1 - The King of Spain Juan Carlos I with the Queen Sofia in the Prague Castle on his first official visit to Czechoslovakia in 1987 (accompanied by the author of this book Pavel Štěpánek). Photo courtesy of the Embassy of Spain in Prague.

Trajectories of Spanish Art and Culture in Bohemia

Studies and Essays about Spanish and Ibero-American Art

Pavel Štěpánek

Palacký University Olomouc

2021

Editor: Ondřej Jakubec

Reviewers: Dr Pablo Jiménez Díaz, Vicente Carreres Rodríguez

The monograph was published from the funds of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic dedicated to Palacký University Olomouc (IGA_FF_2019_010 – Imagines agentes: works of arts among form, content and context).

Unauthorised use of this work is a violation of copyright and may establish civil, administrative, or criminal liability.

1st edition

© Texts: Pavel Štěpánek

© Translation: Petra Binková (chapter 6), Richard Drury (chapter 7), Till Gottheinerová (chapters 2, 3), Lucie Kasíková (chapter 11), Štěpán Kolář (chapter 9), Hana Logan (editorial notes), Veronika Lopaurová (chapter 5), Peter Stephens (chapter 8), Pavel Štěpánek (chapters 4, 8, 10) and Eva Vojtášková (chapter 1)

© Publisher: Palacký University Olomouc, 2021

ISBN 978-80-244-5866-3 (print)

ISBN 978-80-244-6025-3 (online: iPDF)

ISBN 978-80-244-6026-0 (online: ePub)

DOI: 10.5507/ff.21.24458663

Foreword

This book could have been written only by Professor Štĕpánek. And only now can it come into existence because it is the product of an entire life of research and passion for Spanish and Latin American culture. A book that is equally pleasant to read and difficult to make, based on deep and thorough knowledge of continual interactions of Czech, Slovak and Hispanic traditions from the Middle Ages until now. These eleven essays, written in very different periods and under very diverse circumstances, portray an open and plural landscape with borders that are to be crossed, thereby constructing a single space.

Here Štĕpánek oversteps the limits of the history of art in order to fully enter cultural history from a modern, multidisciplinary and clearly Pan-European perspective. Together with works and artists of inter-cultural acceptance, also political and religious figures, as well as representatives of different estates come into sight, making up a historical tapestry that is presented in its socio-cultural integrity, without ever breaking up in isolated parts. A vision that is simultaneously pluralist and unitary, micro- and macro-scopic, where symbolism of images is interpreted from outside to inside and vice versa, through transnational exchanges and influences. The most local always has an external origin and destiny, such as Valencia ceramics which derive from Arabic patterns and are bound for foreign markets. Not even the inclination of the Emperor Rudolph II to arts and alchemy come from his internal world, but rather from outside, specifically from his contact with Philip II of Spain.

Indeed, Štĕpánek does not talk about two parallel cultures, but about a Hispano-Czech reality that is understood, now and always, only in a European context. A revealing perspective for this global era – a necessary book.

Vicente Carreres

Instituto Juan Andrés
de Comparatística y Globalización,
Alicante – Madrid

CZECH AND SLOVAK RELATIONS WITH SPAIN

The history of relations between Spain and the Kingdom of Bohemia and Slovakia (which in the past formed part of Hungary) consists of a series of interesting episodes which demonstrate that Europe used to be a logically interlinked entity. The first written document indicating contacts between Bohemia and the Iberian Peninsula is the diary of Ibrahim Ibn Jacob, a Jewish-Arabian trader and diplomat, which describes the city of Prague and its thriving international trade activities in the year 973. Another indication of mutual relations and of the growing significance of Bohemia in the European context in those ancient times was the legendary voyage of Eurosia, daughter of the Czech rulers, to the Visigothic court. There she was to be wed, but instead met her death as a martyr. This saintly virgin of Czech origin became over time the patron saint of of the diocesis of Jaca, in Aragon and her fate inspired numerous authors, among them the dramatist Tirso de Molina.

During the thirteenth century, under the rule of the last kings of the Czech Přemyslid family, religious, cultural and political contacts between the two countries acquired a more definite historical outline. In Bohemia, the cult of St James quickly spread and to this day more than 120 churches are consecrated to the Spanish national patron saint. The Czech King Přemysl Otakar II, also called the “iron and golden King”, negotiated a political alliance with Alfonso X the Leamed, his cousin, and from the end of the thirteenth century onward, Spanish astronomers and astrologists were frequently invited to the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia. Relations between Bohemia and the Iberian Peninsula were further solidified by a unique political act when in 1456, the Czech King George of Poděbrady dispatched a delegation of Czech nobles to the courts of all major European rulers, including the Castilian Crown, proposing the establishment of a political peace union.

2 - Unknown artist, Ferdinand I of Habsburg, King of Bohemia and Roman Emperor, with the Order of Golden Fleece. Undated (after 1556), engraving. Photo: Pavel Štěpánek.

