The Art of the Late Middle Ages (1250–1400) 4. Art of Spain and Portugal

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Architecture

The Christian kingdoms of Aragon and Castile, which had been occupied for 150 years by rounding their borders and developing the legal and political system, artistically fed on the mature fruits of French art, and in them French Mauritius occasionally continued to mix with French influence. Spanish architecture, which in the previous epoch reached under the South French and Burgundian influence of approaching the early Gothic style, now mastered the high Gothic style through borrowing it from Northern France. Nevertheless, the Spanish peculiarities — a chorus surrounded by fences in the middle of the longitudinal corps, a device in the usual place of the chapel of the “holy chapel” (capilla mayor) and leading through the transept enclosed by bars, the passage between the chorus and the “holy chapel” - continued to develop further . Beginning from the 14th century, the choir fences reached such a height that they destroyed all the gaps and completely covered the through view of the interior of the church. But the side naves expanded with the help of chapels stretching along their rows. Likewise, even the Gothic Spanish cathedrals, which often have flat roofs give a non-Gothic appearance outside, tend to have narrower windows than North French cathedrals, so that in the side aisles of that part of the church that is intended for the laity, twilight reigns, meanwhile as a purely Spanish tower-like superstructure above Sredokrestiy, it spreads a brighter light in the middle part of the temple, assigned for the clergy.

Ferdinand of Saint Castile (1217–1252) erected two of the main Gothic cathedrals of Spain: in 1221, the cathedral in Burgos was begun by construction, in 1227, the cathedral in Toledo. The Cathedral of Burgos is a three-nave building, lined with complex pillars, with a single-nave transept, with a choir supported by round pillars, with a choral walk and numerous chapels (fig. 261). The through tower above the middle cross belongs to a later epoch. But the gallery cloister built in pure Gothic style of the XIV century.

Fig. 261. The interior of the cathedral in Burgos. From a photo of Laurent

Whereas the northern cathedrals had already abandoned the cloister’s gallery since the 13th century, the Spanish cathedral churches constantly held it. The Cathedral of Toledo is a magnificent pyatinefnaya building, without a transept, which would stand out from the general plan, but with a double choral circuit and rows of chapels that are absent only on the western side. In terms of its plan and architecture, this cathedral most of all resembles Burzhsky, with which it has in common the peculiarity that the outer lateral aisles are lower and wider than the inner ones. The impression of absolute French construction is made by the cathedral in Leon, built before 1300 and equipped with a luxurious porch. This is the only Spanish cathedral whose walls have been completely turned into windows.

Along with this North-French school of Castile in the beginning of the XIV century, South French Gothic architecture is spreading in Catalonia; it is here, “with the enormous size and the most courageous use of constructive possibilities,” as Degio expressed it, it strives for beauty and harmony in the dismemberment of space. The main cathedrals of this architecture are in Gerona, Barcelona and Palma, on the island of Mallorca. The Cathedral of Gerona is now single-nave, with a three-nave chorus, a beautiful choral circuit and the crown of seven chapels. Four huge cross vaults covering the longitudinal body have the greatest span in the whole Middle Ages. At the beginning of the XIV century, this cathedral, of course, was a three-nave; its single-nave longitudinal body, mastered in Eastern Spain along the lines of the Albi Cathedral, for example, the church of Santa Maria del Pi in Barcelona, ​​dates back to the 15th century, who loved spacious rooms. The Barcelona Cathedral is a three-nave one, but its wide, middle nave is so small that its side aisles are so small that a general impression of a hall church is obtained. The complex pillars in this cathedral are so thin that only the choir for the clergy in the longitudinal building violates the impression of unity produced by the interior of this temple. It is remarkable that the arcades of the middle nave are formed by still wide semicircular arches. The author of this work pointed out the originality of this “Gothic” as early as 1879. Finally, the Cathedral in Palm, with its size and spaciousness, competes with the Council of Florence. The presence of Italian influence in it is beyond doubt.

In Portugal in the XIII century, a cathedral in Évora was built according to the system of the Burgundian churches of Autun and Clervaux. The courtyard is enclosed between two massive facade towers; above the medium cross there is a low octahedral through tower of noble proportions. In the gallery of the cloister, Moorish motifs are added to the gothic forms. The Gothic of the XIV century in the gallery of the cloister of the Cathedral of Alcobaca responds even harsh antiquity. But the famous monastery church in Batalha, begun by construction at the end of the 14th century, is one of the finest creations of the Gothic style. The three-nave church with its five-nave chorus ending the entire width of the middle nave, the elegant chapel of the church founders with its bright middle octagon, lined with eight slender pillars, and the large “royal” cloister gallery with its extremely luxuriously ornamented forms belong to the 14th century international gothic, separate forms which reach here full development. The construction of other galleries of cloisters, halls and chapels adjacent to the church lasted until the 16th century. The entire structure serves as a brilliant monument to the battle of Alhubarrota, as a result of which King John I in 1385 approved the independence of Portugal from Spain. But independence in the field of art of Portugal has not won. This beautiful country in the extreme west of the European continent, the shores of which rage the waves of the Atlantic Ocean, and in the next century was busy with the implementation of world tasks alien to art.

