Sir M. Digby Wyatt

“ If it were not for the peculiar engrailed double edging to the arches, the thinness of the marble central window shaft, and a few oriental turns here and there given to the foliage, and enrichments of the mouldings, one could almost believe that this architecture was regular Genoese cinque-cento. It is possible however, that although here in the midst of ordinary Spanish Plateresque one is tempted to cry out "Oh! how Italian this is!" if one could only meet with a precisely similar building in Genoa; one would be quite as much tempted to exclaim, "Oh! how Spanish this is!" ”

“ It is a common saying, that, "what comes from the heart goes to the heart;" and in nothing does it hold good more than in the production of works of art of all kinds, including Illumination, which, through its special dealing with written characters, has so direct an access to the intellect and affections.
In all appeals the decorative artist can make to the brain through the eye, he has open to him two distinct channels of communication in making out the scheme of his ornamentation,—the one by employing conventional forms,—and the other by introducing representations of natural objects. ”

“ That it has a brilliant future yet in store for it no one can hesitate to believe who is enabled to recognize the power of design, and the capability to execute—either on paper or vellum—with the brush or pen—by hand, or by calling in the aid of the printer and lithographer for the rapid multiplication and dissemination of beautiful specimens—manifested by Owen Jones, his pupil Albert Warren, and many other able artists and amateurs, still gracing this 19th century of ours with works, many of which will doubtless survive to our honour and credit so long as Arts and States may endure. ”

“ Whether it was a mediæval architect entering upon the vast construction of Cathedrals, such as Seville, Toledo or Leon, a Renaissance architect dashing upon the immense laying out of buildings such as the Cathedrals of Salamanca or Granada, or an Herrera plunging into such stone quarries as the Escorial or the Cathedral at Valladolid, not a shadow of doubt ever seems to have crossed the mind of the beginners, that some one would complete what they began. ”

“ In England, on the other hand, the style was not so harmonious but more vigorous, the colouring was fuller and deeper, the action of the figures more intense, the power of expression more concentrated, and reaching occasionally in its energy almost to caricature, the sense of humour always freely developed, and a more generally active sentiment of life impressed upon design, not only in figure subjects, but in ornament. ”

“ When this little dinner is over, every one in the house undress themselves and lie down upon their beds, upon which they lay Spanish leather-skins for coolness; at this time you shall not find a soul in the streets; the shops are shut, all the trade ceased, and it looks as if every body were dead. At two o'clock in the winter and at four in the summer they begin to dress themselves again, then eat sweetmeats, drink either some chocolate or water cooled in ice, and afterwards everybody goes where they think fit, and indeed they tarry out till eleven or twelve o'clock at night ”

“ As the styles of architecture varied in England and France,—agreeing in leading particulars, but each acquiring for itself a set of distinctive characteristics,—so did the art of illumination. In the purely Gothic work, such as prevailed from 1250 to 1400, extreme finesse in execution, tenderness of colour, gentleness of expression, piquancy of ornament, and elegance of composition, may be regarded as almost invariable attributes of French productions. ”

“ I could not but feel, in looking at the works of Herrera, and indeed at those of several other men, such as Diego de Siloe, Gil de Ontañon, Henrique de Egas, Alonso Covarrubbias, and Juan de Badajoz, that there exists for architecture a just mean between their frequent extravagance, and the sordid and shabby spirit in which we from time to time approach the question of expenditure upon "public works." ”

“ Hairy caterpillars, ants, beetles, snails, glow-worms, and even spiders, form also beautiful additions to a design, and may be introduced in almost any form or shape. Butterflies and moths, in their endless and beautiful variety, with their wings of every conceivable colour and shade, and of the most exquisite forms, are truly amongst the most beautiful and appropriate objects which the student can have for his mind to dwell upon. But not only these,—for occasionally a squirrel might be introduced perched upon the scroll-work; a cat, a goat, a dog, a monkey peeping out from behind a leaf ”

“ To assert that Spain can teach the lessons to the architect which may be gained from Italy, or even from France would, I think, be to claim too much for her, but on the other hand, it should be remembered, that it is a mine which has been very much less exhausted. To the interest and grandeur of its Northern Gothic buildings, Mr. Street has done a justice long denied to them; while Girault de Prangey, and above all Owen Jones, have helped us to a right appreciation of the works of those masterly artificers, the Moors, who seem to have possessed an intuitive love for the beautiful in structure. ”

“ No more skill, energy, and taste are requisite for the production of this class of illumination than are essential for satisfactory work upon vellum and paper; and while in the one case the result of the labour may be made an incessant enjoyment for many, in the other, it is seldom more than a nine-days' wonder, shut up in a book or portfolio, and seen so seldom as scarcely to repay the amateur for the expense and trouble involved in its execution. ”

