St. Mark he remained for some weeks, refreshing his recollection of the works of the great painters,
1 Soprani, Pittori Gcnovcsl, p. 223. " Ibid. p. 255.
3 Lanzi, torn. v. p. 328.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
755
and
halting-
ancl when he could, buying them for his master. His principal purchases were Tintoret's pictures of the " Israelites gathering Manna," the " Conversion of St. Paul," the " Glory of Heaven," a sketch for his great work, and the charming " Vc Aclonis " of Paul Veronese.1 His next place was Bologna, a city through which he had hurried in his first journey.2 Here time had left very few of that goodly company of painters trained by the Caracci. Alessandro Tiarini, one of the ablest of Lodovico's followers,3 was still alive ; but his pencil had lost its early force, and his style was declining into the feebleness of old age. But Colonna and Mitelli, the flower of a later generation, and the best fresco-painters of the day, were now at the height of their fame ; and their works so pleased Velazquez, that he invited them to enter the service of his master.4 During his stay at Bologna, he lived in the palace of the Count of Sena, who went out, with many gentlemen of the city in their coaches, to meet him on his arrival, and who treated him with the utmost distinction.
Whilst in the north of Italy, he visited the court of his former sitter, the Duke of Modena,5 head of the illustrious and beneficent house of Este. That
Supra, chap. viii. p. 607. 2 Supra, p. 710.
Lanzi, torn. v. p. 139. 4 Supra, chap. viii. p. 661.
5 Supra, p. 726.
C1I. IX.
Bologna.
Alessandro Tiarini.
Colonnu
and
Mitelli.
i Modena.
756
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Correggio.
Parma.
Correggio.
Florence.
prince received King Philip's painter very graciously, and as an old friend ; he invited him to the palace, and he showed him his noble picture-gallery, in which Velazquez had the satisfaction of finding the portrait of his highness which he had painted at Madrid. Here he likewise saw the fine works of Correggio, now at Dresden ; the " St. Sebastian," the " Nativity," better known as " La Notte," which the Duke was suspected of having caused to be stolen from a church at Reggio ; l and the " Magda- lene," which the Princes of Este were wont to carry with them on their journeys, and which the King of Poland kept under lock and key, in a frame of jewelled silver.2 He was likewise sent by the Duke to see his country house, a few leagues from Modena, which had lately been adorned with spirited frescoes by Colonna and Mitelli.
At Parma, Velazquez saw the masterpieces of Correggio in their perfection. The frescoes in the Cathedral and the church of San Giovanni had not been painted more than a hundred and twenty years ; and the domes of these temples revealed many noble forms and sweet faces, which the in- cense and neglect of centuries have now covered with an impenetrable veil. He likewise visited
1 Sketches of the Lives of Correggio and Parmegiano (a book attributed to Archdeacon Coxe), 8vo, London, 1823, p. 85.
2 Ibid. p. 127.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
757
Florence, then, as now, abounding with works of art, but not very rich in artists. Of the latter, the most noted were Pietro da Gorton a, who fre- quently lived at Rome, and painted with ease and grandeur, and the melancholy Carlo Dolce, whose pencil, like that of Joanes, was devoted to sacred subjects,1 which he represented with that cloying sweetness of style which distinguishes him among modern painters. Salvator Rosa was at this time in the service of the Grand Duke, and he may have entertained Velazquez at some of his dramatic symposia, a favourite resort of the wits and nobles of Florence.2
Passing through Rome, the Spaniard hastened to Naples, where he found the kingdom slowly recover- ing from the fever into which it had been thrown by Masaniello and the Duke of Guise, under the bleedings and purgiugs of the Count of Onate, the most vigorous of viceroys, and the sternest of state- surgeons.3 He was kindly received by that states- man, with whom he had orders to confer on the subject of his artistic mission. He also renewed his acquaintance with Ribera, who was still basking in viceregal favour, and the leader of Neapolitan art. These objects attained, he returned to Rome.
1 Lady Morgan, Life of Salvator Rosa, 2 vols. London, 1824, vol. ii. p. 29.
2 Ibid. p. 35.
3 Dimlop's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 478.
CH. IX.
Pietro da Cortona.
Carlo Dolce.
Salvator Rosa.
Naples.
753
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Rome.
Innocent
X.
Velazquez paints the Pope.
Innocent X., Giovanni Battista Panfili, the reign- ing Pontiff, preferred his library to his galleries, and was so keen a book-collector, that, when Cardinal, he was accused of enriching his shelves by pilfer- ing rarities which he could not purchase.1 He was, however, also a patron of art, and one of the five Popes that caressed Bernini, whom he employed to complete the labours of ages by erecting the beau- tiful colonnade of St. Peter's. When Velazquez arrived at Rome, he granted him an audience, and commanded him to paint his portrait ; and the task being executed to his entire satisfaction, he presented the artist with a gold chain and medal of himself. The Holy Father,2 a man of coarse fea- tures and surly expression, and perhaps the ugliest of all the successors of St. Peter,3 was painted sitting
1 D'Israeli, Curiosities of Literature, new series, 3 vols. Svo, 1824, vol. iii. p. 77.
- The Weekly Post, for 2oth February to ist March 1655, lias this notice of the death of Innocent X. : " The citizens are very much offended that the Prince Painphilio and the rest of the Pope's kindred showed so little of charity and honour at his funeral, that they did not provide for him two chests, one of lead and another of cypress-wood, according to the usual manner of Popes ; insomuch that for want thereof, his body was left in the lower hall in a nasty pickle to the mercy of rats and mice which gnawed part of his nose and face, through the negligence of those that watched it, for which the poor rats have a curse denounced against them with bell, book, and candle. This verifies the prophesie delivered some time since by an astrologer concerning this Pope ' Carebit propria sepultura.'" It is a curious thing that Donna Olympia, dying of the plague at Orvietto, was no better treated. See Gualdi, Historic, p. 210.
3 His enemies, in and out of the conclave which elected him, used to urge his extreme plainness a« a reason against his being made father of
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
759
in his easy-chair ; and the portrait was no less effective than that of Admiral Pareja ;l for it is said that one of the chamberlains, catching a glimpse of the picture through an open door leading from the antechamber, cautioned some of his fellow-courtiers to converse in a lower tone, because his Holiness was in the next room.2 Of this portrait Velazquez executed several copies, one of which he carried to Spain. The original is probably that which remains in the possession of the family in the Pamphili- Doria palace at Rome : a fine repetition is now in the collection of the Duke of Wellington at Apsley House. Velazquez also painted portraits of Car- dinal Panfili, the Pope's nephew, and of Donna Olympia, the Pope's sister-in-law and mistress, of several personages of the papal court, and of a lady whom Palomino calls Flaminia Triunfi, an excellent painter. Before taking in hand the Sovereign POU-
CH. IX.
the Christian world. He was conscious of it himself, saying to his mistress, Olympia Maldachini, on an occasion of her presenting to him a loutish nephew, whom he afterwards made a cardinal, " Never let me see this ugly whelp again ; he is even uglier and clumsier than 1 am." Historic dc Donna Olympia Maldachini, trad, de I'ltalien de PAbhe Ciialdi, 121110, Leyde, 1666, pp. 29, 77.
1 Supra, p. 728.
2 The story is told somewhat differently by C. Malvasia, La Fclsina Pittrice (Parte III. Lod. Ag. et An. Carracci), 2 vols. 4to, Bologna, 1678, i. p. 474. " E die un ritrato a mio tempo de Papa Innocenzo, di mano di Diego Velasco, e porto nelle stanze di sua santita, faccia si creder per essa da un camarier segreto ; onde uscendo command! che si stia cito, che sua Beatudine per le stanze passeggia." The story, as told by me, is in Palomino, Vidas de los Pintorcs (1724), p. 337.
Other por- traits,
760
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
and that of Pareja.
Elected into the Academy of St. Luke.
Social life.
tiff, he threw off, by way of practice, a likeness of his servant Pareja. This portrait, sent by the hand of the person whom it represented to some of his artist-friends, so delighted them, that they procured Velazquez's election into the Academy of St. Luke. Pareja's likeness — perhaps the fine portrait now in Lord Radnor's collection l — was exhibited with the works of Academicians in the Pantheon, on the Feast of St. Joseph, and was received with univer- sal applause. Andreas Schmit, a Flemish land- scape painter, who was then at Rome, afterwards visited Madrid, and bore witness to the triumph of the Castilian pencil.
During this residence at Rome, which extended to upwards of a year, Velazquez appears to have mixed more than formerly in general society. The Cardinal-nephew, his old friend Cardinal Barberini,2 Cardinal Rospigliosi, and many of the Roman princes, loaded him with civilities. And his busi- ness being rather to buy pictures than to paint or copy them, he was courted and caressed not only by the great, but by the artists. Bernini, and the sculptor Algardi, were his friends, and Nicolas Poussin, Pietro da Cortona, and Matteo Prete, called II Calabrese.
" Bless'd with each talent and each art to please,"
At Longford Castle, Wilts.
Supra, p. 712.
POPE I NNOCENT X
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
761
and of a disposition so captivating as to disarm jealousy, the progress of Velazquez in Roman society must have been a continued ovation. It would be pleasing, were it possible, to draw aside the dark curtain of centuries and follow him into the palaces and studios ; to see him, standing by while Claude painted, or Algardi modelled, enjoying the hospitali- ties of Bentivoglio — perhaps in that fair hall glorious with Guide's recent fresco of Aurora — or mingling in the group that accompanied Poussin in his even- ing walks on the terrace of Trinita- de' Monte.1
Although there can be no doubt that Velazquez visited and carefully studied all the chief monuments of painting which were to be found at Rome, there is evidence, even more direct than the evidence afforded by his own works, that he never imbued his mind with the spirit of ancient art, nor appre- ciated the genius of Ilafael. It occurs in Marco Boschini's " Chart of Pictorial Navigation, a dialogue in eight breezes," 2 a heavy and verbose panegyric, in which the dullest conceits that ever grew in the poetical garden of Marini are engrafted on the vulgar dialect of the boatmen of the lagunes, and
1 Graham's Life of N. Poussin, p. 104.
2 La Carta del Navegar Pitoresco, dialogo tra un Senator Venetian deletante e un Professor de Pilura, coinparti in oto venti, opera dc Marco Boschini, 4to, Venetia, 1660, vento i. p. 56. See Lanzi, torn. iii. p. 162. My attention was first directed to this forgotten book by the Handbook [1843], P. 758.
VOL. II. 2 C
CH. IX.
Velazquez's opinion of Italian art, as pre- served by Boschini.
762 REIGN OF PHILIP IV. |
|
CH. IX. |
the degenerate painters of the day are lauded as |
princes of their art, and peers of Giorgione and |
|
Titian. Here the visit of Velazquez to Venice is |
|
recorded, and he is cited amongst the eminent |
|
foreign masters who preferred that school to all |
|
other schools of painting. Nevertheless, the poet |
|
admits with great candour, that in buying pictures |
|
for the King of Spain, the Castilian confined himself |
|
to the older masters, selecting two works of Titian, |
|
two by Paul Veronese, and the sketch of Tintoretto's |
|
Paradise, a composition which he especially admired. |
|
He then went on to Rome, and ordered various |
|
works of living artists ; and whilst there, he was |
|
one day asked, by Salvator Rosa, what he thought |
|
of Rafael. His reply, and the ensuing conversation, |
|
are thus reported by Boschini. |
|
" Lu storse el cao cirimoniosamente, |
|
E disse ; Rafael (a dirve el vero ; |
|
Piasendome esser libero, e sinciero) |
|
Stago per dir, che nol me piase uiente. |
|
Tanto che (repliche quela persona) |
|
Co'no ve piase questo gran Pitor ; |
|
In Italia nissun ve da in Tumor ; |
|
Perche nu ghe donemo la Corona ; |
|
Don Diego repliche con tal maniera : |
|
A Venetia se trova el bon, e'l belo : |
|
Mi dago el primo liogo a quel penelo : |
|
Tician xe quel, che porta la bandiera." l |
|
1 Carta del Navegar, p. 58. |
|
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
763
The master stiffly bowed his figure tall
And said, " For Rafael, to speak the truth — I always was plain-spoken from my youth —
I cannot say I like his works at all."
"Well," said the other, "if you can run down
So great a man, I really cannot see
What you can find to like in Italy ; To him we all agree to give the crown."
Diego answered thus : " I saw in Venice The true test of the good and beautiful ; First, in my judgment, ever stands that school,
And Titian first of all Italian men is." 1
When Velazquez had been absent upwards of a year, Philip IV. began to be impatient for his return. His friend the Marquess of La Lapilla took care to inform him by letter of the royal wishes. But the business of collecting pictures and marbles appears to have gone on slowly, for he did not leave Rome until 1651. He wished to travel home by land, visiting Paris on his way ; but the war between the Catholic and Christian crowns continuing to drag its slow length along, rendered such a journey impracticable. Moving northwards therefore to Genoa, he there embarked ; leaving behind him the fruits of his travels, which were deposited at Naples, and afterwards transported to Spain, when the Count of Onate returned from his government.