Spanish features penetrated into Czech culture after the Habsburgs ascended to the Czech throne in 1526, when Don Fernando, the Spanish-educated second grandson of the Their Catholic Royal Majesties Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon, became Czech King and simultaneously Emperor of the Roman Empire. His entourage brought Spanish court manners and customs to Prague. His rule also introduced a number of novelties to the Czech economy (e.g. the previously unknown turnover tax, the so-called alcabala), while church contacts intensified, and Spanish cultural and ideological trends exerted a strong influence on the Czech nobility and clergy. Ferdinand I of Bohemia was succeeded by Maximillian I, nephew of the Spanish King Philip II in 1548. He in turn was succeeded by Rudolf II a son from marriage to Maria of Castile who was raised in Spain.

3 - Cesar de Laurentiis, Palace and Monastery of St Lawrence at the Escorial, 17th century, engraving. Undated. Private collection. Photo: Pavel Štěpánek.

4 - Joseph Sebastian Klauber and Johann Baptist Klauber after Johann Hoffmann, Celebratory decoration of the façade of monastery of Hradisko at Olomouc (the project was influenced by the schema of the Spanish monastery of El Escorial). 1751, copper engraving with etching. Photo: Olomouc Museum of Art.

The relations between Slovakia (part of the Hungarian territory as Upper Hungary) and Spain and its farflung overseas territories are fascinating. All of Europe was familiar with the gold ducats minted in the mining town of Kremnica, in Slovakia, still renowned for its gold to this day. Professor Josef Polišenský highly praises a book by the Slovak Catholic Sigmund of Púchov, written in 1554 and called Cosmography, which contains a chapter on “The Significance of Hispania” and the first published letters of the conqueror Cortés. Also historically significant is a manuscript written by Cyrus and Slovák, important Slovak members of the Unitarian Church. They translated the book “The Journey to Brazil, also called America”, published in 1594. That manuscript, confiscated by the censors, was discovered in the royal library at Castle Křivoklát in Bohemia. It contains an interesting passage in defence of the native Indian tribes, comparing the Christian authorities to cannibals.

5 · Painted coats of arms of the Spanish countries on the wall of the presbystery of St Vitus Cathedral of Prague (representing the dominions of the King of Bohemia and Emperor Ferdinand, the Princeps et Infans Hispaniarum), 16th century. Photo: Vlastimil Karfík.

Under Emperor Rudolf II, Prague acquired an international air. In particular, diplomatic and cultural relations developed between Madrid and Prague. Spanish language, customs and fashion governed court society and spread to larger social circles. At that time, numerous Spaniards held important positions in the intellectual and political life of Bohemia, especially the ambassadors Francisco Hurtado de Mendoza and Juan de Borja, who arranged, in 1588, the compilation of the first Spanish Czech dictionary. At the instigation of the Czech nobility Spanish libraries and art collections were founded in Bohemia around 1600. Nowhere else except in Spain does there exist such a rich collection of paintings by Alonso Sánchez Coello, Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, Antonio Moro and others. Spanish theological, philosophical and cultural ideas affected the country’s life until the eighteenth century. The great Spanish neoscholastic philosopher Roderigo Arriaga became rector of Charles University in Prague during this period.

6 · Paolo della Stella, The Emperor Charles V recieves the Christian captives after the conquest of Tunis in 1535. Detail of the relief on the front of the Palace Belvedere in Royal Garden at Prague Castle (so-called Summerhouse of Queen Anne). c. 1540 (before 1552), sandstone. Photo: Pavel Štěpánek.

Prague – a metropolis of a hundred of spires – conceals many remarkable gems in its churches. They attract thousands of tourists every year. A very special place among Prague’s historical monuments is occupied by the inconspicuous late Renaissance church of Virgin Mary Triumphant in an area of Prague known as Small Town. Since 1628, its walls have been harbouring a small wax figurine, the Prague Holy Infant. It is a magnet, attracting with its miraculous power the attention of people from all walks of life.

7 · Tomb monument of Czech king Přemysl Otakar II, cousin of the Spanish king Alphonse the Sage, 1377, St Vitus Cathedral, Prague.

According to history, this statuette came to the Spanish noble family of Manrique de Lara from the hands of St Theresa of Ávila. Doña María Manrique de Lara y Mendoza, the bride of the Czech nobleman, Vratislav of Pernstein, brought it to Bohemia in the sixteenth century as a family palladium. Later, their daughter, Polyxena, gave the Holy Infant to the Order of Carmelites. The reputation of the Holy Infant grew and very soon it extended beyond the Bohemian borders. The number of gradual admirers who lovingly brought votive gifts to the Holy Infant was increasing. Its “trousseau” consists of a little gold crown, jewellery and a rich collection of garments. The Order of Maltese Knights has been a supervisor of the Holy infant since the end of the eighteenth century. Throughout the ages, this graceful artefact has gained admirers literally all over the world and particularly in countries with a Hispanic culture. Her Majesty Queen Sophia of Spain honoured the statuette during her private visit to Czechoslovakia in 1991. On the occasion of EXPO 92, the Holy Infant of Prague went back to Spain temporarily. A true, consecrated replica remained in the church of Nuestra Señora de la Esperanza Macarena in Sevilla from then on.