“ PLATE XV. SALAMANCA.
PATIO OF THE CASA DE LAS CONCHAS. THE Patio of this house is yet more perfect than its façade, and, a rare circumstance in Spain, I found it both clean and well kept. It is not upon a large scale, and did not, perhaps, look the less elegant on that account. The upper arcade produces a far better effect than the lower, since in the latter the principle of the arch seems fantastically and heedlessly lost sight of. ”

“ No originality can ever be permanently agreeable which does not discard the precise conventional form of a period, which is but a mode or transient fashion, in favour of the principles which pervade all synchronous works of art, and which, transmute them as we may, must ever remain permanent through all time. Historically we should remember that miniature ornament of every period reflects on a diminished scale, and frequently in a highly concentrated form, the leading spirit which may have pervaded the greater revolutions of monumental art. ”

“ One of the most painful sensations the lover of the Art of the Past cannot but experience in Spain, is the feeling of its dissonance from, and irreconcileability with, the wants and economical necessities of to-day. The truth is that at the present moment, amongst the many difficult problems which surround and beset the ruling powers, one of the most puzzling is to find fitting uses for the many vast structures which have fallen into the hands of the Government. ”

“ In the more gorgeous details of the Vienna Genesis, coupled with its square and unadorned classic pictures, we may thus clearly recognize the transition from our first or Latin class of ancient illumination, to our second or purely Byzantine style. We especially designate this class as "Byzantine," because as art in illumination, as in all other branches, declined in the seven-hilled city, it rose in the seat of empire founded in the East by the first great Christian emperor. It is true that ideal art degenerated almost contemporaneously in the capitals of both empires ”

“ VIEW OF THE REMAINS OF A MOORISH FORTRESS ON THE RIVER. THE situation of Toledo is most romantic, and presents as many charms from its beauty to the architect, as the site for a commanding city, as no doubt it offered from, its great natural strength, to the "man of war" who must needs have regarded it as an almost heaven-born fortress. It owes much, both of its beauty and its strength, to the clear and abundant current of the Tagus, which more than half surrounds it. This river has, as we shall have occasion to observe, been nobly spanned by Roman, Moor, and Christian ”

“ I cannot take leave of this good old monk, the influence exercised by whose writings during the whole of the Middle Ages is proved by the numerous transcripts of them executed at different periods, still preserved in most of the chief European libraries, without giving him credit for a pure and liberal philanthropy worthy of imitation in all ages. Nothing can be more dignified and noble than the words in which he concludes the introduction to his work. ”

“ ONE OF THE ARCHES OF THE PATIO OF THE CASA ALBA. "HOW are the Mighty fallen," is the predominant sensation, as one wanders through these "banquet halls deserted." One may fairly paraphrase Byron, and declare that "in Seville Alba's echoes are no more." Ford and O'Shea, whose notes on the relics of domestic edifices in Spain are invaluable, both tell us that this still beautiful, though sadly destroyed, whitewashed, and dilapidated, old Palace, once "contained eleven patios, nine fountains, and one hundred marble columns." ”

“ Again: because ancient illumination was almost entirely executed in colours, in the use of which water and some glutinous medium were the only "vehicles," there is no reason why modern illumination should not be worked in oil, turpentine, encaustic, fresco, tempera, varnish, and by every process in which decorative painting is ever wrought in these days. It is in such an extension that the most valuable functions of the art are likely to consist in all time to come. ”

“ How constantly the traveller meets with some splendid old cathedral still "hale and hearty," with the weight of half-a-dozen or more centuries upon its head, around which he knows were once grouped teeming populations full of strength, life, and wealth, of which not a habitation may be left extending backwards for more than a hundred years from the present date? Any exceptions to such illustrations of the way in which fortune turns her wheel become the especially cherished haunts of the antiquary, who knows that from day to day they become rarer, and consequently more precious. ”

“ Frequently round doors, windows, fireplaces, &c., inscriptions may be executed with very good effect, either on label-scrolls or simple borders, and with greater or less brilliancy of colour, according to the circumstances of the case. Often simplicity and quiet have greater charms than glitter or brilliancy; thus black and red, on a light-coloured ground, the most primitive combination in the history of writing, is always sure to produce an agreeable impression: blue, crimson, or marone on gold, or vice versâ, are no less safe: black, white, and gold, counterchanged, can hardly go wrong. ”

“ Still good as the blacksmiths unquestionably were, the triumphs of Spanish metal working were chiefly embodied in the precious metals. It is rather in the cabinets of connoisseurs than in the churches of the country that specimens should be sought for to justify the splendid reputation those artist-workmen enjoyed in the palmy days of the Spanish Court and Church. Everywhere the traveller comes now only upon exhausted treasuries and emptied sacristies. ”

“ In these we meet with the plenitude of English mediæval illumination,—its freedom of drawing, its vigour of colour, its exquisite delicacy, and the general facility of design its wayward lines attest. In the best work there is a playfulness not to be often found in the productions of the contemporary European schools. It needs but little ingenuity to expand such features as those which constitute figs. 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, from small book embellishments to large motives of elegant mural decoration. ”