1 For this translation I am indebted to that eminent scholar, my friend the Rev. Dr. Donaldson, who has just increased his well-won fame by a translation, the most masterly that has yet been executed, of the Antigone of Sophocles.
CH. IX.
The King impatient for his re- turn to Spain.
Homeward journey.
764
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Arrives at Madrid, and is made Apo- scntador- mayor.
In June, 1651, he landed at Barcelona, still garri- soned by the French, and about to endure a tedious blockade from Don Juan of Austria.
At his return to Madrid Velazquez was rewarded for the labours of his journey by being appointed Aposentador-mayor, or Quartermaster-general of the King's household. This post, which had been held under Philip II. by the architects Herrera and Mora,1 was one of great dignity and considerable emolument. Its duties were various, and some of them troublesome. It was the business of the Aposentador to superintend public festivals, and exercise a certain jurisdiction within the palace ; to provide lodging for the King and his train in all progresses ; to place his Majesty's chair, and remove the cloth when the King dined in public ; to issue keys to all new chamberlains ; to set chairs for Cardinals and Viceroys who came to kiss hands, and for the heir-apparent when he received the oath of allegiance. His salary was 3,000 ducats a year, and he carried at his girdle a key which opened every lock in the palace.2 Velazquez had for one
1 Supra, chap. iv. pp. 205, 216.
2 D'Avila, Grandezas de Madrid, pp. 333-4 ; Invcntaire general des recherches cVEspagne, p. 163. Finding quarters for the Court on a journey was the most arduous of his duties. Mclchor de Santa Cruz, in his Floresta Espaiiola de Apotcgmas 6 ScntencMis, 8vo, Bruxelles, 1614, p. 118, has a chapter, "de Aposentadores," in which are some curious anecdotes, illustrative of their difficulties in keeping things smooth be- tween fastidious courtly lodgers and reluctant provincial hosts.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
765
of his deputies and assistants in office the painter Juan Bautista del Mazo Martinez, who now was, or afterwards became, his son-in-law.
He arrived at Court in time to share the festivities of the 1 2th of July, which celebrated the birth of an Infanta, the first child of Queen Mariana. The inclinations of this girlish princess happily made her choice accord with the fate which gave her to Philip IV., if at least there be any truth in the story that she had fallen in love with his portrait before the marriage had been proposed.1 Her picture, frequently painted by the truthful pencil of Velazquez, raises a suspicion that, on Philip's side, the match must have been prompted as much by policy as by preference. It shows that she inherited, in full exuberance, the famous under-lip which Mary of Burgundy brought into the house of Austria, and that she used the rouge-pot with an unsparing brush. Thirty years afterwards, in her widowhood, she complained that the portrait which had pre- ceded her to the palace of Madrid did her great injustice.2
The christening took place on the 25th of July, and may be described, as a specimen of the scenes in which Velazquez bore a part. Through the
1 Supra, chap. viii. p. 614.
J D'Aulnoy, Voijiujti en E^xir/nc, vol. iii. p. 169.
CH. IX.
Rejoicings at Court at the birth of the Infanta Maria Mar- garita.
Christen- ing.
766
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Grand bull- feast.
galleries of the Alcazar, hung with tapestries of silk and gold, there moved to the chapel-royal a splendid procession of guards and courtiers, closed by Don Luis de Haro, the Prime Minister, carrying the royal babe, and by the Infanta Maria Teresa, her god- mother,1 with the ladies of the household. Within the chapel the walls were covered with costly embroideries, and the venerable font, from which St. Dominic and a long line of Castilian princes had been baptized, was displayed beneath a canopy of silver. At the door the Princess was received by the prelates of the kingdom in their pontifical robes, and by the Nuncio Cardinal Rospigliosi, who baptized her by the name of Maria Margarita, and hung a rich reliquary about her neck. The King looked down, with his usual stony stare, from an upper tribune on this splendid ceremonial ; and the rabble cheered the Nuncio, as he passed through the streets in his state-coach, for his numerous retinue and gorgeous liveries.
A few weeks afterwards, when the Queen was able to go abroad, the King ordered a bull-feast on a magnificent scale for her diversion. This national
1 During the ceremony this princess, in drawing off her glove, let fall a diamond ring, which was instantly picked up and presented to her by a woman in the crowd. She refused, however, to take it, saying, in a spirit worthy of the bride of the Grand Monarque, " Guardaosla para vos." — Florez, Reynas Catkdlicas, torn. ii. p. 955.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
767
sport was at that time held in the Plaza Mayor, a great square, in which regular rows of balconies, rising tier above tier to the tops of the houses, afforded accommodation to a vast concourse of spectators. It was pursued by all ranks with an ardour, and furnished forth with a luxury of equip- ment, unknown to the modern bull-ring. Instead of mere hireling combatants, the young cavaliers of the Court were wont to enter the lists, and display their prowess in the presence of the ladies whose colours they wore, and whose favours they coveted or enjoyed.1 Instead of the wretched horses whose
1 The Cid, Pedro Nino, the Emperor Charles V., Pizarro, King Sebastian of Portugal, and many other personages famous in the history of the Peninsula, were bold and expert bull-fighters. Charles V. slew a bull in the PJaza of Valladolid, in 1527. Don Diego Salgado, a Spaniard who wrote a Description of the Plaza of Madrid, 4to, London, 1683, dedicated to our King Charles II., and reprinted in the Harleian Miscellany, 10 vols. 4.10, London, 1811, vol. vii. p. 237, bears witness to the splendours of the ring, iu somewhat remarkable English. " Noble- men of singular magnanimity," says he, "being mounted on horses incomparably nimble and pretty, and in costly harness befitting the dignity of their riders and the splendour of the festival, appear in great state and pomp, whose grooms, in a most decent manner, carry the lances with which their masters intend to despatch the bulls. Their province and charge is to irritate the rage and fury of the formidable beast. These heroic minds, managing their lances most dexterously, accomplish their noble purposes very often by killing or wounding the foaming animals," &c. — Harl. Mis., vol. vii. p. 242. Don Gregorio de Tapia held the noble sport in still higher reverence. "No ay accion," says he, "mas lucida que salir a la placa a lidiar con el rejon un caballero." — Exercicios de la Gineta, p. 61. It was much in fashion in the next reign ; the Duke of Medina- Sidonia killed two bulls, at the feasts in honour of the first marriage of Charles II., in 1673 ; and in 1697 Don Juan de Vclasco, the newly-appointed governor of Buenos
CH. IX.
768
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Cane-
plays.
Occupa- tions of Velazquez.
bowels and collapsed carcases now strew the arena at Seville and Madrid, those highborn picadors rode the finest steeds of Andalusia, and went attended each by a dozen or two of lackeys, dressed in his family livery.1 After a sufficient number of bulls had fallen beneath the steel of the nobility, the sports were closed with cane-plays or tilting matches between two parties of horsemen, a pastime inherited from the Moors, and well adapted to teach and test equestrian dexterity.2
During the next few years Velazquez had little time for painting, being busy with his models, which were being cast in bronze under his super-
Ayrcs, dying of wounds received in the Plaza, his son was made a "titulo" of Castile, and his daughter a lady-in-waiting to the Queen. See the Discurso apologetico prefixed hy the editor to the Tauromaquia conipleta, por el celebre lidiador Francisco Monies, Svo, Madrid, 1836, p. 13, and Stan/tope's Correspondence, edited by Lord Mahon, p. 121. Philip V. holding the national sport in aversion, nobles ceased to mingle in the carnage, which, "if it diminished the splendour of the spectacle," says Montes's editor, p. 14, " greatly promoted the perfection of the art." In Portugal, however, so late as the latter part of the last century, a brother of the Count of Arcos being slain in the bull-ring at Lisbon, that Count, who was sitting with the King in his box, leaped into the arena and despatched the bull. Southey's Letters written in SIMIII and Portugal, Svo, Bristol, 1798, p. 403.
1 Tapia, p. 61, says the gentleman bull-fighter must have a following of footmen ; sometimes as many as a hundred accompanied one com- batant, but the usual number was between twelve and twenty-four, and four or six was the very smallest retinue admissible.
2 Philip IV. and his brother Don Carlos displayed their proficiency in cane-playing before the Prince of Wales, when the King rode a career with his Prime Minister. Juan Ant. de la Peiia, Relacion y juego dc, cailas quc el Key n" Se/lor a los vcynte y uno dc Agosto deste jrresentc ano, folio of two leaves, Madrid, 1623.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
769
intendence,1 and in arranging his Italian bronzes and marbles in the halls and galleries of the Alcazar. The duties of his new post, which alone would have been considered by many men as sufficient occupa- tion, likewise engrossed a great portion of his time. It brought him into constant contact with the King, who saw him much alone, consulting him on the most important affairs, and honouring him with an almost perilous degree of confidence and favour. At Court his credit for influence in the royal closet stood so high that a certain great lord, says Palomino, was seriously displeased with his son, because he had used some warm language towards the Aposentador-mayor for refusing to relax a point of etiquette in his favour. "Have you been so foolish," said the old courtier to the young one, " as to behave thus towards a man for whom the King has so great a regard, and who converses for whole hours with his Majesty? Go instantly and apologise ; and do not let me see your face again till you have conciliated his friend- ship."
In 1656 Velazquez produced his last great work, a work which artists, struck by the difficulties encountered and overcome, have generally con- sidered his masterpiece. It is the large picture well
1 Supra, chap. viii. p. 667.
CH. IX.
Favour with the King.
Reputation at Court.
Picture of " Las
Mcninas."
770
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
known in Spain as " Las Meninas," l the " Maids of Honour." The scene is a long room in a quarter of the old palace, which was called the Prince's quarter, and the subject, Velazquez at work on a large picture of the royal family. To the extreme right of the composition is seen the back of the easel and the canvas on which he is engaged ; and beyond it stands the painter, with his pencils and palette, pausing to converse, or to observe the effect of his performance. In the centre stands the little Infanta Maria Margarita, taking a cup of water from a salver which Dona Maria Agustina Sarmiento, maid of honour to the Queen, presents kneeling, according to the Oriental fashion of service, which is perhaps still maintained in the courts of the Peninsula.3 To the left, Dona Isabel de Velasco, another menina, seems to be dropping a curtsey ; and the dwarfs Maria Barbola and Nicolas Pertusano,4 stand in the
1 " On les apelle coninie cola a cause qu'elles n'ont que des souliers bas et point de patins ; et le Roy et la Reyne out aussi des Menifres qui sont comine les pages en France, et qui dans de palais, et dehors mesme, n'ont jamais ni manteau ni chapeau." — Voyage en Espagne, Col. 1667. Relation de 1'estat, &c.,p. 23. The Dicdonario de la Real Acad. Espan., fol. Madrid, 1726-39, interprets Menina, " La sefiora que clesde nina entra- ba a servir a la Reina en la clase de damas, hasta que llegaba el tiempo de ponerse chapines. Lat. Puella Hegince assecla." Spanish girls, when they grew up, were said "ponerse en chapines," to assume the womanly heels, as Roman boys put on the manly toga.
2 [Catdlogo del Real Museo del Prado, 1889, No. 1062.]
3 Dona Maria Dei Gloria, Queen of Portugal, was so served during her visit to France in 1830. — Galcric des Arts, 8 vols. 121110, Paris, 1836, viii. No. iii.
4 Supra, p. 731.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 771
foreground, the little man putting his foot on the CH. ix. quarters of a great tawny hound, which despises the aggression, and continues in a state of solemn repose. Some paces behind these figures, Doiia Marcela de Ulloa, a lady of honour in nun-like weeds, and a guardadamas,1 are seen in conversation : at the far end of the room, an open door gives a view of a staircase, up which Don Josef Nieto, Queen's Aposentador, is retiring ; and near this door there hangs on the wall a mirror, which, reflecting the countenances of the King and Queen, shows that they form part of the principal group, although placed beyond the bounds of the picture. The room is hung with paintings, which Palomino assures us are works of llubens ; and it is lighted by three windows in the left wall and by the open door at the end, an arrangement of which an artist will at once comprehend the difficulties. The perfection of art which conceals art was never better attained than in this picture. Velazquez seems to have anticipated the discovery of Daguerre, and taking a real room and real chance-grouped people, to have fixed them, as it were by magic, for all time on his canvas. The little fair-haired Infanta is a pleasing study of child- hood ; with the hanging lip and full cheek of the
1 Ati officer who rode beside the coach of the Queen's ladies, and con- ducted her audiences.
772 REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. ix. Austrian family, she has a fresh complexion, and lovely blue eyes, and gives a promise of beauty, which, as Empress, she never fulfilled. Her young attendants, girls of thirteen or fourteen, contrast agreeably with the ill-favoured dwarf beside them : they are very pretty, especially Dona Isabel de Velasco, who died a reigning beauty ; l and their hands are painted with peculiar delicacy. Their dresses are highly absurd, their figures being concealed by long stiff corsets and prodigious hoops ; for those were the days when the mode was
" Supporters, pooters, fardingales, above the loynes to weare ; " 2
the guardainfante,5 the oval hoop peculiar to Spain, was in full blow ; when the robes of a dowager might have curtained the tun of Heidelberg ; and the powers of Velazquez were baffled by the perverse fancy of "Feeble, the woman's tailor." The gentle and majestic hound, stretching himself and winking drowsily, is admirably painted, and seems a descen- dant of the royal breed immortalised by Titian in portraits of the Emperor Charles and his son. The painter wears at his girdle the omnipotent key of his office,* and on his breast the red cross of Santiago.
