REJERIA

OF TH E

SPANI SH RENAI SSANCE

A C O LLECTI ON O F PH OTO GRAPH S AND MEAS!RED D RAWINGS WITH DESC RI PTIVE TEXT

!Y A RT H !R !YN E

AN ! MI !!RE! ST A P!EY

NEW Y O RK 1 9 1 4 Co ri ht 1 1 b py g , 9 4 , y

T H E H I SPA N I C SOC I ETY H ispan ic Society Publications

8 No . 7 !!RG O S I NTRO D !CTI ON

EN AI SSAN CE Architecture in could

not be fully appreciated without exam ining the

- towering wrought iron grilles , or Rej as , of the

period . These exhibit a dom ination over the

stubborn material never attained elsewhere .

The Span ish iron - worker became a veritable magician ; he made the heaviest of metals seem mere gossamer ; he

turned the cheapest into something priceless . Not only did he sur

‘ o f pass the lim its his material , but he converted the Reja , which

had hitherto been nothing more than an architecton ic accessory , into a colossal creation that ceased to be tributary to its surround

er e as ings and stood p r a monumental achievement . In it the national elation produced by the Fall of Granada and the D iscovery of the Ne w Wo rld fixed itself most distinctively

as it sought expression in art . The indomitable Span ish temper

began to revel in the task of tam ing iron . The small screens

which , all through Christian ized Spain , had always been the accus to m e d means of separating chapels from the body of the church

VI l - h Pronoun ced Ray ah. was no longer sufficed . Somethin g splendid demanded ; and to

m was secure this more agn ificent Rej a , the matter often given

O re e ro w as out to competition . n such an occasion the j , who

generally a sculptor and architect as well , would travel a great

distance to submit his designs to the cathedral chapter .

Thus , being a focusing of circumstances purely national , the

Renaissance Rej a is a more interesting and valuable study than

Span ish Gothic productions in iron ; these , while all too little e known , present but few variations from Gothic work els where in

E is uro pe ; the Rej a , on the contrary , unmatched , unapproached

even , by any other country . h It has been regretted by writers on the art of Italy t at , du ri n g

a those insp ired centuries when she w s producing the Renaissance , — iron - beating was not a more popular craft that the world has

thereby m issed glorious works . Let the world , then , turn to that other and less exploited Pen insula of Southern Europe ; for surely not even Italy at her happiest moment could have surpassed

’

Spain s superb Rej as .

’ R E JE RI A O F T H E S PA N I S H R E NA I S S A N C E

HE high altar of Christian temples , suppl ied as it was from the beginn ing with rich fur

n ishi n e n c l o gs , necessitated some adequate sure — one that would protect the sacred treasures and at the same time leave them

visible to worshipers outside . I ron , strong ,

as plentiful , and capable of being wrought in open patterns , w

the obvious choice . The screens fashioned out of it are known

in S pain as Rej as .

I n Romanesque churches , where the earl iest Rej as must be

- sought , the separate un its are an endless n umber of C Shaped

— a scrolls . These are riveted into a rich arabesque design

common to medieval Navarre , Catalon ia , and the adj acent

Roussillon , which was then part of Spain . contains one of the finest of the type (Plate I) , made , accord in g

to tradition , from Moorish chains captured by the Navarrese at

1 2 2 the Battle of !as Navas in 1 . The Style , while beautiful ,

- was comparatively short l ived ; for early in the XV Century , or

su c perhaps sooner , ironworkers seem to have decided that a

Plate ll

!ARCELONA CATHEDRAL cession of spaced vertical bars strengthened by a few horizontal

members would answer their pu rpose better than scrolls . This bar type soon became the accepted convention and was well establ ished in Spain before the i nitiation of the period we are

to d iscuss . Its increase of transparency is instantly evident

(Plate I I) ; likewise the increase of st ruct ura bil ity and d ign ity

in the mere vertical ity itself . The new design by its very n ature precluded ornamentation from the body of the Rej a and