8 · Spanish sculptor, Holy Infant of Prague, c. 1550, reconstruction in the 17th century, Church of St Mary of Victory, Prague. Photo archive: Pavel Štěpánek (Press Agency Orbis, Prague).

Slovakia gained a place of importance in European relations thanks mainly to the mining towns of Kremnica (gold), Banská Štiavnica (silver) and Banská Bystrica (copper). In 1627, it was at Banská Štiavnica, that, for the first time in the world gunpowder was used in ore extraction. This discovery changed the mode of mineral extraction and quickly spread to other countries. Banská Štiavnica attained its greatest glory in the eighteenth century, its renown extending not only to Spain, but also to its overseas territories. In 1763, the Mining Academy was founded there, the first of its kind in the world. Among its most famous alumni was the Spaniard Fausto de Elhuyar (who along wiht his brother Juan José was the discoverer of tungsten), whom the Spanish court later sent to Peru and Mexico, where he introduced the new methods of ore extraction which he had learned at Banská Štiavnica. Another outstanding student of the Mining Academy was Franz Wisner von Morgenstern. He left the Academy for South America and subsequently became Paraguay’s national hero and wrote a biography of President Francia.

9 · Rodrigo Arriaga (Spanish rector of the University of Prague), Cursus philosophicus, title page, 1669.

10 · Unknown author, Memorial tablet remembering the arrival of monks of Benedictin order from the Spanish Montserrat to Prague in 1636 (under the patronage of the Emperor Ferdinand III.), the Benedictine Abbey of the Virgin Mary and St Jerome at Emaus, so-called Na Slovanech (or Emauzy), Prague, Undated. Photo: Vlastimil Karfík.

The nineteenth century saw a new surge in cultural contacts with Spain. Goya’s Caprichos were seen in Bohemia, the dancer Pepita de Oliva enjoyed tremendous popularity in Prague and major works of Spanish literature and of the Spanish theatre were translated into Czech. Various Czech writers drew on the Spanish environment for inspiration. Spain was visited by numerous Czech artists, among them Karel Svoboda, who became court painter in Madrid. Until the outbreak of World War I, Czechs frequently visited Spain for its art. At that time, Dr Vincenc Kramář started his unique private art collection, which included works of Pablo Picasso’s analytical and cubist period, and contained among others Picasso’s last self-portrait (today owned by the National Gallery in Prague).

After Czechoslovakia won independence in 1918, promising political and cultural contacts were established, which, however, were interrupted by the Civil War and later by World War II. Almost 1500 Czechoslovak volunteers expressed solidarity with the Spanish Republic by fighting on the side of the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War. In the first post-war years, Czechoslovakia granted asylum to Spanish refugees and Czech artists maintained numerous contacts with Spain via Paris. The first international art exhibition held in Prague after World War II was dedicated to the works of Spaniards living in Paris (Picasso, Antoni Clavé, Baltasar Lobo, Fernando Viñes, Oscar Domínguez and others). From the late 1950s onwards, Czechoslovak-Spanish relations gradually increased. At that time, a banking agreement was signed between the Czechoslovak State Bank and the Instituto de Moneda Extranjera. These relations were formalized with the renewal of diplomatic relations in 1977, when embassies were reopened in both countries.

The cultural exchanges between the two nations were as important as the political and trade relations. Czechoslovakia regularly participated in the film festivals of Madrid, Gijón, San Sebastián, Cádiz, Bilbao and Huesca. Several universities in the two countries have already established direct relations. The friendly partnerships between Spanish and Czechoslovak towns are also an area of growing interest. The entire process of rapprochement climaxed in the visit of the Spanish sovereigns, King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sophia to Czechoslovakia in 1987 and the state visit of Václav Havel, President of the CSFR to Spain in 1990. Further agreements were negotiated during the official visit of Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González to the Czechoslovakia in November 1991.

Published in:

Rudolf Toman (ed.), Czechoslovakia. A Fascinating Country. With an introduction by Václav Havel. Published by Rapid Agency, Prague, on the occasion of Czechoslovak participation in the Universal World Exhibition EXPO 92, Seville 1992, without pagination. (There is a Spanish version of the booklet, too: Las relaciones checoslovaco-españolas a través de los siglos, in: Checoslovaquia. País fascinante, Praha 1991).

11 · Paolo della Stella (?), The Golden Fleece on the balustrade of the Palace Belvedere in Royal Garden at Prague Castle, c. 1540 (before 1552), sandstone. Photo: Vlastimil Karfík.

Sepulchres in Court Chapels of the High and Late Middle Ages in Spain

Spain’s specific characteristics within the European context

The power of the centre, as defined in various connections by Rudolf Arnheim¹, may also be perceived in its figurative, spiritual sense. Typically, centres of power (political or ruling centres) also have their locations, their physical, residential centres, as well as their spiritual residences, which enhance the secular attractiveness and even the actual secular power itself, although their interlinkage need not always be physical. Court chapels² ranked among the symbolically perceived residential centres of rulers in the past.