1 In 1659. Voyage en Espac/nc, 4to, Paris, 1669, p. 289.
2 Warner, Albion's England, b. ix. c. 47.
3 Supra, chap. v. p. 317. 4 Supra, p. 764.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
773
It is said that Philip IV., who came every day with the Queen to see the picture, remarked, when it was finished, that one thing was yet wanting ; and taking up a brush, painted the knightly insignia with his own royal fingers, thus conferring the accolade with a weapon not recognised in chivalry. This pleasing tradition is not altogether overthrown by the fact that Velazquez was not invested with the order till three years afterwards ; for the pro- duction of a pedigree and other formalities were necessary to the creation of a knight, obstacles which might be overlooked by the King, enraptured with his new picture, and yet stagger a College of Arms for several years. When Charles II. showed the "Meninas" to Luca Giordano, that master, in the fulness of his delight and admiration, declared that it was the Theology or Gospel of Painting ; an expression l which hit the taste of the conceit- loving age, and is still often used as a name for the picture. The gallery of Mr. [Walter Ralph] Banks, Kingston Lacy, Dorset, boasts a fine repetition 2 of
1 Palomino's (torn. iii. p. 510) gloss upon it is, that as theology is superior to all other sciences, so this picture is superior to all other pictures ; an opinion which, there is little doubt, Luca Fa presto would have made haste to disclaim, had he known that it was laid at his door.
2 [Curtis, V. No. 22, p. 14, calls it "an original sketch, with variations. The head of the artist himself is reflected in the mirror, and the King is seen in the doorway." British Institution, 1823, 1864 ; Royal Academy, 1870.]
CH. IX.
Philip IV.
dubs
Velazquez knight of Santiago.
Name given by Luca Giordano to the picture.
774
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Portraits of Queen Mariana, and chil- dren.
Costume.
this celebrated work ; the original sketch was, at the beginning of this century, in the possession of the poet and statesman Jovellanos.
Velazquez, of course, painted several portraits of Queen Mariana. The lips and cheeks of that prin- cess have the true Austrian fulness ; she bears a considerable resemblance to her husband-cousin, and her eyes, like his, are somewhat dull, although she was of a joyous disposition, and laughed without measure at the jokes and grimaces of the court-fool. When told, at such times, by the King that the act of cachinnation was below the dignity of a Queen of Spain, she would artlessly reply that she could not help it, and that the fellow must be removed if she might not laugh at him.1 Velazquez has not ventured to paint her in these merry moments ; and his pencil has even recorded her expression as somewhat sullen. She was also sadly addicted to the rouge-pot, which she did not manage with the artistic science of Isabella.2 Her chief beauty was her rich fair hair, which she bedizened with red ribbons and feathers, and plaited and dressed, after the most fantastic modes of the day,3 until her giddy young head had rivalled her unwieldy hoop in its
1 Voyage d'E&pagne, Col., 1667, p. 35.
2 Supra, p. 746. One of her most violently rouged portraits is the bust by Velazquez, in the possession of [Robert S. Holford, Ei<q.]
3 Supra, chap. i. p. 44.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
775
tumid extravagance. Of her absurdities in costume, one of her portraits by Velazquez, in the Royal Gal- lery at Madrid,1 affords sufficient evidence. Another2 represents her kneeling at prayer in her oratory, the most dressy of devotees, robed, rouged, and curled, as if for a court ball, and serves as a companion piece to a similar praying portrait of the King.3 Velazquez likewise painted this Queen on a small round plate of silver, about the size of a dollar- piece, showing that he could use the pencil of a miniature-painter as dexterously as the coarse brush of Herrera. The Infanta Maria Margaret, the heroine of the " Meninas," 4 was one of his most frequent sitters. Of his many portraits of her, the full-length in the Queen of Spain's gallery," 5 and the smiling sparkling head in the long gallery of the Louvre,6 are amongst the most excellent. His last recorded works were full-length pictures of this Infanta and her short-lived brother Don Philip Prosper, executed for their grandfather the Emperor,7
CH. IX.
1 Catdlogo [1843], No. 114 [edition 1889, No. 1078]. - Ibid. No. 450 [edition 1889, No. 1082].
3 Ibid. No. 449 [edition 1889, No. 1081].
4 Supra, p. 770.
5 Catdlogo [1843], No. 198 [edition 1889, No. 1084].
6 Notice des Tableaux, No. 1277 [edition 1889, No. 551] where the Infanta is erroneously called Marguerite Therese. It is one of the most popular pictures in the gallery, and a bone of contention for the copyists. Viardot, Mus&s d'Allemagne, pp. 233-4.
7 Probably the portraits now in the Imperial Gallery at Vienna ; Ver- zeichniss ; Neiderl. Sch. Zi/tt. vii. Nos. 36 and 37. p. 179, although both
Miniature.
Infanta
Maria
Margaret.
Infant Don Philip Prosper.
776
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Velazquez at the Escorial.
In that of the Infanta, he introduced an ebony clock, ornamented with figures of bronze ; and in that of the baby prince, a favourite little white dog of his own lying in a chair and pricking up his ears with admirable life.
From 1656 to the end of his life, the occupations of Velazquez seldom allowed him to enjoy the tran- quillity of his studio. In that year he was employed to superintend the arrangement of a quantity of pictures in the Escorial. This collection consisted of forty-one pieces purchased from the Whitehall gallery, of some which he had himself brought from Italy, and of others presented to the King by the Count of Castrillo, an ex-Viceroy of Naples. Having placed them to the best advantage in the palace- convent, he drew up a catalogue of the whole, noting the position, painter, history, and merits of each picture, a paper which probably guided Fray Fran- cisco de los Santos in his description of the Escorial, and may perhaps still exist in the royal archives. In 1658 he began to design wrorks for Colonna and Mitelli, and direct their execution ; a commission in which he was assisted, or perhaps hindered, by the
are said to represent princesses. [KunsthistorischQ Sammlungcn des Allcrhochsten Kaiserhauses, Ge/ncilde, Beschricbendes Verzcichniss, von Eduard R. V. Engerth, 3 Band, 8vo, Wien, 1884, i Band, p. 442, Nos. 620 and 621, where they are described as portraits of the Infanta Mar- garetha Thercsia and the Infant Philipp Prosper.]
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
777
Duke of Terranova, intendant of royal works. The year following he was again at the Escorial, watching the consignment of a noble marble crucifix, by Tacca, to its place over the altar of the Pantheon.1 He also contemplated another trip to Italy, but the King could not be induced to part with him.2
In October of the same year, 1659, the Marechal Duke of Grammont appeared at Madrid as ambas- sador from France, to negotiate the marriage of Louis XIV. and the Infanta Maria Teresa ; he and his suite, at their solemn entrance, galloping into the very vestibule of the palace, dressed as couriers, to signify the impatience of the royal lover.3 On the 2Oth of October Velazquez was ordered to attend on this French magnate and his sons during a morning visit to the Alcazar, for the purpose of seeing the pictures and marbles. It is probable that he may likewise have been their guide to the galleries of the grandees, which they explored, and amongst which
OH. IX.
Embassy of Marechal Gram- mont.
Vclazquoz attends him in his visit to tho royal galleries.
1 Supra, chap. viii. p. 604. " Palomino, torn. iii. p. 511.
3 Histoire du Traite dc la Paix conclue sur la fronticre d'Espagnect dc France, cntrc Ics deux coiiron-nen, en Van 1639, 121110, Cologne, 1655, p. 54. This was the Marechal upon whom Louis XIV. played oil' the wicked jest of inveigling him into the admission that a certain madrigal was the worst he had ever read, and then acknowledging the authorship, "la plus cruelle petite chose quo Ton puisse faire a nn vieux courtisan." — Lettrcs de Mad. dc Sevignc, 10 tomes Svo, Paris, 1820, torn. i. p. 82. He was a great friend of Bourdaloue, and expressed his admiration of a particular passage in one of that celebrated preacher's sermons by exclaiming, to the astonishment of the whole chapel-royal, " Mordieu ! il a raison." — Ibid. torn. ii. p. 386.
VOL. II. 2 D
773
CTI. IX.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
Installed as knight of
Santiago.
was that of the Count of Onate, who had lately returned from Naples, laden with artistic purchases or plunder. At his departure, Grammont presented Velazquez with a gold watch.1
He soon afterwards obtained leave to wear his well-earned cross of Santiago.2 By a rescript, dated the 1 2th of June, 1658, the King had already con- ferred on him the habit of the order ; and Velazquez soon after laid his pedigree before the Marquess of Tabara, president of the order. A flaw in this document, or some other circumstances, made it necessary to apply to Pope Alexander VII. for a bull, which was not obtained till the 7th October, 1659. It is related that the King, growing impatient, sent for Tabara and the documents which he held, and said, " Place it on record that the evidence satisfies me." On the 28th of November the patent was made out, and on the 28th, being St. Prosper's day, which was held as a festival in honour of the birth of the Prince of Asturias, Velazquez was installed as a knight of Santiago. The ceremony took place in the church of the Carbonera ; when the new companion was introduced by the Marquess of
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 581.
" "La cruz en los pechos y el diablo en los hcchns," Mai Lara, Filosofia Vulgar, 4to, Lerida, 1621, p. 149 [translated by Collins, Dictionary of Spanish Proverbs, I2mo, London, p. 185, "The cross on the breast, and the devil in the actions "], a proverb which did not apply to Velazquez and his order of Santiago.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
779
Malpica, as sponsor, and was invested with the insignia by Don Gaspar Perez de Guzman, Count of Niebla, heir of Medina- Sidonia.
The peace and projected alliance between the crowns of France and Spain doubled the official fatigues and shortened the life of Velazquez. A meeting of the two courts, to celebrate the nuptials of Louis XIV. and the Infanta Maria Teresa, was fixed to take place in the summer of 1660, on the Isle of Pheasants, in the river Bidasoa. This cele- brated spot was reckoned neutral ground by the French, whilst the Spaniards claimed it for their own, alleging that a change in the stream's channel had cut it off from the realms of Pelayo. The river, eating it slowly away, has now left little ground for argument or for conference. Let the traveller, there- fore, as he rolls along the bridge that unites France with Spain, glance down the stream at the reedy patch that yet remains of the most interesting river- islet in Europe. Here Louis XL, with a good store of pistoles in the pockets of his frieze coat, adjudi- cated on the affairs and bribed the courtiers of Henry IV. of Castile, who came glittering in cloth of gold.1 Here, or at least in an adjacent barge, Francis I., leaving the land of bondage, embraced
1 Pctitot, Memoires rdatifs a I'llistoirc do France, 52 tomes Svo, Paris, 1825-6, torn. xi. p. 248 ; Mariana, Historic, lib. xxiii. cap. v. p. 1099 ; Handbook for Spain [1845], p. 943 [edition 1855, p. 893],
CH. TX.
Poaco of tho Pyre- nees.
"Isladelos Faisanes."
780
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Velazquez sont to the Bidasoa.
his sons, who were going thither as hostages for his observance of a treaty which he had already deter- mined to break ; l and here he proposed to meet Charles V. in personal duello. Here Isabella of Valois received the first homage of her Castilian lieges ; and a few years later, wept her last farewell to her brothers and to France. Here Anne of Austria and Isabella of Bourbon met on the road to their respective thrones ; 2 and here, but a few months before, Jules de Mazarin and Luis dc Haro had mingled their crocodile tears, and practised every pass of diplomatic fence, over the famous Treaty of the Pyrenees.3 For the conferences of those states- men, there had been erected a pavilion of timber, furnished with two doors, and two chairs of the most exact and scrupulous equality.
But the meeting of their Catholic and Christian masters demanded greater preparation ; and, in March 1660, Velazquez was sent forward to the frontier to superintend the construction of a suitable edifice. His orders were to take the Burgos road, and to
1 Robertson, History of Charles V., Works, 8 vols. 8vo, London, 1827, vol. iv. p. 183.
- Supra, chap. viii. p. 618.