left it to be concentrated in cresting and lock , with horizontal

structural members remaining strictly util itarian . But by de grees this austerity van ished and embellishment began to creep in everywhere ; the severe succession of tall plain uprights was mod ified by twistin g them or spl itting and open in g them out

as Si ii e n za into hearts or trefoils , in the g examples (Plates IV , e V , and VI) ; the pre m inently util itarian aspect of horizontals gave way before adornment which converted them into elabo rate broad bands that divided the composition into tiers ; the

i ts cresting , to keep dominatin g part as the princi pal d isplay

point , grew extraordinarily rich . Meanwhile the lock , that

pride of Gothic artisans , was dwindl ing into inconspicuousness . O f the various features undergoin g elaboration the one which expanded most while still in the Gothic period was the crest i ng . I n an early Barcelona example (Plate I I) a simple floral arran gement fin ishes off the com position ; but the later and

more amb itious Gothic worker tried figures , hammering them

up out of the sol id when small , or embossing two reverse sheets

H i s an d rivetin g these together to form the round when large . success emboldened him to try those rich effects which mark

Plate JV

SI G!EN!A CATHEDRAL CLOISTER REJA ( A !O!T the gloom of Sevilla Cathedral at a height of some thirty feet . Below this burst of new forms the old Gothic twisted bars still i hold their own . This s not a specially early spec i men ( 1 5 1 9) and much less architecton ic than others of its day ; but it is ’ — Sancho M ufi e z s interpretation of Renaissance to preserve the Gothic impressiveness that came from a repetition of twisted uprights and to assemble all the variety his fertile brain could

devise in a sumptuous crown ing decoration of kings , prophets ,

Renaissance scrolls and exaggerated candelabra . These last , sur

mounting the b ig supporting members below , carry the eye from the ground up in a way which makes the whole composition

seem even loftier than it is .

Cresting , as we see here and in the Granada example (Plate

X IX) , had reached great development before the bar itself suc

c um be d to new treatment . The process which slowly ban ished

! the tall Gothic bar may be described as follows first , the breakin g up of its assertive verticality by means of accentuated horizontal

e members ; next , the s lectin g of a certain few bars , usually at the

ends of the Rej a or at each side of the central opening , for special variati on into a tentative Renaissance p ilaster (Plate V)

very tentative indeed , since it was generally but three or four

’ i n d e e n d inches square . Nevertheless it asserts the designer s p ence of expression in breaking away from the succession of

’ sim ilar un its that had been the earl ier worker s creed ; while the attenuated l ittle Corinthian capital that frequently surmounted the new - born pilaster invited the use of chisel and file in its — execution a further departure from the Gothic method of ham

merin g up . The last stage in the making over of bars was to

I 3

SI G!EN!A CATHEDRAL

Plate VI

SIG!EN!A CATHEDRAL CLOISTER REJA ( A!O!T 1 507 )

i s this distinctly Renaissance feature . It the antithesis of the

- old time Gothic bar , where the marks of the mallet show with

charming frankness , as in the Barcelona detail of Plate I .

! use With the of spindles in ranks and rows , l iterally in

thousands , the attenuated pilaster emerged from its previous inconspicuousness and took on the imposing massiveness illus r t t a e d in the detail from Granada (Plate XXI) . Though only a simulated massiveness (for the huge pilaster was in real ity a Stout wooden beam covered with iron plates) its proportions e m pha f sized the general architectural character o the whole . The

embossin g of its metal sheath shows how , if the artisan were

a not actually a S ilversm ith , he w s at least far more conversant with the art of workin g silver than with the van ishin g methods

of early blacksm ithing . This is again apparent in the i n tro d uc

tion of many finely modeled medall ion portraits in repoussé ,

an d even large compositions by the same process , as in Plate XV ,

as from Sevilla . It w the versatility , too , of the man trained in many crafts that brought heraldic ornament into such prom i

- mence in iron work . Gotico florido had adopted the use , in a

- rather blunt way , of armorial bearin gs ; Renaissance artists , quick

’ l ei tmal z to catch any happy suggestion , turned heraldry into a f , — as it were ; the theme of the Rej a , the only break in a succes

(wi de Frontispiece) .