In this connection, a differentiation can be made between a real, theoretically determinable centre, i.e. a mathematically definable centre, and the locale (or territory) and existential space identified with that centre.³ This might include the centre’s astronomic orientation (e.g. a church with its altar oriented toward the east) that was usually respected even in the course of reconstruction work.⁴ Or it might entail the symbolic meaning of the sacral premises (of a church and chapel) as being the spiritual centre, the celestial Jerusalem, the hub of the world or of the very Universe, all of which are only other expressions for the imaginary centre of the world.⁵ To varying degrees, all these terms may be applied to court chapels (not merely the royal ones, as there were also regional centres of lesser importance where, however, the same concepts were espoused). In addition to this, there were liturgical terms and contexts, since these were liturgical premises. It is generally acknowledged that the major liturgical feasts included the consecration of a church (or chapel) where worshippers assembled for the Eucharist (exultantes), but which served primarily for the deposition of the relics of martyrs. This act was described as early as the eighth century in the Franconian Ordo.⁶

For many, the symbol of Spain is embodied in the El Escorial royal palace near Madrid, which was built during the second half of the sixteenth century in accordance with the political and power-imbued message of Philip II. It was intended to mitigate Renaissance Humanism with a modern, bureaucratic type of state rule. El Escorial constitutes, however, not merely a royal mansion with all its necessary administrative premises, but is also perceived symbolically as a temple of wisdom (the Salomon Temple, library and collections), which was actually once again motivated from the standpoint of power or, at the very least, this philosophical and symbolical concept became identical. El Escorial also comprises a royal pantheon and, last but not least, a monastery and a church. The complex further constituted an expression of symbolic thanksgiving for the victory achieved in a particular military encounter with France, on a concrete day – the day of St Lawrence. This saint’s attribute – a gridiron – is delineated in the ground plan of the palatial and monasterial complex. The accumulation of functions – both real and symbolic – gave rise to the belief that this was a wholly unique monument, the first such structure in the Renaissance period.

Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, Philip II only brought to a climax the long tradition prevalent in other European countries, and especially in Spain itself. Suffice it to recall the large political and religious acropolises that may have served as models, starting with the Byzantine Empire and the court of Charlemagne. In this connection, mention should also be made of London’s Westminster Abbey and France’s Abbey of St Denis, representing the exemplary relationship between the monarchy and the monastic clergy,⁷ as well as the cathedral at Rheims – the coronation place of French kings, even though each of these localities has its own specific attributes. Thus, Philip II was only carrying on the tradition of the Castilian and Aragonese rulers, including his father, Charles V, who ultimately took refuge in the monastery at Yuste.

In short, El Escorial is simply the last of the large monastic palaces, rather than the first, as was occasionally believed. We may note in passing that, at a still later date, the Viennese Habsburgs were to continue this tradition in connection with the Danubian abbeys; in the spirit of the Baroque, they recalled and developed in these structures the dynastic concept as the continuation of the Roman Empire, even though the Habsburgs no longer held the Empire’s Crown. In brief, second only to the royal chapel in Aachen, EI Escorial constitutes the most comprehensive symbol of a deified monarch, a rex – sacerdos of a threatened Christianity (Catholicism). In this sense, the Viennese relatives were to be the most faithful epigones of this concept.

It is actually the monasteries that are Spain’s true royal palaces. One of the reasons for this was the Spanish peculiarity of its centuries-long migration of royal residential towns, owing to the permanent conflict with the Muslim world. Furthermore, the Spanish sovereigns specifically viewed themselves as representative rulers, as is suggested by the Medieval coronation rituals: “Only God is the veritable king (rex verus), only His kingdom is solid [solidum regnum] and eternal [per saecula saeculorum], only He is truly glorious and triumphant over all enemies.”⁸

The occupants of the monasteries – the monks – were perceived as the curates of the royal families’ souls, or were in the services of the deceased sovereigns as keepers of their tombs. Like the Roman Caesars, the Spanish rulers were also divinized, albeit only posthumously. What today may seem macabre was in the Middle Ages considered only natural and was based on the phenomenon of the consistent charismatic emphasis placed on power.

The Spanish kings viewed the monasteries as shelters in which they took refuge whenever state and particularly military affairs did not prevent them from doing so, until ultimately these premises became their eternal shelters. There they installed their libraries (which unfortunately succumbed to the Liberals’ reforms, particularly the Mendizábal Reform of 1836,⁹ whose damage was comparable to that perpetrated by Emperor Joseph II with respect to Czech culture).¹⁰ Frequently therefore, a Spanish monastery would function as a royal tomb, a monastic church became a court chapel (and as far as EI Escorial is concerned, it should be emphasised that the church at EI Escorial was not conceived as an iglesia, i.e. ecclesia – a congregation of worshippers, but rather as a templo, templum); there the monarchs deposited numerous gifts, relics and souvenirs.

For a brief definition of Medieval royal palaces in today’s Spain, such as Tordesillas, Las Huelgas, Miraflores, El Paular, etc., it may be stated together with Chueca¹¹ that all of them were adapted as monasteries; at best, they were castles where monarchs did not reside permanently, but only temporarily or even accidentally. Above all, these edifices served to provide temporary shelter at times of war, or in some instances, offered places for mere survival. Only when supremacy over the Muslims was ensured was inspiration drawn from the retreating enemy in the form of endowing palace interiors with certain luxuries that were often based on Muslim models and created with the aid of Muslim architects and craftsmen.