3 On meeting at their iirst conference, these two hoary intriguers rushed into each other's arms, " ce qu'ils fircnt avec tant de tendresse et d'affection, que leurs larmes marquoient le contentement et la joye de leurs coeurs." — Histoire du Traite, p. 43. The very lackeys, who in France, says the historian, are usually very insolent, Avere touched, and comported themselves with the utmost modesty !
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
781
leave Josef de Villareal, one of his deputies, in that city, whilst he himself hastened to the Bidasoa, to erect the pavilion, and to prepare the castle of Fnenterrabia for the reception of royalty. These tasks accomplished, he was to await the King's arrival at San Sebastian. There he resided for about two months, busied in overlooking his works, to which he was sometimes accompanied by the gover- nor, Baron de Batevilla,1 in his visits of inspection.
The Pheasants' Isle was at this time about 500 feet long by 70 broad.'2 The Aposentador's new
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 522. He is called by Castillo, Vvattcvilla.
" Leonardo del Castillo, Viagc del Key nucstro Scfior D. Felipe IV. d Grande a lafrontcra dc Francia ; funriones rcalcs del dcsposorio ; vistas de los reycs ; juramcnto dc la paz ; y succsaon dc ida y budta dc la jur- nada, 4to, Madrid, 1667, p. 22. A curious volume, containing tolerable portraits, by Pedro de Villafranca, of Charles II., Philip IV., Anne of Austria, Louis XIV., and the Infanta Maria Teresa, and a sketch of the banks of the Bidasoa. The earliest view that I have seen of the island is in Lord Elgin's picture of the exchange of Queens, supra, chap. viii. p. 618. There it appears still larger, perhaps, than in Castillo's descrip- tion. It is figured in three of the medals of Louis XIV., struck in com- memoration of the conference, the interview of the two kings, and the marriage. Medallion sur leu itrinapaiix Evcncmcnts du Rtgnc de Louis le Grand, folio, Paris, 1702, fol. 53, 55, 56. I have seen also a large print (41 by 174 inches) of the isle and both banks of the river, and two plans of the details, executed at Paris by Beaulieu, engineer to the King, which were engraved a second time on a small scale. In the Voyages faits
en Espagne, en Portugal, ct aillcurs, par M. M , 121110, Amsterdam,
1699, one °f :3 neat etchings is a view (p. 22) of the Isle of the Confer- ence, or the 1'eacc — for it Avas called by both names — taken from the heights of Tolosette. There it still seems a respectable island ; and the pavilion, which is standing, agrees tolerably with Castillo's account. But M. M.'s evidence must be received with caution; for his view of the Alhambra (p. 170), or, as lie writes it, Lamlira, has evidently been sketched, not from the reality at Granada, but from fancy at Amsterdam.
CH. IX.
Erects a pavilion on the isle.
782
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
en. ix. building, extending from west to cast, consisted of a range of pavilions, one storey high, and upwards of 300 feet in length. In the centre rose the hall of conference, flanked by wings, each containing a suite of four chambers, in \vhich equal measure of accommodation was meted with the nicest justice to France and to Spain. Along each front of the edifice ran an entrance portico, communicating, by means of a covered gallery, with a bridge of boats, whereby the monarchs were to make their approach, each from his own territory.1 Within, the apart- ments were as gorgeous as gildings and rich arras could make them. Velazquez, it appears, superin- tended the decorations on the Spanish side only, as far as the centre of the hall of conference. The same style of adornment, however, prevailed through- out ; the walls being covered with tissues of silk and gold, and with fine tapestries, representing his- tories sacred and profane, the building of the ark of Noah and the city of Romulus, or the adventures of Orpheus and the travels of St. Paul. The French
There is a sketch of the Bidasoa and the island in Swinburne's Travels throuc/h Spain in 1773-6, 4to, London, 1779, p. 427. When I saw the islet in 1845, it hardly exceeded the size of a large barge ; and at the be- ginning of the century it is said to have been of twice its present extent. 1 The hall was 56 feet long by 28 wide and 22 high. Of the private rooms, the largest was 40 feet long by 18 wide, and all wore 18 feet high. The porticoes were 102 feet long by 26 wide. The Spanish bridge con- sisted of nine boats ; the French of fourteen, the channel on that side being broader. Castillo, Viayc, del Rcy, pp. 223-5.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
783
decorators had a leaning to the lays and legends of Greece and Rome,1 and the tapestries on their side of the great hall recorded the feats of Scipio and Hannibal, and the Metamorphoses of Ovid ; while the hangings of the graver Spaniards revealed the mysterious monsters of the Apocalypse.2
This upholstery work, better suited to the capa- cities of a carpenter, or of a lord-in-waiting, was not the most fatiguing part of the task imposed on Velazquez. As Aposcntador, it was his business to find lodging for the King and court along the whole road from Madrid. Even with the assist- ance of Villareal 3 and of Mazo Martinez, who also accompanied him,4 this must have been an undertak- ing that required time and labour ; for Philip IV. travelled with a train of Oriental magnitude. On the 1 5th of April, having made his will and commended himself to Our Lady of Atocha,5 that monarch set out from the capital, accompanied by the Infanta, and followed by three thousand five hundred mules, seventy coaches, seventy baggage waggons, and eighty-two saddle horses, the choicest that could be furnished to do honour to the nation
1 Their first gallery was hung, says Castillo, p. 227, with " vcintc y dos paiios de las fabulas of Sipqucs y Cupido," a strange reading for Psyche. So in Butron's Discursos, fol. 120, we find L. da Vinci disguised as Leo- nardo de Bins.
- Castillo, Viage, pp. 225-8. 3 Supra, p. 781.
4 Castillo, Viagc, p. 56. ° Supra, chap. vi. p. 437.
CH. IX.
Duties of the Apo- sentador.
Royal pro- gress.
784
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Baggage of the In- fanta.
Rejoicing on the road.
of cavaliers by the royal breeding stud at Cordoba.1 The baggage of the royal bride alone would have served for a small army. Her dresses were packed in twelve large trunks, covered with crimson velvet, and mounted with silver ; twrenty morocco trunks contained her linen ; and fifty mules wrere laden with her toilette-plate and perfumes. Beside these personal equipments she carried a vast provision of presents, amongst which were twro chests filled with purses, amber-gloves, and whisker-cases 2 for her future brother-in-law, the Duke of Orleans. The grandees of the household vied with each other in the size and splendour of their retinues. The caval- cade extended six leagues in length, and the trumpets of the van were sounding at the gate of Alcala de Henares, the first day's halting-place, ere the last files had issued from the gate of Madrid.3 The whole journey, through Burgos and Vittoria, was a triumph and a revel. At Guadalaxara, the royal travellers lodged in the noble palace of the Hen- dozas ; at Lerma, in that of the Sandovals ; at Bribiesca, in that of the Velascos. Grandees and
1 J. Hcnvell, Instructions for Forrainc Travell, 121110, London, 1642, p. 68, says, " If the one (the Frenchman) hath a fancy to stars (starch ?) his mustaches the other hath a leather bigothero to lye upon them all night." Arber's reprint, 121110, London, 1869, p. 31.
" Bigoteras, explained in Steven's Spanish Dictionary, 4to, London, 1726, as "cases to put whiskers up in bed."
3 B. V. de Soto, Supplement to Mariana, pp. 89, 90.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
785
municipal bodies lavished vast sums on bull-feasts and fireworks for their entertainment ; prelates did the honours of their noble Cathedrals ; abbots came forth with their most holy relics ; bonfires blazed on the savage crags of Pancorvo ; the burghers of Mondragon turned out under arms which their fore- fathers had borne against Pedro the Cruel ; peasants of Guipuzcoa danced their strange sword-dances with loyal vigour before their King ; and the Ilonces- valles, hugest of galleons, floated for his inspection, and stunned his ears with salutes in the waters of Passages.1 Pending the final negotiations, Philip IV. and the Infanta remained for three weeks at St. Sebastian, where his Majesty's table was sometimes nearly overturned by the throngs of French who came to see him dine.2 On the 2nd of June the court repaired to Fuenterrabia, the King of France and the Queen-mother having already arrived at their frontier town of St. Jean dc Luz.
The next day the Infanta solemnly abjured those rights to the Spanish crown which were so success- fully asserted by her grandson ; and on the 3rd she was married to Haro, as proxy of the French King, by the Bishop of Pamplona, in the old church of Our Lady. On the 4th of June, the pavilion of Velazquez
1 Castillo, Viagr., pp. 105, 120, 123.
" Mcmoires de Mad. dc Motlccille, 5 torn. 121110, Amsterdam, 1723, V. p. 72. She gives a lively account of the meeting of the two courts.
CII. IX.
Cere- monials at Fuenter- rabia.
786
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Confer- ences on tho Isle of Pheasants.
was inaugurated by the private interview between the Queen-mother of France, and her brother and niece, the King of Spain and the Infanta. Philip and Anne, who had not met each other for nearly forty years, met with much affection, although Philip would not permit his sister to kiss him.1 They condoled with each other on the war which had so long exhausted their realms, and which the Spanish king, in his sententious way, said was the devil's doing. During this interview Louis was in an adjoining chamber, and he and his bride saw each other for the first time, peeping through a door left ajar for the purpose.2 The day following all the royal personages met in formal conference, when the two Kings signed and swore to the treaty, and after- wards held a joint Court, where Mazarin presented the French nobles to Philip, and Haro introduced the Castiliaus to Louis. The parting gifts sent by the latter to his father-in-law, a diamond badge of the Golden Fleece, a watch encrusted with brilliants, and other kingly toys, were conveyed to him by the hands of Velazquez.3 On the 7th of June the royal personages again met to take leave, and Philip bade farewell for ever to his sister and his child.
During the week which the courts of Spain and
1 Motteville, v. p. 94. " Castillo, Viagc, p. 235.
3 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 522.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
787
France passed on the frontier of the kingdoms, the banks of the Bidasoa furnished scenes worthy of the pencil of Titian and the pen of Scott, and its island pavilion historical groups such as romance has rarely assembled. There was Philip IV., forty years a king, with his proud and regal port, which neither infirmity, nor grief, nor misfortune, had been able to subdue ; — and Louis XIV., in the dawn of his fame and the flower of his beauty. There were two Queens, both daughters of Austria, in whom also grey experience was contrasted with the innocence of youth, and whose lives exemplify the vicissitudes of high place ; Anne, by turns a neglected consort, an imperious Regent, and a forgotten exile ; and Maria Teresa, the most amiable of Austrian princesses, who, though eclipsed in her own court, and in her husband's affections, aspired in an age of universal gallantry to no higher praise than the name of a loving mother and a true and gentle wife.1 The Italian Cardinal was there, upon whom the mantle of Richelieu had fallen, with his broken form but keen eye, that read in the new alliance the future glory of France and Mazarin ; the cool, wily Haro, in his new honours as Prince of the Peace,'2 a title which so well became the ablest minister and worst
CH. IX.
Tho courts of Spain and France.
i "La bontc," sneers Voltaire, "faisait son seule merite." — Siccle de Louis XIV., chap. xxv. - Dimlop'.s Memoirs of Spain, vol. i. p. 597.
788
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Velazquez.
Pomps and
rejoicings.
captain of Castile ; Turenne, fresh from his victory at the Dunes ; l the old Marechal de Villeroy, and the young Duke of Crequi ; Medina de las Torres, the model and mirror of grandees ; young Guiche, with his romantic air, the future hero of a hundred amours and of the passage of the Rhine ; 2 Monterey and Heliche ; :j and a noble throng of des Noailles and d'Harcourts, Guzmans, and Toledos. There too was the Aposentador and painter of the King of Spain, Diego Velazquez. Although no longer young, he was distinguished, even in that proud assemblage, by his fine person and tasteful attire. Over a dress richly laced with silver he wore the usual Castilian ruff, and a short cloak embroidered with the red cross of Santiago ; the badge of the order, sparkling with brilliants, was suspended from his neck by a gold chain ; and the scabbard and hilt of his sword were of silver, exquisitely chased, and of Italian workmanship.
The rejoicings which celebrated the royal marriage were worthy of the two most sumptuous courts in
1 It was his first appearance at court since that battle. Philip IV. desired that he should be pointed out to him ; and having looked at him for some time attentively, turned to the Queen-mother and .said, " There is a man that has caused me many a sleepless night." — lieboulet, Ilistoire du Reyne dc Lmm XIV., 4to, Avignon, 1744, torn. i. p. $3°-
- Mad. de Sevigne, torn. ii. p. 215, calls him "un heros de roman, qui ne ressemble point au rcstc des homines."
3 Supra, chap. viii. pp. 621-3.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
789
Europe, now vieing with each other in pomp and
magnificence.