“ If in his noble work on the Alhambra he has described the system "no work so fitted to illustrate a grammar of ornament as that in which every ornament contains a grammar in itself. Every principle which we can derive from the study of the ornamental art of any other people is not only ever present here, but was by the Moors universally and truly obeyed." ”

“ To transcribe on vellum and decorate the writings of ancient and modern authors so as to form unique volumes, appears to me—nowadays, when God gives to every man and woman so much good hard work to do, if they will but do it—little else than a waste of human life. ”

“ It is in fact very curious, in wandering over any fine old Spanish house, to observe how little provision appears to have been made in them architecturally for the kitchen and its service. Ornament appears to have been much more general in the public parts of the richest houses than good fare in the interior and private parts. Nor was there any such movement towards excess in this particular, as usually accompanies the passage of a wealthy and powerful people from wealth and power, through laziness, to poverty and weakness. ”

“ The next extract I give is of great interest in the technical history of illumination, on three accounts: firstly, because it guides the student to recognize in madder the purple stain and colour, so highly prized in the early periods of the art; secondly, because it shows him the manner in which fugitive vegetable tints were protected from the decomposing influence of the atmosphere by an albuminous varnish; and thirdly, because it illustrates the ordinary modern processes of under painting, and glazing with transparent colour. ”

“ I need, perhaps, only add that the rough but effective cornice of the gateway is made up from its top to its bottom by different combinations of common tiles, and that its little enriched frieze is a specimen of the clever stucco-work, probably executed by workmen of Moorish descent in Renaissance times. The whole, even to the painting of the Virgin, is roughly executed, but is not the less graceful, perhaps, from the apparent absence of all effort. ”

“ If the character of Anglo-Saxon architecture and sculpture agreed with the representations of both given in the Benedictional of Ethelwold—as I have every reason to believe it did—it must have been massive and elaborate in the highest degree; and there is no reason to suppose that a people who were capable of drawing so well as they assuredly could, should have limited their productions in the sister arts to the rude and clumsy, long and short, and other similar work, which we are in the habit of supposing, characterized all their principal productions. ”

“ The Spaniards are justly proud of the noble simplicity and grand style of Covarrubbias, which has none of the coldness and heaviness of Herrera's; and this is one of the rare cases in which they have made, of late years, a really splendid and not over-loaded restoration. Upon the whole, the Alcazar at Toledo is one of the few buildings existing in Spain which reflects, particularly in its grand Cortile, the "magnificenze" of the Italian Renaissance, in their completest form. ”

“ All that has been said with respect to illumination on vellum applies, with equal force, to illumination on paper. There has to be borne in mind, however, the essential difference that exists between the relative durability of the two substances. Elaboration is decidedly a great element of beauty in illumination: and neatly-wrought elaboration cannot be executed without care, patience, and a considerable sacrifice of time: why, therefore, bestow that care, patience, and time upon a less permanent material, when one only a trifle more costly, but infinitely more lasting, is as easily procured? ”

“ To the artist and those provided with minds to estimate the value of the beauty to which they gave a life, they repeated Look and Learn."
It is not, of course, from the study of the monuments of one period, or of one locality, that any accurate idea is to be formed of the Architecture of any races, whose national history and whose dominion have extended for many centuries over many lands. Nor, indeed, is a just appreciation of the artistic value of the system of Art, sectionally studied, to be arrived at until the student has compared it with its antecedents in its own and other localities. ”

“ In the few remarks I am about to offer in respect to what the Art of Illumination really should be now, I propose to treat briefly, but specifically, of its application to each of the different substances on which it may be most satisfactorily worked, in the following series: vellum, paper, tracing-paper, canvass, plaster, stone, metal, wood. Dealing with design only in this section of my essay, I propose, in the following and concluding one, to adhere to the same order in noticing the best processes by which amateurs may carry out the class of work I would recommend to their notice. ”

“ No one can be surprised at such symptoms of internationality, in works executed at a sea-port like Barcelona—in which the Arts, like the prevalent language, may have had a "lingua franca" of cosmopolitan freedom from prejudice. In most of such Gothic work, and indeed in every kind of building in Spain, however fantastic and not unfrequently over intricate the detail may be, we scarcely ever observe any flimsiness, or want of due substance in the constructional parts. ”

“ Thus even the Saxon and Romanesque styles of architecture may, through the architect's careful attention to the decorative features exhibited to us in the pages of ancient illuminated books, be revived, not in their rude and structural nudity, but as glowing with those colours, and decorated with those forms, which we may observe as peculiarly affected in the ornamental and pictorial embellishments of the best artists of the days when those styles were the only ones popularly adopted. ”

“ Their disappearance would result naturally from what is called "progress" if Spain should revive; while their perishing through neglect and wilful damage, or peculation, would inevitably follow, if the ever smouldering embers of domestic revolution should burst afresh into flame. Such has been the invariable action of those fires which in all history have melted away the most refined evidences of man's intelligence, leaving behind only scanty, and often all but shapeless, relics of the richest and ripest genius. ”