The record-union., 1891-02-08

rights; his labor consisted solely in direct
ing and celebrating the fachade and door
of the pellejeria of the cathedral. a most
valuable work of art.
Suele says that Moorish arquetect,
Mahomed de Segoyia, directed the con-
struction of the edifice, and that Simon
de Colonia "only did the sculptured part"
and this, although possible, is not prob
able. Simon de Colonia was the principal
master of the Chapel of the Constable,
for he had special charge to make the
chapel and the sacristy'' las affirnis DR..
Martinez Y SAM, assistant in the church),
ne could not have been second in the ere
alton of the palace; and moreover, this
Mahomed de Segovia, who they say was
master Of works for the second Count of
Harc," that is to say, of the founder of
the chapel and palace, did not figure any
III those works, for it was at the expense
OF the Chapter of Burgos. (Here this,
those who accuse the Castilian clergy of
the Middle Ages of intolerance.) Until the
fourteenth century many Moors worked
as architects and workmen, as the mas
ters: Hall, Yunce, Mahomad de Carrion,
Mahomed de Amanda, Audalla, or Abdal-
lah de Cordoba. and others.
II.
Twill not attempt to give the artistic
and architectural details in my own
words, as 1 am writing this in Madrid. /
will insert the description that was pub
hshed by the historian of Burgos, Don l..
Canton de Salazar, although not the best
that | know, is the best in details:
THE palace displays colossal proper
hons. 1t is constructed entirely of stone,
composed of a lower foundation and a
story over that, and appears defended by
two characteristic towers with the details
OF the civil editices of the fifteenth CEN
tury. The principal entrance has two
doors trimmed with heavy iron work,
leaving in sight in the angle that forms
the jambs with the tintel two greyhounds,
symbolic of fidelity, that guard the per-
son and house of their lord, and sur
mounted over the tintel two large coats of
arms; the one on the right pertains to the
Senorio and great house of Velasco, and
is checked with seven squares of veros
and eight lilies, with border of castles
and lions, that the Constable used as
legend of his mother Dona Beatriz Man
Tique, granddaughter the King, Henry
H.; that on the left, divided into quarters
with the double arms of the two families
Mendoza de la Vega and Figueroa,
of same form as the other and
four squares, fanked at the head
and paint with the circles of chain with
filliated band and in the flanks the saluta-
ton, Ave Maria gratia pier, that is,
second and third quarters have
arms parlantes with five fig leaves,
proper to the name Figueroa.
similar shields that give to the edifice
highly aristocratic character and more
finished and artistic aspect, that present
their symbols in many listels and in
them legends of the Velasco family, in
Gothic letters: I'm b1e3a mo7i1' datra todo
Ia GldG; and in that of the Mendozas
Onl5aaG prGetereat,et lo1'0eter dRdYe Deun,,
and lower along the edge they show
tilasteria that has this inscription in
Gothic-German characters, abridged as
follows: This house was ordered erected
by Pc. Fernaz de Blasco and Doua Me- cia
de Me'dOca seed Codes de Haro.
"A studious contemplation of the edifice
shows the civilization and the character
OF the society that raised it; the religious
spirit dominated, and is so clearly and
well reflected in the flaming and radiant
sun, with the monogram of Jesus in the
center, and the corded knot of colossal
sumptuous portal. AS the ancestors of
the founders had been related by marriage
with the royal house of CASTLE in the time
of Henry H., they destined this as noble
house, a royal palace where they could
worthily receive and pay the debt due to
the monarchs; and in the highest part of
the frontispiece is seen the blazon of the
lions, and the crest with the symbolic
title of the monarchy.
''The statue of st. Andrew, with the
cross that alternateS with the points and
Gothic crests that sets over the cornice of
the edifice, indicates that nobleman of
the house of Velasco aided Fernando III.
of Castle at the taking of BaeZa in 1927 on
the 30th of November, the day of the
Apostle st. Andrew, in memory of which
they put on the borders of their shields
golden crosses.
'"That which gives the most feuda1 as
pect to the palace is the two robust and
square towers that flank it, and in which
may be seen, near the top, great twin
windows, with their beautiful crests in
terpolated with heroldric lions and the
corresponding gargoyles, all of which
forms silhouette that serves to recall the
turrets of the lordly castles of the Middle
Ages; and they see also two other great
blazons in the angles of these towers
equal to those already described, but gra-
ciously inclined, fantastically embel-
lished, and timbred with colossal he'll
NETS, undertaking lambrequins and
wheels; a rising lion is the adornment
that sustains that of the Velascos, fast
ened with an airy band for division as
equally the hippogriff that sustains that
of the MendoZas de la Vega"
p / will add-interrupting this long de-
Scription-that the interior of the palace
corresponds to the sumptuosity and Sc
rene elegance of the exterior; in its wide
vestibule there is a beautiful grained arch,
and door with delicate holdings; its
grand court of arms is formed by tall and
elegant columns and double arcade, with
gallery below and above, chased breast
work, wainscoats in bass relief, carved
cornice, shields and blazons, and the
stairs of honor are carved oak, and in
inches opened in the walls figure busts of
personages; and its magnificent saloons,
worthy of royal dwelling, there hung,
until a few years since, the portraits in
aid of all the descendants of the found
ers, and others of pontiffs, emperors,
kings and illustrious persons, and also
statues, paintings of religious subjects,
antique tapestries, jewels for worship.
constituting that great conjunction, "a
museum of treasures (says with truth
Senior Canton( reunited here by the hand
of all the arts"
How can be sketched, in limited space,
the notable events that occurred in the
Casa del Gordon or Palacio del Condest-
ables, from the last years of the Fifteenth
Century to the first of the Eighteenth?
| will mention only the principal, con-
slderlng no one of great political trans
tendency, that has not been referred to
with exactitude by modern historians, by
their omlttlng to consult the Actas Capt.
tulares of the Council of Burgos, the
death of the Archduke Don Philip the
Handsome.
Year 1497.-The Catholic Queen Isa-
bella and King Ferdinand resided in the
House of the Gordon, whose possessor
was then Don Bernardino de Velasco.
First Duke of F'rias, that succeeded his |
father Don Pedro in all tsays tablet in
the Chapel of the Constable), and who
was married TO Donna Juana de Aragon.
natural daughter of the Catholic King.
There they received Christopher Co. |
lumbus, a. when he returned from his
second voyage and brought with him
specimens of the products of the New !
World, among these great quantity of |
gold as it is produced naturally writes |
Herrera in his book .sIfhlias Occi-