" To tell the glorie of the feast that day, The goodly service, the devicef'ull sight?, The bridegrome's state, the bride's most rich aray, The pride of Ladies and the worth of Knights, The royall banquets, and the rare delights, Were worke tit for an herauld." 1
The mornings were dedicated to the exchange of visits and compliments ; the evenings to brilliant revelry. The hills re-echoed the roar of cannon from Fuenterrabia and St. Jean de Luz ; cavalcades, gay with the blue and gold of the French guards and the scarlet and yellow of the Spanish, swept along the green meadows beneath the poplar-crowned brow of Irun ; and gilded barges and bands of music floated all day on the bosom of the Bidasoa. The Spaniards marvelled at the vivid attire of the French gallants, and at the short tails of their Norman horses,2 so unlike the torrents of hair which depended from the rounded quarters of those high-bred jennets which the royal stud of Cordoba had sent to do honour to the nation of cavaliers. The Frenchmen, on their side, shrugged their shoulders at the sad- coloured suits of the Castiliau nobles and the ill-
CH. IX.
Speuser, Faery Queen, b. v. canto iii. st. 3. 2 Castillo, Viage, p. 234.
790
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Philip IV. 's
homeward
progress.
Burgos.
Valladolid,
fashioned robes of their ladies ; and envied the profusion and splendour of their jewels.1 But if the grandees were outdone by the seigneurs in brilliancy of costume, the lackeys of Madrid out-blazed their brethren of Paris : on each of the three great days they appeared in fresh liveries ; and the servants of Medina de las Torres wore the value of 40,000 ducats on their backs.2
At daybreak on the 8th of June the King sent the Count of Pufiorostro for the last tidings of the young Queen of France. On the same morning he and his train set forth from the castle of Fuenter- rabia,3 In this journey he was attended by Velaz- quez, who sent forward his deputy Villareal to prepare quarters on the road. On the I5th of June they reached Burgos, where they attended a solemn ser- vice in the superb Cathedral, and witnessed a grand procession of the clergy.4 From thence they struck into a new road, and meeting by the way with the usual honours and acclamations, entered the city of Valladolid on the 1 8th, and reposed there for four days, in the spacious palace of the crown, the birth- place of Philip IV. Here the King visited his pleasant gardens on the banks of the Pisuerga ; was entertained with fireworks on the water ; saw the
1 Castillo, Viage, p. 266. 3 Castillo, Viage, p. 272.
- Slip, to Mariana. 4 Ibid. p. 276.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
791
nobles of the city display their prowess at the cane- play and in the slaughter of bulls, and their wit and magnificence at a masquerade ; paid his adorations at the shrine of Our Lady of San Llorente ; attended a comedy ; and looked down from a balcony of the palace on a " Mogiganga " — a game in which the performers came disguised as Gog and Magog,1 wild beasts, and fabulous monsters. He likewise " favoured the soil of his native city," as the historian of his progress politely phrased it, by going on foot to hear mass in the conventual church of St. Paul, his place of baptism, a splendid temple, rich with memorials of the artists of Valladolid.2 Here, doubt- less, Velazquez did not fail to examine the fine works, with which the city then teemed, of Becerra, Juni, and Hernandez.3 On the 26th of June his Majesty embraced the Queen and the young Infanta, at the Casa del Campo, and gave thanks for his safe return to his capital at the shrine of Our Lady of Atocha.4
The restoration of Velazquez to his family and friends was to them a matter of no less surprise than joy. A report of his death had preceded him
1 Handbook [1845], p. 240 [edition 1855, p. 164].
" "El Domingo 20," says Castillo, " favorecio con particularidad el Rey nuestro sefior, el suelo de quel lugar, porque passo it pie a oir missa al real convento de San Pablo," &c. — Viagc, p. 288.
3 Supra, chap. v. pp. 289, 349, vii. p. 517.
4 Castillo, Viage, p. 295.
CH. TX.
Arrival at Madrid.
Rumours of the
death of Velazquez.
792
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. ix.
to Madrid, and he found them bewailing his un- tiniely end. He returned in tolerable health, although much fatigued with his journey ; but the tongue of rumour had spoken in the spirit of prophecy ; his worldly work was done ; and fate forbade the pageants of the Pheasants' Isle to be recorded by his inimit- able pencil. He continued, however, to perform his official functions. It was probably at this time that he drew the notice of the King to the clever models in clay, sent from Valencia for his inspec- tion by the Roman sculptor Morelli,1
On the 3ist of July, the Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola, Velazquez having been in attendance from early morning on his Majesty, felt feverish and un- well ; and retiring to his apartments in the palace, laid himself on the bed from whence he was to rise no more. The symptoms of his malady, spasmodic affections in the stomach and the region of the heart, accompanied by raging thirst, so alarmed his physician, Vicencio Moles, that he called in the court doctors, Alva and Chavarri. Those learned persons discovered the name of the disease, which they called a syncopal tertian fever ; but they were less successful in devising a remedy.2 No improve- ment appearing in the state of their patient, the
1 Supra, chap. viii. p. 667.
2 " Terciaiia sincopal minuta sutil," says Palomino, torn. iii. p. 523.
D ' L" G 0 vr. LAZQUEZ
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
793
King sent to his bedside, as spiritual adviser, Don Alfonso Perez de Guzman, Patriarch of the Indies, who, hut a few weeks before, had shared with the dying artist in the pomps of the Isle of Pheasants. Velazquez now saw that his end was come. He signed his will, and appointed as his sole executors, his wife Dona Juana Pacheco, and his friend Don Gaspar de Fuensalida, keeper of the royal records, and having received the last sacraments of the Church, he breathed his last, at two o'clock in the afternoon, on Friday, 6th1 of August, 1660, in the 6 ist year of his age.
The corpse, habited in the full dress of a knight of Santiago,2 lay for two days in state, in a chamber illuminated with tapers, and furnished with a crucifix and altar. On Sunday the 8th, it was put into a coffin covered with black velvet and garnished with gilt ornaments, the knightly cross, and the keys of chamberlain and Aposentador-mayor ; and at night it was carried with great pomp to the parish church of San Juan. There it was placed in the principal chapel, in a temporary monument lit by twelve silver candelabra blazing with waxen tapers ; and the burial service was sung by the royal choristers, in the pre-
1 Palomino, toin. iii. p. 523. Cean Bermudez says the 7th, but without correcting Palomino, who is probably right.
2 Sec, in the Rt-glas de Santiago, an account of the usual ceremonies at the funeral of a knight.
VOL. II. 2 E
CH. IX.
Death.
Funeral honours.
Interment in the church of San Juan.
794
CH. IX.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
Epitaph.
sence of a great concourse of knights and nobles. The coffin was finally lowered into the vault beneath the family chapel of the Fuensalidas. If a monu- ment were ever erected to Velazquez it was destroyed by the French, who in 181 1 pulled down the church of San Juan,1 a paltry edifice,2 but deserving of respect for the sake of the ashes in its keeping. A bas-relief, in which he is represented as receiving his Order from the hands of Philip IV., has lately been inserted in the pedestal of that monarch's equestrian statue in front of the palace.3 This is the sole public tribute which Madrid has yet paid to its peculiar artist, the prince of Spanish painters. His epitaph, written with much good feeling and indifferent Latinity by his disciple Juan de Alfaro, has been preserved by Palomino.
POSTERITATI SACRATVM. DIDACVS VELASQVIVS DE SILVA.
HISPALENSIS, PICTOR EXIMIVS, NATVS ANNO MD.LXXXXIV.4 PICTVRyE NOBILISSDLE ARTI SESE DEDICAVIT (PRECEPTORE ACCVRATISSIMO FRANCISCO PACIECO QVI DE PICTVRA PERELE- GANTER SCRIPSIT) JACET IIIC : PROH DOLOR ! D. D. PHILIPPI IV.
1 Handbook [1843], p. 796 [edition 1855, p. 738].
2 Ponz, torn. v. p. 159. 3 Supra, chap. viii. p. 603, and note. * It was probably this epitaph that misled Palomino as to the year of
Velazquez's birth. I have placed it five years later, following Cean Eerrnudez, who sought and found the registry of his baptism ; see supra, p. 672.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
795
HISPANIARVM REGIS AVGVSTISSIMI A CVBICVLO PICTOR FRIMVS, i CH. IX. A CAMARA EXCELSA ADJVTOR VIGILANTISSIMVS, IN REGIO PALATIO ET EXTRA AD HOSPITIVM CVBICVLARIVS MAXIMVS, A QVO STVDIORVM ERGO MISSVS, VT ROM^E ET ALIARVM ITALIC VRBIVM PICTVRJ3 TABVLAS ADMIRANDAS, VEL QVID ALIVD HVJVS SVPPELECTILIS, VELVTI STATVAS MARMOREAS, L. ^EREAS CONQVIRERET, PERSECTARET AC SECVM ADDVCERET, NVMMIS LARGITER SIBI TRADITIS : SIC CVM IPSE PRO TVNC ETIAM INNOCENTII X PONT. MAX. FACIEM COLORIBVS MIRE EXPRES- SERIT, AVREA CATENA PRETII SVPRA ORDINARII EVM RE- MVNERATVS EST, NVMISMATE, GEMMIS C^ELATO CVM IPSIVS PONTIFICIS EFFIGIE INSCVLPTA EX IPSA EX ANNVLO APPENSO : TANDEM D. JACOBI STEMMATE FVIT CONDECORATVS, ET POST REDDITVM EX FONTE RAPIDO GALLL-E CONFIXI VRBE MATRITVM VERSVS CVM REGE SVO POTENTISSIMO E NVPTIIS SERENISSIMJ5 D. MARLE THERESI^E BIBIAN^E DE AVSTRIA ET BORBON, E CONNVBIO SCILICET CVM REGE GALLIARVM CHRISTIANISSIMO D. ; D. LVDOVICO XIV. LABORE ITINERIS FEBRI PR^HENSVS, OBIIT MANTV^E CARPENTAN^E, POSTRIDIE NONAS AVGVSTI ^TATIS LXVI. ANNO M.DC.LX. SEPVLTVSQVE EST HONORIFICE IN D. JOANNIS PARROCHIALI ECCLESIA NOCTE, SEPTIMO IDVS MENSIS, SVMPTV MAXIMO IMMODICISQVE EXPENSIS, SED NON IMMODICIS TANTO VIRO ; HEROVM CONCOMITATV, IN HOC DOMINI GASPARIS FVEN- SALIDA GRAFIERII REGII AMICISSIMI SVBTERRANEO SARCOPHAGO ; SVOQVE MAGISTRO PR^ICLAROQVE VIRO S^ECVLIS OMNIBVS VENERANDO, PICTVRA COLLACRIMANTE, HOC BREVE EPICEDIVM JOANNES DE ALFARO CORDVBENSIS MCESTVS POSVIT ET IIEN- RICVS FRATER MEDICVS.
Alfaro has left another memorial still more in- teresting than this lapidary panegyric, a sketch taken from his corpse as it appeared arrayed in the habit
of Santiago.
This curious drawing is executed in
796
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Death of tho wife of Velazquez.
His family.
black crayon, upon a piece of yellowish paper, which seems, by the folds in it, to have formed part of a letter. The size is about 7^ inches high by 5^ inches wide. Velazquez is represented in a sitting posture, as if propped up from behind. The heavily drooping eyelids, and the hanging appearance given to the features by death, are well marked ; the plumed hat, the small ruff and the cross on the breast, are touched with some care, but the rest of the bust is indicated only by a few hasty strokes. This casual relic was bought at Cordoba, early in this century, from the widow of a painter to whom had descended a quantity of drawings and prints, which had been left by the widow of Alfaro ; and I obtained it in 1856, through the kindness of a friend at Madrid.
Juana Pacheco died on the I4th of August, eight days after her husband, and was buried in the same grave. They left a daughter married to the painter Mazo Martinez. From the family picture at Vienna,1 it appears that they had, at one time, four sons and two daughters ; one of the latter, probably Maze's wife, being considerably older than the rest ; and there is, besides, an infant with its nurse, which may either be the painter's child or grandchild. It seems
1 Supra, p. 682 [and note Beschreibmdes Verzcirhniss, von Ed. R. V. Engerth, 8vo, Wien, 1884, Band I., No. 622, pp. 443-5, where a full de- scription of the picture is given].
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
797
probable that the boys died young, as no mention of their names is to be found in the story of Spanish art. Had they lived, it is natural to suppose that one or more would have adopted the profession of their sire and grandsire, and that the King, who was so munificent towards the father of Velazquez,1 would not have withheld his bounty from his chil- dren. In this Vienna picture we have the single glimpse that pen or pencil affords us of the domestic life of the painter. His wife, dressed in a dark tunic over a red petticoat, sits in the foreground of a large room, with a pretty little girl leaning on her knees, and the rest of her children grouped around her ; behind are two men, in deep shadow, one of whom perhaps being Mazo, the lover or the husband of the eldest daughter, and a nurse with a child ; beyond, there is a table with a marble bust, and a landscape and a portrait of Philip IV. hung on the wall ; and behind, in a deep alcove, are the nurse and child, and Velazquez himself standing before his easel, at work on a full-length portrait of the Queen. This is one of the most important works of the master, out of the Peninsula ; 2 the faces of the
1 Supra, p. 705.
2 [See supra, p. 76, note i.] M. Viardot, Musees d'Allemagne et de Russie, I2mo, Paris, 1844, p. 234, says of this picture that it is "presque aussi vaste et excellent que celui duquel Luca Giordano disait 'c'est la thdologie de la peinture.' " In the Notice des Tableaux exposes dans la
CH. IX.