Needless to say, elsewhere in Europe similar cases existed of monasteries (and abbeys) playing a decisive role in the history of the individual countries, although from the thirteenth century on, the significance of the monasteries diminished, while the importance of universities, towns and the emerging middle class increased. Although in Spain a parallel development occurred at the most decisive stage in its history – owing to the Muslim threat – the impact of the individual monastic orders became even greater. These orders entailed especially newly-founded paramilitary organisations and military orders based on the Cistercian concept and inspired even by the spiritual notion of war embraced by the Muslims, notably the Almohads and the Almoravids. The famed Calatrava Order (Calatrava) which was partly military and partly mystical, the Alcántara Order (Alcántara), the Order of St James (Santiago) and, finally, the Montesa Order (Montesa, only founded in 1319) were all established in this manner. All of these groupings adopted the regulations of the Cistercian Order and wore that Order’s white vestures.¹² The Spanish monarchy continued, along the lines of the Visigothic dynasties, its close relationship with the Church, even though it was no longer able to organise the Toledo Councils. It could rely, however, on the support of the monasteries, upon which it reciprocally bestowed innumerable privileges throughout the fourteenth, fifteenth and even the sixteenth century.

A model for other European chapels was no doubt the palace chapel at Aachen, or Aix-la-Chapelle, which Emperor Charlemagne had commissioned to be built in the Byzantine style in the form of a heroon. With it, the architect Eudes de Metz imitated the S. Vitale in Ravenna, an old type of mausoleum having an imperial throne above and a sarcophagus below. The meaning of the word “Aachen” should be elucidated here: its Latin version was “Aquis Granni”, as the site was renowned for its salubrious waters. Piety in the Middle Ages conceived the construction of similar chapels on the basis of the veneration of the Holy Sepulchre, i.e. the Tomb of Christ.¹³ Such chapels were usually built in traditional residences intended for long-term or periodic, though not necessarily permanent, sojourns.

In terms of its historical destiny and development, the Iberian Peninsula was also marked by specific power – related and artistic particularities. These were not only the well-known Islamic influences, but also the secondary impacts emanating from those influences – namely, the consequences of the permanently shifting balance of the state and political formations, caused by the Muslim occupation of the Iberian Peninsula and subsequently the Reconquista – the gradual reconquering of that territory. In turn, this situation led to the repeated relocation, migration, of the royal courts and capital seats or towns. (This explains why the royal palaces could not be built as definitive residences and why the monasteries were preferred as seats of a more permanent and thus of a more stable nature.)

Whereas in Antiquity various provincial centres of power existed on the Iberian Peninsula (Tarragona, Baetica, Lusitania) which were dependent on Rome, under Visigothic rule it was Toledo that became the unquestioned capital. Apart from being the residential seat of the rulers, Toledo had numerous Hispanic, i.e. Visigothic monasteries¹⁴ which, for their part, preserved the Antique tradition.¹⁵ After the Muslim invasion of 711, this tradition was carried on by the Mozarabs¹⁶ and by the independent Asturian Empire in the peninsula’s northern region which was a continuation of the overthrown Visigothic kingdom. During the reconquest, new, ever-larger, monarchy entities gradually emerged from the Asturian Empire – the Kingdom of Asturias and León, and subsequently the Kingdom of Castile and León, which latter entity dynastically united with the Aragonese Crown, which in turn had developed his own Reconquista process. (The Crown of Aragón was composed of the Kingdom of Aragón, the Counties of Barcelona, Rosellón, Urgell and others of the present Catalonia, and the Kingdoms of Mallorca, Valencia, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Neaples). And finally, the absorption of the Kingdom of Navarra.

Court chapels in Spain

As has been noted above, the Iberian Peninsula’s historical development brought about certain specific characteristics in terms of ruling power, as well as the arts. Resistance against the militant Islam that had been spreading throughout the Iberian Peninsula from the year 711 on caused incessant changes in the balance of state and political formations and, during the gradual reconquest, also the displacement of the royal residential towns or courts. This was also manifested in the construction of a number of royal chapels that were not physically linked with the palace edifices, but rather with the monasteries; at the same time, they served as pantheons – the burial grounds of royal families.

12 · Holy Chamber, Frontal Façade, Cathedral of Oviedo, 1st half of the 9th century.

From the royal chapel of St Iulian (Santullano) in Oviedo built in the years 812–842 and the royal pantheons in the church of St Isidoro in León and Las Huelgas in Burgos (eleventh – thirteenth centuries), we arrive at the Late Medieval pantheons in the Poblet monastery, in the province of Tarragona, the Miraflores monastery near Burgos (fifteenth century), the planned but unbuilt pantheon of the Catholic Rulers in the monastery of San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo, and the last Medieval – Late Gothic or rather Early Renaissance – Royal Chapel in Granada (founded in 1504), from which traces lead to the mausoleum of St Vitus’ Cathedral in Prague.