Sculpture

Spanish sculpture is not to the same extent as architecture, adapted the forms borrowed from the north to the national artistic taste. In Spanish cathedrals, some of the numerous and extensive plastic cycles on the portals or galleries of cloisters can be considered French or German works. The portal of the north wing of the transept in Burgos Cathedral, which emerged around 1250, the so-called Apostolic Gate, owes its effect to the twelve canopied statues of the apostles; These figures differ from modern German and French sculptures in their smaller mobility. As good works of the XIII century, you can point to ideally interpreted figures of monuments to Ferdinand the Holy (d. 1252) and his wife Beatrice Schwabsky in the gallery of the cloister of this church. We find the lighter and freer style of the next century in the statues of bishops and saints in the same gallery of the cloister, the portal sculptures of which (the Baptism of God and others) are sculptured half a century later and are therefore executed in a more daring manner of the upcoming new time. The sculptures of the Tarragona Cathedral are even dated and signed by artists. Madonna, the prophets and apostles in the main portal, carved in 1278 by master Bartholomew, are more mature in style than the Burgos sculptures; the uncharacteristic figures on the buttresses, which were added in 1375 by master Jaime Castes, reveal a step backwards. In the Toledo Cathedral, rich in sculptures from the 15th and 16th centuries, the 14th century was part of the statues and reliefs that adorn the choir fences; beautiful figures of the apostles on the north side; noble and pure in style reliefs from the history of the creation of the world on the south side.

Often also works of Spanish art and industrial sculpture and small plastic products. The Spanish art edition often mentions the reliquary ark in the form of a book called Tablas Alfonsinas, which is kept in the sacristy of the choir of Seville Cathedral. Pressed gold medallions on the lid of this ark, surrounded by leafy arabesques and birds and depicting the Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi, is a fine Spanish work of the 13th century (1274). In a freer style of the XVI century. made (between 1320 and 1348) carved out of wood and covered with silver plates luxury main altar of the Cathedral of Gerona. Its reliefs depict events from the earthly life of the Savior and the life of Our Lady. Gold and precious stones increase the effect of this altar.

Painting

Gothic architectural style brought Spanish paintings from the north to French forms; from the east, the great Tuscan school of painters of the 14th century brought her the style of Giotto. Our task does not include a detailed examination of the remnants of Spanish wall painting, which appeared in some localities from under the plaster that covered them, such as, for example, the “Madonna de Rocamador” on the northern wall of the choir in the church of Sts. Lawrence in Seville and the Madonna la Antiga on the altar of one of the chapels in the cathedral of this city. The works performed by the Florentine and Siena masters in the XIV century, mainly in the cities and islands of Eastern Spain, do not belong to the Spanish school, but have influenced it as much as possible now to speak of the existence of an independent Spanish school. The museums of Valencia and Palms possess beautiful paintings of this genus. “In Valencia, Catalonia and Mallorca,” said Yusti, “a special style reigns during the XIV and much of the 15th century, similar to the Tuscan style of the same period and the style of the old Cologne school. Its distinctive features are light tempera paints, lively, graceful movement, smooth draperies, elegant, and sometimes beautiful forms. ” Another character have paintings of the XIV century in Central Spain. The swinging altar icon, preserved in the Madrid Academy of History, marked 1390, belongs to the end of the period under consideration; rather sluggish images from the life of the Mother of God and scenes of the Passion of the Lord are colored here with Moorish ornaments.

The Spanish illustrated manuscripts of the 13th and 14th centuries are also not lacking; however, it is impossible to draw conclusions about any particular course of development of miniature painting in Spain. In the library of the Escorial there is a manuscript of the hymns of the Blessed Virgin made with colored pen drawings, made at the end of the XIII century, - illustrations that give the Moorish buildings adorned in gold with a special character. “The guide to the game of chess and dice” by Alphonse the Wise, 1321, in the same library, contains lightly drawn drawings with a pen, curious, not so much in artistic as in everyday life. Successes in modeling, but not compositions, are visible in the "Book of Episcopal Ministry" of 1390 in the Seville Cathedral. Patterned backgrounds are painted with red and blue paint and gold; the largest miniatures depict God the Father on the throne and the Crucifixion. This manuscript, completed only in the 15th century, was very far behind the time of its production in style.