Family picture.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Character of Velaz- quez.
family sparkle, on the sober background, like gems ; as a piece of easy actual life, the composition has never been surpassed, and perhaps it excels even the Meninas, inasmuch as the hoops and dwarfs of the palace have not intruded upon the domestic privacy of the painter's home in the northern gallery of the Alcazar.1
The records of the life of Velazquez are more ample than those of any other artist of Spain. The facts which illustrate his character as a man are worthy of the works which display his genius as an artist. The brief notices of Pacheco indicate the affectionate regard in which he was held by his nearest kindred. He was no less esteemed in the wider circle of the Court ; his death caused as much sorrow as a Court is capable of feeling ; and he was kindly remembered by the master whom he had so ably served. Certain charges, of what nature we are not informed, brought against him after his death, made it necessary for his executor, Fuensalida, to refute them at a private audience
Galcrie Napoleon, Paris, I2mo, 1811 [and also in the Notice des Tableaux exposes dans la Galerie du Musee, I2nio, Paris, 1814], there is a picture, No. 1213, p. 149, attributed to Velazquez, and called Lafamille de Velazquez. The size is not given, and no further particulars or remark, except that j the artist " married Dona Juana, daughter of Francisco Pacheco, fami- \ Her of the Inquisition of Seville, censor of sacred pictures, and, besides, painter, poet, and historian." 2 Supra, p. 722.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 799 |
|
granted to him by the King for that purpose. |
CH. IX. |
After listening to the defence of his friend, Philip |
|
immediately made answer : " I can believe all you |
|
can say of the excellent disposition of Diego Velaz- |
|
quez." l Having lived for half his life in Courts, |
|
he was yet capable of both gratitude and generosity ; |
|
and in the misfortunes, he could remember the |
|
early kindness, of Olivares. The friend of the |
|
exile of Loeches, it is just to believe that he was |
|
also the friend of the all-powerful favourite at |
|
Buenretiro, not the parasite minion — |
|
" To watch him, as his watch observed the clock, |
|
And true as turquoise in the dear lord's ring, |
|
Look well or ill with him." 2 |
|
No mean jealousy ever influenced his conduct to his |
|
brother artists ; he could afford not only to acknow- |
|
ledge the merits, but also to forgive the malice of |
|
his rivals.3 His character was of that rare and happy |
|
kind, in which high intellectual power is combined |
|
with indomitable strength of will and a winning , |
|
sweetness of temper, and which seldom fails to |
|
raise the possessor above his fellow-men, making |
|
his life a — |
|
" laurel victory ! and smooth success |
|
Be strew'd before his feet." 4 |
|
1 Palomino, torn. iii. p. 525. |
|
2 Ben Jonson, Sejanus, act i. sc. i ; Works, vol. iii. p. 15. Sec also |
|
supra, p. 744. 3 Supra, p. 675. |
|
4 Antony and Cleopatra, act i. sc. 3. 1. 100-1. |
8oo
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
He was the friend of Ilubens, the most generous, and of Kibera, the most jealous, of the brethren of his craft ; and he was the friend and pro- tector of Cano and Murillo, who, next to himself, were the greatest painters of Spain. Carreno de Miranda, the ablest of the Court painters whom he left behind him, owed his introduction to the King's service to the good-nature of Velazquez. Elected one of the alcaldes of Madrid, his time would have been inconveniently occupied by municipal duties, had not Velazquez obtained him exemption from them by procuring him employment in the Alcazar, where his talents soon attracted the favourable notice of the King. The example and personal influence of Velazquez doubtless tended very greatly to the preservation of that harmony which prevailed amongst the artists of Madrid in this reign, and which pre- sents so pleasing a contrast to the savage discord in the schools of Rome and Naples, where men con- tended with their rivals, not merely with the pencil, but with the cudgel, the dagger, and the drug. The favourite of Philip IV., in fact, his minister for artistic affairs, he filled this position with a purity and a disinterestedness very uncommon in the councils of state ; he was the wise and munificent distributer, and not, as too many men would have been, the greedy monopolist, of royal bounties ; and to befriend an artist less fortunate than himself was
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
801
one of the last acts of his amiable and glorious life.1
Of the portraits of Velazquez, the most youthful and beautiful is that in the picture of the " Surrender of Breda ; " 2 the most authentic that in the picture of the Maids of Honour,3 painted when he was in his fifty-seventh year, and somewhat grey and worn. If the cavalier behind Spinola's horse be really a likeness of himself, then the powerfully-painted head of a young man in the Louvre,4 which passes for such, has been misnamed. The Royal Gallery of Madrid, where the biographer naturally looks for an authentic portrait, possesses no separate picture of the most important of its Spanish contributors. Florence has two portraits of Velazquez,5 and Munich one ; 6 and there is one in the collection of the Earl of Ellesmere, of which there is an indifferent copy in the Louvre.7 That which illustrates the present sketch of his life is copied from the Spanish en- graving of Bias Ametller.8
There remains but to mention a few of his works
1 Supra, p. 792. 2 Ibid. p. 749 [and note]. 3 Ibid. p. 770.
* Gal. Esp., No. 300. [Sold at the Louis Philippe sale, and was, in 1883, in the collection of the Duque de Montpensier, Seville. Curtis (v. No. 207, p. 84) describes it as the portrait of "a young man," and says, " it is pro- bably neither a portrait of Velazquez nor by him."]
5 In the Sala dei Pittori of the Royal Imperial Gallery.
6 Verzeichniss, No. 369 [edition 1884, No. 1292].
7 Gal. Esp., 302. 8 In the Espanoles Ilnstrcs.
CH. IX.
Portraits of
Velazquez.
802
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Notice of
some of the
•works of
Velazquez.
"Las
Hilan-
doras."
which have not yet been noticed. Of these, the picture known as " The Spinners," in the Queen of Spain's gallery,1 is the most celebrated. The scene is a large weaving-room, in which an old woman and young one sit, the first at her spinning-wheel, and the second winding yarn ; a third woman, with a quantity of tapestry on her shoulders, and holding aside a curtain, is in consultation with the spin- ner, while near the winder another girl is packing clothes into a basket. Between these two groups kneels a girl carding wool, of which a quantity is strewed on the floor, round a demure reposing cat. The progress of tapestry-weaving is thus depicted, from the raw material as it comes from the shearers of the Guadarrama to the finished product of the looms of Arras or Gobelins. In the background, standing within an alcove filled with light from an unseen window, are two other women displaying a large piece of tapestry to a lady customer, whose graceful figure recalls that which has given its name to Terburg's picture of " The Satin Gown." 2 Of this composition the painter Mengs observed, that "it seemed as if the hand had no part in it, and it had been the work of pure thought."
1 Catdlogo, No. 335 [edition 1889, No. 1061. Of this picture, a charming etching, by li. W. Macbeth, A.R.A., was published in 1888].
2 In the Museum of Pictures at Amsterdam, Description dcs Tableaux, 8vo, Amst. 1843, No. 314, p. 53.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
803
" St. Anthony the Abbot, and St. Paul the Hermit," in the same gallery,1 is a picture remark- able as one of the few religious works of Velazquez, and as one which was especially admired by Sir David Wilkie.2 In the persecution of the Emperor Decius, says the legend,3 Paul, a young and pious Egyptian, fled to the Thebaid, and finding there a convenient cavern, palm-tree, and fountain, became the first solitary of that celebrated waste. For about twenty years he fed on dates, but after that time half a loaf of bread was brought to him, like another Elijah, every day by a friendly raven. Meanwhile, one of his countrymen, named Anthony, likewise conceived the idea of retiring from the world to the wilderness, and his example was so efficacious, that the valleys of the Thebaid became studded with convents, and the rocks alive with burrowing her- mits. When about ninety years old this Anthony, indulging in reflections of undue self-complacency, it was revealed to him, in a dream, that far away in the desert there dwelt another recluse much older and holier than himself. He immediately took his staff in his hand, and after a two days' march, and by the good offices of a centaur, and other placable monsters, he found the cavern where
1 Catiilorjo, No. 87 [edition 1889, No. 1057]. " Life, vol. ii. p. 486. 3 Villegas, Flos Sanctorum, pp. 107, 114.
CH. IX.
"St. Anthony and St. Paul."
Their legend.
804
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Picture.
this phoenix of secluded sanctity had lodged for nearly a hundred years. The hermit -patriarchs knew each other by holy intuition, and while they prayed and conversed together, the bread-bearing raven, which had brought half a loaf every day for sixty years, descended on this extraordinary occasion with a whole loaf in his beak. Feeling his end approaching, Paul besought his guest to bring him from a distant convent a certain mantle that once belonged to St. Athanasius ; and when Anthony returned from this mission, he found the good man dead upon his knees. Having said the customary prayers over the body, he committed it to the earth, with the aid of two lions, who dug the grave with their claws, and roared a requiem over the departed. In the foreground of Velazquez's picture, the two venerable saints are seated at the door of the cavern, Paul in white, Anthony in brown drapery,1 and both with upturned eyes, as if engaged in prayer. The palm-tree peeps above the rocks behind, and overhead hovers the paniferous raven. As in old pictures, past and future events are shown on the same canvas. Far off in a winding valley, Anthony is seen asking the way, first of a centaur, and next of a monster horned and hoofed like the Evil One
1 The T-shaped cross is \vantiny, which ought to appear on his left shoulder. Interian de Ayala, Pictor C/iristiunus Eruditus, p. 217, a work noticed in chap. i. p. 22.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
805
himself; within the cavern he stands knocking at the gate ; l and in another part of the background he and the grave-digging lions commit Paul to the dust. The picture is painted with great power ; and a lively effect is produced by a few sober colours ; its parent-sketch was lately in the Louvre.2
The " Coronation of the Virgin," likewise an orna- ment of the Royal Gallery of Spain,3 was painted as an altar-piece for the oratory of Queen Isabella.4 The figures are about two-thirds less than life-size. Seated on a cloudy throne, the blessed Mary, with downcast eyes, receives a crown of flowers, which is placed on her head by Our Lord and the Eternal Father. In the lovely face of this Virgin5 and in the cherubs which sport around her feet, Velazquez appears to have imitated Correggio ; and the blue and pink draperies are brighter in hue than his usual colouring.
The picture of St. Francis Borgia, in the gallery
1 Fr. Jacobus Januensis, ILrgcntia Sanctorum, ful. 1483, No. xv., says he was at last conducted thither by a wolf, which, however, is not men- tioned by Villegas.
2 Gal. Esp., No. 286 [sold at the Louis-Philippe sale, No. 408].
3 Catulogo [1843], No. 62 [edition 1889, No. 1056].
4 [Paul Lefort, Velazquez, 8vo, Paris, 1888, p. 98, says, "Sans doute Marianne d'Autriche," and that the figures are life-size.]
5 Here I am once more at issue with the Handbook, where (p. 753) [edition 1855, p. 690] this Mary is called "a somewhat sulky female," an opinion which I neither concur in, nor think it fair to my readers to suppress.
CH. IX.
" Corona- tion of the Virgin."