13 · The Church of St Michael of Lillo (San Miguel de Lillo) near Oviedo, completed in 842 and consecrated by the King Ramiro I of Asturias and his wife Paterna in 848. Photo Pavel Štěpánek.

The first court chapels in Asturias

A glance at the earliest known preserved court chapel reveals a rather modest structure dating from the initial stage – the reign of Alfonso II, known as El Casto (the Chaste, 792–841). This period was followed by the highly imaginative Ramiro style, named after King Ramiro I (842–848). This cycle is completed by the period under the reign of Alfonso III (end of the ninth century).

Asturian art flourished with the transfer of the court of Alfonso II to Oviedo. Once settled in Oviedo (in Antiquity, Ovectao), the king commissioned the building of a number of edifices: the churches of St Salvador, St Leocadia and St Bailia, St Iulian, St Tirso and the church of Our Lady, as well as a royal palace. The only structures preserved to date are the so-called Holy Chamber and the churches of St Tirso and St Julián de los Prados.

The Holy Chamber, which acquired the function of a court chapel, may have formed part of the royal palace of Alfonso II as a chapel. Although still rudimentary, the edifice bears numerous features characteristic of Asturian architecture. It is built on a rectangular plan and consists of two superimposed chapels. In the former lower crypt of St Leocadia, the barrel vaulting (made of bricks and dating from the year 810) springs straight from the ground. A forerunner of this chapel was perhaps the Visigothic crypt of St Antolín in Palencia. Used in its decoration, which has not been preserved in its original state, was a fifth-century paleochristian sepulchral slab. A similar type was the church of St Tirso (referred to in old documents as the Capella Regum or Basilicam in honorem Sti Martiris Tirsi prope palatium condidit).¹⁷ Its exterior is characterised by a problematic cornice reminiscent of Arabic ornamentation (which may well date from the Mozarabic period). Among the objects comprising its treasure are several crosses¹⁸ historically linked to the Visigothic and Asturian monarchies.

The decoration of the new royal chapel – today’s church of St Julián de los Prados (812–842), which constitutes the largest structure of pre-Romanesque architecture in Spain – has been preserved. The façade’s balanced symmetry endows the edifice with a virtually Romanesque character. This three-aisle basilica has a transept and three square apses. The fragments of paintings in the church’s interior constitute a legacy of supreme importance. These remnants suggest a type of Pompeian illusionistic painting of a symbolic nature. The reconstruction of the frescoes, performed prior to their actual restoration,¹⁹ revealed that the paintings had depicted illusionistically rendered architectural motifs – columns, window views of architecture, recesses and draperies. The purpose of the church is indicated by the royal gallery placed on the evangelical side. It was commissioned by Alfonso II who himself lived a virtually monastic life. It should be noted that at that time the chapel was not an isolated structure but stood in a built-up area, as is apparent from Alfonso III’s testament dating from the year 862: “Extra villam ipsam de Oveto per medio miliare concedimus esiam ecclesiam dominici julianij et cum nostris palacijs et balneis triclinii et cum suis totis adjacentijs.”²⁰

14 ·St Julian (Santullano), Oviedo, façade of th church, 812–842.

The church of San Miguel de Lillo (or rather the palace chapel, also called the Capella Regum), mentioned in the Albeldense chronicle²¹ in the years 857–905, was in all probability built in 848 by the same architect who designed the nearby palatial edifice of Ramiro I (today’s Santa María del Naranco). This was a Holy City of sorts, a religious and political acropolis, Regia sedes, the New Toledo of the Asturian kings, a reminder of 245: the Visigothic empire.²² The chapel was situated a mere 300 metres from the palace; deposited there was probably the most precious Toledo relic, the assumed splinter from the Holy Cross that had been salvaged from the Arab conquerors and transferred to Oviedo. It was due to this relic, referred to by the Latin term lignum, wood, that the chapel had earlier been called the Chapel of San Miguel de Lino, Liño (Lillo).²³ Although only its west section has been preserved, without its apses that were demolished in the thirteenth century (its present extent is 10 by 16 metres), this structure is a representative example of Ramiro architecture with its symptomatic verticality and balanced interplay of cubic volumes determining both its exterior and interior appearances. The vestiges of the royal gallery and portico point to a Carolingian influence and to that of the royal chapel. At a later date, a similar portico was built in San Isidoro de León by the architects of Don Fernando and Doña Sancha after the imperial doctrine that had found their ancestor in Asturias, Alfonso II.²⁴

Especially noteworthy in the preserved decoration of the chapel of St Miguel are the entrance portal jambs adorned with reliefs depicting scenes of circus games. Thematically, these depictions derive from the Byzantine ivory consul diptych of consul Aerobind (dating from 506 A.D.), which is partially preserved today a sheet of another exemplar of this diptych and whith the same representation is currently in Paris, Musée de Cluny and another in the Louvre Museum and which indicates how popular classical and Byzantine culture was at the court of Ramiro I, just as it was in Europe during the Carolingian period. (Regarding this, perhaps it can be mentioned that the cathedral of Oviedo preserves as part of his Treasure the consular diptych of Estrategios Apion, a Byzantine piece from the early sixth century, the only complete Byzantine diptych in Spain and one of the barely exceding number of twenty in the world.) The acrobat whose head is connected with his feet is a symbol of a consummate Man (Souzenelle),²⁵ modifications of it are to be found in other cultures as well. In this connection, we may recall the later-period acrobat at the church in Vézelay, which is placed directly over the head of the Triumphant Christ, and the acrobat in the cathedral in Monreale, Sicily.

