The record-union., 1893-03-09
THE ESCURIAL.
The Most Famous Church in Spain
Described.
It's Colossal Dimensions, Its Tombs,
Affairs, Bronzes, Chapels, Col
umns and Vaulted GlorieS.


unns and VauIted Glories.
The Church of the Escurial is, if not
the eighth wonder of the world, at least
one OF the most admirable and impressive
of the great churches of Europe. The
exterior does not prepare the visitor for
the grandeur of the interior. He may
cross the threshold of the monastery,
wander through the bare cloisters, gaze
with weariness on furlongs of mediocre
frescoes by Luca Giordono, Tibaldi, Bar
roso and other .fd preStoS, who were only
anxious to finish their work as quickly
as possible in order to quit this grim soi-
tude. lie may visit the pleasant Court
yard of the Evangelists, and the Court
yard OF the Kings, and contemplate the
facade of the church, decorated with CO.
lossal statues OF the Kings OF Judah, with
out feeling any great emotion, for all this
is cold, monotonous and merely tunereal
in aspect. But when ne enters the church
and finds himself beneath the dome 320
feet high, resting on four pillars measur-
ing 70 feet square-enormous masses of
granite, which are nevertheless of most
LlO lOtlS0I lSluSG9
to admire. Gigantic, grand and splendid
are the epithetS that rise to his lips us he
contemplates the three naves, the Vaulted
root, the high altar, the choir ut the OPP
poSite end of the church raised thirty feet
from the ground and built over flat
stone ceiling which is a miracle of statlcS,
! for the vast SuperhcieS is devoid OF sup
porting pillars, and remains stable only
thanks to the perfectly calculated pres
sure OF the jointed stones. This choir is
| occupied by two rows OF stalls, OF various
precious woods, carved soberly in the
| Corlnthian order.
10 the north, in corner, is the stall
where Philip ii. used to sit, and behind
It is a secret door, through which he could
go in and out unperceived and pass TO
and from his apartments. On each side
OF the c0rO is colossal organ made Of
| Cuenca pine, the walls are covered with
! frescoeS, and at the end toward the altar
stands an immense lectern, turning at the
slightest touch, on which are placed anti
phonaries more than yard high, some of
them splendidly Illuminated on the finest
Vellum. OF these antphonarleS, or L6TOS
de cOfO, there are no less than 2lS. Be-
hind the prior's seat, in a narrow gallery,
is the celebrated white marble Christ on
a black marble cross, about which Ben
venuto Cellini tells such a wonderful
story in his autobiography. 1t bears the
! inscription, "BenVenutuS CellinuS, ciViS
| Florent, laciebat MDLXII." This cruci-
TX was given by the Grand Duke Fran
cesco De Medici to Philip IL. in 1916
| From Barcelona it was carried to Madrid
on mems shoulders, and finally placed in
the gallery where it now stands in front
of window facing the Courtyard Of the
| Kings. Originally the statue was naked,
but Philip tied handkerchief around the
loins, and now the handk kerchiei has been
replaced by a white spangled scarf.
The grand altar is raised above the
level of the black and white marble floor
of the church by flight of redvelned
steps. The screen, SO feet high and 43
feet wide, designed by Herrera, consists
OF four tiers of columns and niches-the
first in the Doric, the second i'll Ionic
the third in Corinthian, and the fourth in
composite style. The columns are of
polished jasper, with 10 gilt-bronZe capi-
tails and bases, and in the inches are, be-
sides, eight large painted compositions,
fifteen colossal bronze statues OF the doc
tors OF the church, the four evangelists,
Sts. James, Andrew. Peter, John, Paul,
the Virgin, and surmounting all, cruel
liz measuring ten feet high. The cross of
this crucltlX was hewn out of the keel OF
one of the galleons which brought In
| dian gold to the Spanish monarch.
| On either side of the grand altar is an
edifice of porphyry, marble, jasper and
| precious stones, comprised within a vast
arch, fifty feet high and twenty-six feet
| broad, resting on a basis of panels carved
in the richest marbles and assuming the
shape of three doors. These doors form
the walls of the oratorieS, the interior of
one OF which we saw when we visited the
apartments of Philip Ii. The panels open
from within and give light to the orato-
ries, and at the same time a view OF the
altar. over these oratorieS, in the en-
brasure formed by the arch, is sort of
mortuary chamber, or huge niche, nine
feet deep, with walls of fine polished
black jasper, covered with proud inscrip-
tions in gilt bronze letters. Two Doric
columns OF red marble support the entab-
lature, above which is an attic with two
columns, on which rests a triangular
pediment, while between the columns of
the attic, on one side of the altar is the
eScutcheon OF the empire and on the op-
posite side the arms of Spain. In these
grandiose inches of admirable propor-
tions and noble architectonic conception
are placed groups oftgures in gilt bronze
by Pompeo Leoni, which stand out
against the background OF black polished
jasper with majesty and impressive
richness that do honor both to the artist
who conceived them and to the monarch
whose taste conduced to their execution
On the lett-hand side of the chapel, dL
tddo del EC0ngetfo, as the Spaniards say,
the Emperor Charles '. kneels before a
cushioned prie-dieu, with his wife, the
Empress Isabella, his daughter, the In
ianta bona Maria; and his sisters, Ele-
nora and Maria. The inscription on the
walls challenges future kings to surpass
him; but, until then, to yield him the
post of honor. On the right-hand side
of the chapel, in the opposite niche,
kneel, in identical postures, Philip H.;
Anna, his fourth wife; Isabella, his third
wife; and Maria, his first wife, at
whose side is her son Don Carlos. 1t was
in the oratory below this-his own elfigy
that Philip II. died, having lived long
} enough to contemplate his own apotheo-
, sis. His dying eyes, as they peered
through the door panels of his mortuary
chant Der, could embrace at a glance the
} altar, the retd6Jo, and the group repre-
senting Charles V. and his family -
splendid witnesses of his piety, and of
the magnificent accomplishment of the
wishes OF his great father, and of his own
stupendous vows.
These groups of gilt bronze are amongst
the grandest funereal compositions that
can be seen, and none are richer in aspect
or more curious in workmanship. The
imperial mantle and the royal mantle,
:, lined with ermine are enamelled on the
bronze. The double-headed black eagle
on gold ground, the arms of Charles v,
: and the arms of Spain on the mantle oi
, Philip II. are composed of gems inserted
in gilt bronze; while the different masses