8o6
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
St. Francis Borgia entering tho Jesuits' college.
of the Duke of Sutherland,1 is as fine an historical subject as was ever treated by the pencil of Velaz- quez. The austere holiness of this Duke of Gandia is no less extraordinary, although perhaps less famous, than the vices of his progenitors. Head of a great and ancient house, cousin and favourite of Charles V., the mirror of knighthood, the darling of women, he renounced, in the prime of life, a position far more enviable than the throne from which his imperial kinsman descended in his sickly age ; and, assuming the then humble robe of the Jesuit, he lived for twenty years with no other cares than to preach the Gospel, mortify his body, and to avoid the purple of Rome, with which Popes and Princes continually threatened . to invest him.2 The sight of the Empress Isabella in her shroud, and the death of his own beautiful wife, working on a mind
1 At Stafford House, London.
2 Dr. Joseph Itios, in a sennou in honour of the saint, informs us that "la mayor cruz de nucstro duque fueron los capelos que le amenazaron casi toda su vida." — El Arbol grande de Gandia, S. Francisco Borja, oration en la colegial y en fiesta de dicha ciudad, 4to, Valencia, 1 748, p. 1 8. For curious details of the life and austerities of Borgia, see Itiba- deneira, Flcurs des Vies des Saints, torn. ii. p. 676. I have given a tolerably full account of him in the Cloister Life of the Emperor Charles the Fifth [chap. iv. 3rd edition, sm. 8vo, London, 1853, p. 77, et seq.]. There is also a good account of him in the eloquent article on Loyola and his associates, in the Edin, Review, vol. Ixxv. p. 297, 1842. But when the writer reprints his essay, let him correct the assertion (p. 348) that this saintly courtier of Charles and Isabella " touched his lute with unrivalled skill in the halls of the Escurial," for which the granite was as yet unquarried.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV. 807
naturally devout, drove him, it is said, from camps CH. ix. and courts to the cloister and the calendar. In this picture he is presented to our view on the boundary line of those two worlds, having dismounted from his horse, for the last time, at the door of the Jesuits' College at Rome. Attended by two noble youths, he bows low to Ignatius Loyola, who comes, with three fathers of the order, to meet him on the threshold. The heads of the Duke and his companions are finely painted, and that of Ignatius, conspicuous by his high bald brow, is full of the intellectual power and sombre enthusiasm that belonged to that good soldier of the ancient faith. One of his attendants, however, is far too sleek and plump for an early Jesuit. There is a singular absence of colour in the picture ; the dress of the Duke, from his hat downwards, being white, and the robes of the churchmen brown, with nothing to relieve the grey walls of the convent and its retiring inner court, which rise behind the figures. Although a work of great interest, it cannot be ranked as equal to the other large compositions of Velazquez. It is mentioned by neither Palomino nor Cean Bermudez, but it formed part of the plun- der of Soult. It may have been painted by order of Cardinal Archbishop Borja for the halls of Gandia ; l
1 Supra, p. 751.
8o8
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
"El
Orlando
muerto."
or possibly by desire of Pacheco, for his friends the Jesuits at Seville.1 But although the sub- ject is one which Velazquez m.ay easily be sup- posed to have treated, in the absence of any historical evidence, the internal evidence of the style is not strong enough to place the picture amongst his undoubted works. Whoever the author may have been, he probably painted a companion piece representing the opening of the coffin of the Empress Isabella before it was laid in the vault at Granada. In the collegiate church of Logrofio, and its chapel of St. Francis Borja, are two wretched daubs, the one representing that memorable passage in the saint's life, and the other being a copy of the picture in the Sutherland gallery.2
Velazquez has left a great number of striking pictures, each containing a single figure. The Count de Pourtales, in his collection at Paris,3 has an excellent specimen of one of these studies, called the "Dead Orlando" — an armed warrior lying
1 Those fortunate collectors who can afford to deal with the Duke of Dalmatia, should in all cases bargain for pedigrees with their pictures. The property acquired would thus be enhanced in value, and the seller could surely have no objection " to whisper where he stole " goods which all Europe knows were acquired by rapine. [Curtis, v. No. 17, p. 11, says, " it was captured in Spain by Soult, who sold it in 1835 to the Duke of Sutherland."]
2 At least they Avere there when I visited the church on the i7th April 1849.
3 [Sold at the Pourtales sale, in Paris, 27 th March 1865. Now in the National Gallery, London, No. 741.]
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
809
beneath some dark rocks, with one hand upon his breast, the other resting on his sword-belt, and "looking proudly to heaven from the deathbed of fame." The " Place-hunter," el Pretendiente, in the Koyal Gallery of Spain,1 is full of quiet humour. He is dressed in sober black, and is in the act of presenting a petition with a profound bow, and the air of a man inured to denials. By this idly-busy race of suitors, who find it easier to beg than to dig, the Spanish Court has always been peculiarly infested ; their poverty and their pride, their infinite verbose memorials, their dinners with Duke Hum- phrey, and their difficulties about clean linen, are jests of old standing ; and Velazquez must have enjoyed ample opportunities of studying all varieties of the breed in royal and ministerial antechambers.2
1 Catdlogo [1843], No. 267. [In the Catdlogo, 1889 (No. 692), it is de- scribed as "portrait of Francisco de Bazan, buffoon of the Court of Carlos II.," and is attributed to Carreno de Miranda, on the authority of the Royal Inventory of 1686 ; and Curtis, v. 753, p. 33, says "it is probably the picture which Cean Bermudez (Die. v. 178) and Ponz (vi. 34) call a portrait of the Alcalde Ronquillo, by Velazquez."]
2 Soon after he came to Madrid, a book was written on place-hunting by Don Francisco Galaz y Varahona, Paradoxas en que (principal incnte) persuade a un pretendiente a la quietud del animo, dirigido al Conde de Olivares, &c., 4to, Madrid, 1625, with a title-page by Schorquens. The pretendientes, however, were not to be persuaded, nor put off with para- doxes instead of pudding, for they mustered as strong as ever in the days of Charles IV. (see Doblado's Letters, p. 375-6) ; nor is the breed yet extinct. " Mas vale migaja de Key, que merced de Seiior " [The king's leavings are better than the lord's bounty — Spanish Salt, by Ulick Ralph Burke, M.A., 121110, London, 1877, p. 78], quoted by the
VOL. II. 2 F
CH. IX.
"El Pre- tendiente.'
8io
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Various works.
In the same gallery the portraits of a sculptor, sup- posed to be Alonso Cano,1 and of a grey-haired cavalier in rich armour,2 are works of rare excellence and the old lady, with a prayer-book in her hand,3 is painted with much of the peculiar brilliancy of Rembrandt. The full-length picture called the Alcalde llonquillo, brought from Spain by Sir David Wilkie, and afterwards the property of the late Mr. James Hall, is a fine example of simple and effective portraiture.1 The private collection of the late King
captive's father. Don Quixote, Bruxelles, 1616, Parte I., lib. iv. cap. xxxix. P- 435 [Smollet's translation, three vols. i2mo, London, 1833, vol. ii. p. 28, " The King's crumb is worth the Baron's batch"].
1 Caldlotjo [1843], No. 8r. [In the Catdlogosoi 1873 and 1889, No. 1091, in the former of which it is called " portrait of a sculptor, erroneously supposed to be Alonso Cano," while, in the latter, it is distinctly stated to be " of Martinez Montana-;. " Curtis, v. 152, calls it Cano, but adds a query ; but Justi, Diego Velazquez mid his Times, Svo, London, 1889, pp. 281-4, unhesitatingly makes it out to be Montanes, as he had conjectured in 1877, admitting that a similar conjecture had occurred independently to ii. Paul LeCort (Gazette des Beaux Arts, 1882, ii. 409, reprinted in Les Artistes Cde.br es: Velazquez, Svo, Paris, 1888, pp. 96-7). llobert W. Macbeth, A.R. A., published in 1888 a beautiful etching of this line por- trait, as that of "Alonso Cano," although in Mr. Fred. Wedmore's Notes on Velazquez and Titian in the Etchings of R. W. Macbeth, A.E.A., 121110, London, 1888, p. 18, it is stated to be Mr. Macbeth's belief that the subject of the portrait is really Montanes.]
- ibid. [1843], No. 289 [edition 1889, No. 1090. This portrait is now recognised as that of D. Antonio Alonso Piineutel, ninth Conde do Bena- vente. It was at one time ascribed to Titian].
3 Ibid. No. 209 [edition 1889, No. 1089].
4 Cean Bormudez mentions among the pictures in the royal palace at Madrid "an old man in a rail', called the Alcalde Itonquillo, " which, he says, was etched by F. Goya. I have never met with the etching, so I am unable to identify Mr. Hall's picture with that mentioned by Cean [see supra, p. 809, note i]. But Mr. Hall himseli told me that Wilkie always called the portrait in question llonquillo. Of course it cannot be the
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
811
fighting alcalde of that name of the wars of the commons (1522), but it may possibly be Antonio llonquillo, who died Viceroy of Sicily in 1651, father of Pedro llonquillo, ambassador in England towards the end of the century.
1 Wornum's Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery, with Biographical Notices of the. Painters, 121110, London, 1847, p. 190 [Cata- logue, 1889, No. 197, p. 462].
Picture of the "Boar Hunt" in the Pardo ; now in London.
of Holland at the Hague boasted two excellent j CH. ix. portraits ; a bust of a lady in a black dress and ruff, with considerable bpauty, as usual spoiled by rouge ; and a full-length picture of a charming little bright - haired girl, an Infanta, or at the least a Menina, richly dressed in green satin, and holding in her hand a fan of ostrich feathers.
His finest picture of field sports is the " Boar Hunt," once in the palace of Madrid, and presented by Ferdinand VII. to Lord Cowley, then English ambassador at the Court of Spain, by whom it was sold for ^"2,200 to the British National Gallery.1 The scene is laid in the chase of the Pardo, in a spot known as the Hoyo, or dingle, a piece of flat ground surrounded by ilex-mantled slopes. In the centre of this space there is a circular pen, enclosed with canvas walls, within which Philip IV. and a party of cavaliers display their skill in slaying boars to a few ladies, who sit secure in heavy old-fashioned blue coaches. The king was an ardent lover of the sport, and managed his steed and lance with infinite boldness and dexterity. When only thirteen years old, mounted on his sorrel horse Guijarrillo, he
812 REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. ix. killed a boar in the presence of his father and his young Bourbon bride ; and he would folloxv his prey over the most rocky and dangerous ground, excusing his breakneck gallops by saying that kings should be as valiant in doing as they were powerful in com- manding.1 In this picture he is represented, some- what towards the left side of the canvas, riding a bay horse, and receiving the boar on the edge of his media luna, a spear barbed with a steel crescent. Near to his majesty, on the left, and likewise on a bay steed, prances the Count-Duke of Olivares, whose duty it was, as master of the horse, to ride close to the royal person ; 2 and beyond that minister, the cavalier on the white horse bears some resemblance to the Cardinal-Infant Don Fernando, the gallant primate of Spain. Farther off, at a respectful dis- tance to the left, in the features of the older sports- man, on a long-maned white palfrey, the curious observer may detect a likeness to the portrait which Juan Mateos, one of the royal huntsmen, has given as his own in the title-page to his rare book on hunting.3 Near the centre of the picture another group of horsemen are caracoling ; while to the
1 Origcn y dignidad de la Cctfa, al Conde-Duque de San Lucar la Mayor, por Juan Mateos, ballestero principal de su Magd., 4to, Madrid, 1634, cap. vii. fol. ii and 12, where will be found an account of several sporting feats of his majesty. This author was suspected to have been the mur- derer of the Conde de Villa Mediana, supra, p. 632.
2 Ibid. fol. 12. 3 Note i.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
813
right five more cavaliers gather round another boar, with which a couple of hounds are grappling, in a cloud of dust. The lady in the second coach from the centre of the picture seems to be intended for Queen Isabella, although her face is directed, not towards her dexterous lord, but towards the motley throng on this side the canvas wall of the enclosure. The figures without the circle are grouped in the most skilful and effective manner, and painted in Velazquez's brightest style ; and the knot of people gathered about the wounded hound, the keepers with fresh dogs in the slips, the ragged loungers, the old peasant with his broad hat and ample cloak of the national brown cloth, the clergyman in black, conversing with the cavaliers in grey and scarlet, and the postillions with their mules, fill the fore- ground with various colour, and character, and breathing life. Our English painter, who, perhaps, has more of the spirit of Velazquez than any artist living, finely remarked of this picture, that he had never before seen " so much large art on so small a scale." l A tolerable copy of this charming work remains, as a record of what Spain has lost and
CH. IX.