As for non-European cultures, mention should be made of the first Mexican culture of Tlatilco. In 1981, I presented this topic to the Institute of Aesthetical Research of UNAM in Mexico. The principle of this connection is elucidated, in a succinct and telling manner, in the work by Annick de Souzenelle: “Physically, the legs potentiate the whole body. This is why, in one of its approaches, the art of acupuncture is practiced on the feet. When precisely pierced, the energy points on the feet facilitate a reaction in all the corresponding meridians of the body as a whole. From this point of view, the toes correspond to the body’s upper part and the heels to its lower part.” ²⁶

Returning to the Iberian Peninsula and Asturias, it may be observed that formally the flat-carving technique and certain individual decorative elements such as stars and cords were inspired once again by the Visigothic and the even earlier Celtic legacies. The extinct royal gallery in this royal chapel suggests a possible Carolingian influence.

The decoration of the chapel of St Miguel also comprised precious objects, as is documented by three goldsmiths’ pieces – particularly two crosses. The first cross, called Angelic – as in Medieval legends angels were said to have fashioned this item – was in fact ordered (as is indicated by its inscription) by Alfonso II in the year 808 for the purposes of ornamenting the chapel in the Oviedo cathedral. The cross bears the inscription “ADEFONSUS HUMILIS SERVUS CHRISTI”. It was this allusion to a “Servant of Christ” that implies that, in those days, this expression was used solely by Byzantine emperors, bishops and popes. The phrase was based on a term adopted from a contemporary code of regulations recommending to monks that “the Servant of Christ who longs to be His pupil must ascend, naked, a naked cross”.²⁷ The cross in this case is embellished with large precious stones embedded in gold filigree filaments; some of them, especially in the upper section, bear reliefs fashioned in a surprisingly classical manner. The centre of the isosceles cross is made of wood. The second, so-called Triumphant Cross was also commissioned by Alfonso II for his castle at Gauzón. Here, too, large carved precious stones were set into twisted gold bars (dating from the year 908?). The jewel box donated by Queen Fruela II to the cathedral at Oviedo in 910 is a great masterpiece of Asturian goldsmithery. The agate and onyx stones set in its gold components imbue the piece with a peculiar, almost onyrical character. In its enamelled sections are drawings of animals, trees and flowers. On its bottom part are unquestionably Mozarabic types of symbols of the Evangelists.

The Romanesque period

Advancing further forward in history, one may note the great architectural achievement of the initial stage of the Romanesque style situated along the St James route and conceived as a royal edifice – the hypostyle hall of San Isidoro de los Reyes constructed in the years 1054–1067 as a royal mausoleum; this royal burial place (1054–1063) was conceived in the form of an addition to the original, Asturian-style church of St John the Baptist. In the twelfth century, this structure was incorporated into the newly-erected Romanesque basilica consecrated to St Isidoro of Sevilla, thus becoming the pantheon of the kings of León. The pantheon was designed as a hypostyle hall, a narthex, along the basilica’s west façade. During the adaptation of the church in the twelfth century, the hall was de facto turned into a crypt in which the sarcophagi of Castilian kings continued to be deposited.²⁸ This concept greatly influenced the future edifices in Spain. In this case, a lofty, well-balanced space is combined with structural and decorative elements imbued with exceptional strength (and value): short, thick and expressly functional columns sustain barrel vaulting on arches. The highly original and amply shaped and carved capitals rank among the most delicately rendered ones in Spain. One hundred years later, this architectural unit was further enhanced by ceiling frescoes (to which we shall return later). The new edifice was designed by the architect Petrus Deustamben. For a long period, until the year 1200, it served as a model for Romanesque structures throughout the region of León.

Noteworthy in their formal expressiveness are the reliefs over the central portal of the pantheon of San Isidoro de los Reyes. Similarly, the south portal of the transept (crossing) is adorned with carved ornamentations. An outstanding series of ornamental reliefs is represented on the Lamb Portal of the late eleventh century of the church of St Isidoro. The arrangement of the portal remains traditional: a decorated tympanum, lovely column capitals and jambs, as well as metopes and cornice friezes. Standing at the base of the arch are the figures of St Isidoro and St Pelayo, fashioned in a relatively high relief. In this respect, the sculptor manifested his acquaintance with contemporary French sculpture, while emulating the style of one of the masters of the Platería portal in Santiago, probably that of Master Stephen.

The pantheon’s fresco decoration was applied in the period 1157–1188. Its principal theme, the Creator of the Universe (Pantocrator), is no longer elaborated in the monumental, tranquil style of the Master of Tahull, but rather in undulating lines, as is apparent, for example, in the curvature of the mandorla embellished by festoons. The apostles, wearing symbolic animal heads and characterised by their energetic gestures, are clothed in loose, decoratively rendered cloaks. Among the other scenes, the Annunciation to the Shepherds best reveals the skill of the artist who was probably inspired by French miniature painting, although in France itself similar murals are not to be found. Manifest here is a characteristic Spanish tendency to portray individual phenomena and elevate them to the level of a style. The distinctive gamut of colours, with prevalent ochres and browns, is reminiscent of the region of Poitou rather than of Catalonia. The pastoral scenes, commonly considered to be realistic depictions of everyday life, are more likely to be adaptations from one of the illuminated manuscripts containing the texts of Virgil.

The Cistercian Gothic

As elsewhere in Europe, the advent of the Gothic style was also encouraged in Spain by the international connections maintained by the Cistercians. Spain was actually closely interlinked through the ruling families of its individual states (Castile and León, Aragón), under the reign of Přemysl Otakar II and family ties were enhanced with Bohemian rulers.²⁹ A major role in the dissemination of the Gothic style was played by the Reconquista – the reconquering of the territories on the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors – which, apart from warriors, also brought craftsmen and artists into Spain. The victory over the Almohads – the militant Muslims from Africa – at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212 was accompanied by intensified construction and artistic activities.

The most renowned Romanesque monastery in Spain, which combined a number of functions of interest to us – i.e. a royal palace, the cradle and the school of princes, and a royal pantheon – was the Aragonese Romanesque monastery of San Juan de la Peña (St John Beneath the Rock) that operated during the Visigothic period near Jaca, the former capital of Aragón. Its significance was abruptly terminated (although not completely, since some of its functions, especially that of the pantheon, persisted until the eighteenth century) by the «foreign» Catalan king, Ramón Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona, who shifted his interest to the newly-established monastery at Poblet situated on a territory he had just conquered.

The beginnings of the monastery at Poblet, by way of which the very first offshoots of the Gothic style arrived in Spain (or more precisely on the territory of the Aragonese Crown), are linked with the Reconquista and re-colonisation of the so-called Territory of New Catalonia, notably Tortosa (1148), Lérida and Fraga (1149). Only approximately one hundred years later, Valencia was to be reconquered. Of importance at that time was the revival of the region extending between the above-mentioned towns of the future Kingdom of Aragón. Parallels to the colonisation of the territories reconquered by the Christian population can be found throughout Spain.³⁰

Little is known of the founding and history of Poblet, except that shortly after the above territory was reconquered from the Moors, the Count of Barcelona, Ramón Berenguer IV, donated the site called Poblet to the Fontfroide monastery. Poblet – the name was derived perhaps from the word poblar, to settle – was situated in the woodsy land of the Barberá valley (Conca de Barberá), between Vimbodí (a town to which that territory administratively belongs) and Espluga de Francolí near Tarragona, the former capital of the Roman tarraconensis province. The Fontfroide monastery, which was located in the vicinity of today’s French – formerly Catalan – town of Narbonne in Languedoc, belonged to the Cistercian Order of the Benedictine rule of a strict observance. Shortly afterwards, a small community of St Bernardine monks (reference is made to no more than three monks) arrived at the place and thereupon began its activity by building a chapel (1151) and the monastery (1161–1188/96) of Our Lady, and by working the allotted lands. The monks derived their inspiration from the regulations of the Cistercian Order, drawn up in 1119 by the General Chapter, with the participation of St Bernard (explicitly stipulating that “the church shall be very modest, with no sculptural or painted decorations, with windows of white glass, with no excessively tall towers and belfries”).³¹ The monastery itself was constructed on such a grand scale that Ramón Berenguer did not live to see its completion; therefore he was buried at the monastery of Ripoll; nor was his son laid to rest in Poblet (he is buried in Sigena). Only under the reign of Peter IV was Poblet reconceived for the purposes of a royal pantheon.

With the raising of Ramón Berenguer’s heirs to the position of Kings of Aragón and with their holding of the title of Count of Barcelona, the monastery flourished, receiving ever greater privileges from these kings. In the early thirteenth century, the Pope confirmed the monastery’s ownership of extensive and varied properties comprising various estates as well as dwellings in the towns of Tarragona, Lérida and Tortosa. With its increasing prestige, it was also joined by members of the nobility and even of the royal families. In 1220, its abbots, who were exempt from the bishop’s authority, began to use the pontifical insignia, become royal advisers and later on members of the Catalan Cortes.

The church at Poblet is a three-aisle structure, with a transept and radiating chapels in its deambulatory. Rising over the transept is an octagonal ciborium. Owing to its royal patronage, a fortification was built here in the fourteenth century, with its perimetre totalling 608 metres: its walls were almost twelve metres high, two metres wide and had twelve towers (completed in 1377).³² The fortification is complemented by a lovely original monumental Royal Portal opening onto the monastery’s premises. As was typical in Muslim-threatened Spain, these Gothic towers reached colossal sizes. Applied to the monastery’s dormitory was a wooden-arch roofing system (in Catalan: arc de diafragma) that was later to become characteristic of Catalan architecture.

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