1 Letter from Mr. (afterwards Sir) Edwin Landseer to Mr. (afterwards Sir) C. L. Eastlake, in the copies of the minutes of the trustees of the National Gallery, 1845-46, and of orders to the keeper of the gallery respecting cleaning the pictures, laid before the House of Commons in consequence of an address moved by Mr. Tlunie, 26th January 1847, p. 18.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Land- scapes.
what England has gained, in the lloyal Gallery at Madrid.1
The landscapes alone of Velazquez are sufficient to give him a high rank amongst painters. :' Titian," says Sir David Wilkie, "seems his model, but he has also the breadth and picturesque effect for which Claude and Salvator Rosa are remarkable." His pictures are " too abstract for much detail or imita- tion, but they have the very same sun we see, and the air we breathe, the very soul and spirit of
1 Catdlogo[iS43], No. 68 [edition 1889, No. 1 1 16]. In the Catalogue of 1828, where it appears as No. 29, it is attributed to Velazquez himself. This picture above described, was, in 1853, the subject of a minute and amusing investigation before a committee of the House of Commons, sitting to inquire into the management of the National Gallery. The President of the Royal Academy mentioned in evidence, as an illustration of the tricks of picture-cleaners, that this picture had been so much injured in the hands of one of the fraternity, that Mr. George Lance, the eminent painter of still life, had been called in to repair, or in reality to repaint, it. Mr. Lance, being summoned before the committee, frankly confirmed the statement. About t\venty years ago, he said, the "Boar Hunt " was in the care of one Thane, a picture-cleaner, who sent it to be lined, and received it back so much injured in that process that the blistered paint fell off in large Hakes from many parts of the canvas. The poor man was in despair ; in visions of the night the maltreated picture passed across his bed in the form of a skeleton ; and he was in danger of losing his wits, had Mr. Lance not promised his assistance. For six weeks the English artist laboured on the Castilian ruin, healing a wound here, fill- ing up a blank there, working upon trees, grass, sky, and figures, supply- ing horses with riders, and riders with horses, and actually painting, out of his own head, a group of mules iu the foreground, which occupied a space, as near as he could guess, of the size of a sheet of foolscap paper. The work achieved, he had, some time afterwards, the satisfaction of being rebuked by two of the most eminent picture-cleaners in London, for venturing to hint that a portion of the picture, then exhibiting at the British Institution, seemed to have been somewhat retouched. The cross- examination which followed did not shake Mr. Lance's adherence to this
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
nature." l His studies of the scenery at Aranjuez are among the most agreeable views of groves and gardens ever committed to canvas. Lord Claren- don2 possesses a small picture by him of the old Alameda, or public walk of Seville, with its twin Hercules3 columns and alleys of trees, and many carefully-painted figures, sparkling with life and animation. A larger but inferior repetition of this subject was lately in the Louvre.4 The same noble- man has a woodland prospect by the same hand,
815
CH. IX.
surprising story, but only elicited fresh tales of picture-restoring even more wonderful. The committee, therefore, agreed to meet him on a future day at the National Gallery, in presence of his own Velazquez. There, happily for the credit of the purchasers, he very candidly admitted that the lapse of time had led him to exaggerate his own share of the work, and that a good deal of the original painting still survived. The chasm, which he had filled with mules, was less in area by three-fourths than he had stated ; and in these mules themselves he had been guided by the backs, necks, and ears, which had remained with tolerable distinct- ness, and enabled him to follow the design of the master. So ended a story, which had amused the town for a day or two, that the picture, which the trustees had purchased as an important work of the Cas- tilian Vaudyck, had really been executed by the English Van Huysum. No notice of this meeting at the National Gallery, at which I was present as a member of the committee, occurs in the record of its proceedings. Mr. Lance's printed evidence (Report and Minutes, pp. 346-353), being most incomplete without it, the present note may serve, I hope, to supply the deficiency.
1 Life of Wilkic, vol. ii. pp. 519, 524.
- At No. i Grosvenor Crescent, London.
3 Found near the Hospital of Santa Marta, and supposed to belong to an ancient temple of Hercules, and erected on their present site in 1574, when the Alameda was planted. — Ortiz de Zufiiga, Annales dc Sevilla, p. 543. They are still called Los Hercules.— Noticia dc los Monumcntos de Sevilla, small 8vo, Sev., 1842, p. 44.
4 Gal. Esp., No. 290. [Sold at the Louis-Philippe sale, 1853; and at G. A. Hoskin's sale, June n, 1864, to Kibble.]
8i6
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. ix. taken in the Pardo, where Philip IV., in a shooting dress and white hat, brings his gun to his shoulder with his accustomed gravity and deliberation. Some- times Velazquez strays into the savage scenery of Salvator Rosa, delighting in beetling crags —
" Or woods with knots and knares deform'd and old, Headless the most, and hideous to behold." 1
Of this style the Louvre boasted a fine specimen, a large composition of broken ground and shattered trees in the chase of the Escorial, with distant view of the palace-convent, seen by the light of the setting sun.2 He has also left some spirited sketches of Venice ; 3 and of architectural scenes, apparently recollections of Rome, and moonlight musings amongst the cypresses and pines of the sketches. Colonna and Medici gardens. The first sketches of his works, says Cean Bermudez, were chiefly executed in water colours or with a coarse pen. They are now rare, and of a high value. The Standish collection in the Louvre has four speci- mens, and three are in the print-room of the British Museum.
No artist of the seventeenth century equalled
1 Dryden, Palamon and Arcite, book ii. Gal. Esp., No. 289. [Sold in the Louis-Philippe sale, 1853.]
3 Cook's Sketches, vol. ii. p. 195.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
817
Velazquez in variety of power. He tried all sub- jects, and he succeeded in all. Rubens, indeed, treated as many themes, and on each perhaps produced a greater number of pictures. But he approached all kinds of composition in the same spirit, a spirit of the earth, earthy, of Flanders, Flemish. Whether it be a sacred story of Beth- lehem, a fable of Greek mythology, a passage in the life of Henry IV., we have the same faces and forms brought upon the stage. Even in por- traiture, individuality of character is wanting ; his men are generally burgomasters ; his women are all, like Juno, " ox-eyed," which he conceived to be essential to beauty. The Virgins of his altar-pieces are the sisters of the nymphs of his allegories ; his apostles and centurions are equally prone to leer like satyrs ; and in his Silenus, St. Peter may be detected, like Sir Roger de Coverley in the Sara- cen's head over the village inn.1 Grand in design and vigorous in conception, his large composi- tions are majestic and imposing. Like Antseus, he walks the earth a giant ; but his strength forsakes him when he rises to the delineation of intellectual dignity and celestial purity and grace.
Velazquez, it must be owned, rarely attempted
1 Spectator, No. 122.
CH. IX.
Velazquez compared with
Rubens.
8i8
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
His various range of powers.
Sacred
subjects.
the loftiest flights. Of his few religious subjects, some are purposely treated as scenes of everyday life ; as for example, " Joseph's Coat,"1 and the " Adoration of the Shepherds," 2 and that still earlier work, the powerful " St. John Baptist," formerly in the collection of Mr. Williams at Seville, and more lately in the Standish gallery of the Louvre.3 In the " Christ at Emmaus," a work of great power, formerly in the Louvre, and now in the collection of Lord Breadalbane, the two disciples seated at table with Our Lord are a pair of peasants w7ho may
be recognised in
the
drunken circle surrounding
Bacchus in the " Borrachos"* Once, indeed, he has signally failed in reaching the height to which he aspired, in the unfortunate Apollo of the " Forge of Vulcan."5 But the " Crucifixion " of the nunnery of San Placido 6 shows how capable he was of dealing with a great and solemn subject, and what his works would have been had it been his vocation to paint the saints of the calendar instead of the sinners of the Court. Of the religious pictures of his early days, when he lived amongst the churchmen of Seville, several are destroyed or forgotten ; such as the "Virgin of the Conception," and "St. John
1 Supra, p. 718. " Ibid. p. 679.
3 Catalogue, No. 133; in the sale catalogue, London, 1853, No. 93; called on both occasions a work of the school of Murillo.
4 Supra, p. 700. 5 Ibid. p. 716. G Ibid. p. 727.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
819
writing the Apocalypse," painted for the Carme- lites of his native city ; " Job and his Comforters sitting amongst the Ashes," once in the Chartreuse of Xeres ; 1 and the " Nativity of Our Lord," which perished by fire in 1832, with the Chapter-house of Plasencia.2
He was almost the only Spanish artist that ever attempted to delineate the naked charms of Venus. Strong in interest at Court, and with the Holy Office, he ventured upon this forbidden ground at the desire of the Duke of Alba, and painted a beautiful picture of the Queen of Love, reclining with her back turned, and her face reflected in a mirror, as a companion-piece to a Venus in a different attitude of repose, by Titian.3 Both came to England after the war of independence. The Venus of Titian is said to have found her way back to Spain ; while the Venus of Velazquez, purchased by the advice of Sir
1 Ponz, torn. xvii. p. 279, says that at first sight he took this picture for a work by Luca Giordano, painted in imitation of Velazquez.
" Handbook [1845], P- 55° [edition 1855, p. 495].
3 Ponz, torn. v. p. 317. "A Spanish Venus, at least on canvas," says the Handbook [1845], p. 116, " is as yet a desideratum among amateurs." Velazquez, in his day, thought so too, and supplied it. Mr. Buchanan, Memoirs of Painting, vol. ii. p. 243, says that these Italian and Spanish Vennses were the property of Godoy, Prince of the Peace, when they came to England, and that the pair were valued at 4,000 guineas. Mr. B. (vol. ii. p. 13) rashly asserts that Velazquez painted "a grand and capital" portrait of Clement XIII., who became Pope just ninety-eight years after his death. Did lie mean Giulio Rospigliosi, Clement IX. ?
CH. IX.
His ; Venus. '
820
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CII. IX.
Thomas Lawrence for ^"500, went to the collection of Mr. Morritt at Rokeby, Yorkshire, where she still remains.1 Painted in the master's happiest manner, the goddess reclines on a couch of delicate purple, at the foot of which a kneeling Cupid holds up a black-framed mirror, wherein his mother's face, otherwise seen only in profile, is dimly reflected. Near her hangs a green veil, and behind the group a crimson curtain enriches and closes the com- position.2 He is also said to have painted the national dances of Spain, a fine but neglected sub- ject, six small studies of that kind being attributed to him which once adorned the palace of Madrid/' No artist ever followed nature with more catholic fidelity ; his cavaliers are as natural as his boors ; he neither refined the vulgar, nor vulgarised the refined. " In painting an intelligent portrait," re- marks Wilkie,4 "he is nearly unrivalled." "His
1 [Exhibited at Manchester, 1857, No. 787; and at the Royal Academy, 1890, No. 135.]
• There is an etching by Rembrandt which bears a great resemblance to this picture. See J. Wilson's Descriptive Catalogue of the Prints of Rembrandt, 8vo, London, 1836, No. 202. Naked woman seen from be- hind. Her knees are bent, particularly the right, which is drawn up so much that the foot lies under the calf of the left leg. The foreground is very dark. In the left corner, at bottom, is written, Rembrandt f. 1658.
3 Buchanan's Memoirs of Painting, vol. ii. p. 244. They were valued at 1 ,000 guineas, and dispersed.
4 Life, vol. ii. p. 505. Wilkie was much struck and delighted by the close resemblance which he found between the style of Velazquez and
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
821
portraits," says another excellent English critic,1 " baffle description and praise ; he drew the minds of men ; they live, breathe, and are ready to walk out of their frames." Such pictures as these are real history. We know the persons of Philip IV. and Olivares as familiarly as if we had paced the avenues of the Prado with Digby and Ho well, and perhaps we think more favourably of their charac- ters. In the portraits of the monarch and the minister —
" The bounding steeds they pompously bestride, Share with their lords the pleasure and the pride," "
and enable us to judge of the Cordobese horse of that day, as accurately as if we had lived with the horse-breeding Carthusians of the Betis. And this painter of kings and horses has been compared, as a painter of landscapes, to Claude ; as a painter of low life, to Teniers ; 3 his fruit pieces equal those of Sanchez Cotan 4 or Van Kessel ; his poultry might
that of Sir Henry Raeburn. At Edinburgh, he says (vol. ii. p. 579), the heads of the Spaniard would be attributed to the Scot, and vice versa at Madrid. It is not the least of the glories of Scotland to have produced in George Jameson the painter who most nearly approached the excellence of Vandyck, and in Raeburn a successful although unconscious imitator of the great master of Castile.
1 Penny Cydopcedia, art. Velazquez [by Richard Ford],
" Pope, Essay on Man, ep. iii. 1. 35-6.
3 Wilkie, Life, vol. ii. p. 486.
4 Supra, chap. vii. p. 506.
CH. IX.
822
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
CH. IX.
Verses of Quevedo.
contest the prize with the fowls of Hondekoeter on their own dunghill ; and his dogs might do battle with the dogs of Sncyders.1
The poet Quevedo has celebrated his painter- friend in these lines of his address to the pencil.2
" For ti el gran Velazquez ha podido Diestro quanto ingenioso, Ansi animar lo hermoso, Aiisi dar a lo morbido sentido Con las manchas distantes, Que son verdad en el, no semejantes. Si los afectos pinta ; Y de la tabla leve Huye bulto la tinta desmentida De la niano el relieve. Y si en copia aparente Ketrata algun semblante, y ya vivieute No le puede dexar lo colorido, Que tanto quedo parecido, Que se niega pintado, y al reflexo Teatribuye que imita en el espejo."
By thee ! our own Velazquez, great
In genius as in plastic skill, Sweet beauty's self can recreate,
And lend significance at will To things that distant are and dead,
With realising touch and hue, Till mimic canvas featly spread,
No semblance seems, but nature true
1 Cook's Sketches, vol. ii. p. 196.
2 Obras, torn. ix. p. 372. The poem called El Piticel contains many lines, indeed whole passages, of that from which the notice of Pacheco is extracted ; supra, chap. vii. p. 548.
REIGN OF PHILIP IV.
823
Till forth each shape by figure stands
In warm and round and ripe effect, And eyes first ask the aid of hands
The fine illusion to detect, Then deem the picture, — by the skill
That few shall reach and none surpass, Delighted and deluded still, —
The face of nature in a glass.
CH. IX.
HAJULANTYNE PRESS: EDINBURGH AND LONDON.
N Stirling-Maxwell, (Sir) William
7112 Annals of the artists of
S8 Spain
1891
v.2
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