As for the human figure , which , after the spindle , may be

’ considered the Renaissance worker s most distinctive co n trib u

- t ion to Rej a making , it now became nearly l ife size , and was used with a profusion that may possibly be accounted for as a

Plate V l l l

SIG!EN!A CATHEDRAL coro then faced the altar mayor ; l ike it , it was generally enclosed on three Sides by masonry and screened on the fourth by a Rej a ;

and this Rej a , being opposite that of the altar;had to be equally

8 0 grand . grand , in truth , did they both become that we learn L of the Cortes protestin g against their enormous cost . iturgical

and not architectural considerations placed the coro in the nave , which it blocks u p in a way that lamentably reduces the ae sthetic

value of space and proportion ; but the change , in creatin g de S mand for a second lofty screen , offered a tupendous o p p o r

tu n ity to the re j e ro . He had already discovered in enclosing the altar that iron is most appropriately used when on a grand

scale ; two monumental Rej as , face to face , harmon ious in de

sign and dimensions , and separated only by the width of the

transept , invited him to perform transcendent feats .

The point to which the a rc hi te cturali z i n g of the Spanish Rej a

i s was carried from this time on amazing . By this is not meant the forcin g of iron into classic forms and proportions in emula

tion of stone architecture , as was tried in England during the

- XVI I I Century classic revival , but the expressing of convention al iz e d forms and symbol ism in a manner compatible with the

material , along with a design more assertively architecton ic . Giv ing shape to iron was studied as it had never been studied be

! o f fore . nfortunately the names those who made it the vehicle

of such high artistic expression are mostly unknown . S pain had

no Vasari . While this painstakin g b iographer was recordin g of

! the Italian who made the Strozzi lanterns that he was without an equal in the past and probably not to be excelled in the fu

! ture, since in these lanterns are to be seen corn ices , columns ,

2 9

Plate I X

GRANADA CATHEDRAL

with a diameter of from three to eight inches , one feels that the Ital ian who fashioned the Strozzi lanterns did not utter the last

word in Renaissance ironwork . — This Rej a is the creation of D om ingo de Césp e de S El Maes D tre omingo . The cathedral chapter had given it out to com petition along with the Rej a of the cap illa mayor and the pul

pits , and most of the renowned smiths of the day assembled in

0 ad Madrid in 1 5 4 to subm it their designs . Cardinal Tavera ,

vised by the architect Alonzo de Covarrub ias , was the j udge , and awarded the coro to El Maestre Dom ingo and the capilla mayor t D ’ o Francisco de Villalpando . In omingo s contract , made in

I 0 5 4 , he engaged to keep to the total sum of five thousand duc

ats , provided the gold and silver for the plating were supplied

1 8 him . The date 5 4 in the cresting tells when the work was ’ V illal an completed . The opposite Reja , p do s , was fin ished the

same year . Their making kept a tribe of smiths toiling for nearly

— ! ten years , and their cost was over a million reales more wrote

! an old Span iard than had they been made of founded silver .

It I S generally asserted (and is true of other countries) that with the in itiation of the Renaissance artistic ironwork com — m e n ce d to decl ine that the naive Gothic period with its more prim itive methods and its genuine blacksmithing was the zen ith

of the art . The charm of Gothic cannot be den ied . Produced ,

as it was , by feverish , powerful blows del ivered during the brief i moment that the mass was glowin g hot , it s a sort of sol id i

fied im pression ism and appeals accordingly . This med ieval spon

ta ne i ty , it is true , eluded the more sophisticated Renaissance

3 7

Plate X I I its motifs and even more noticeably by the abundant use of severe architectural mouldings and bands which are merely uninspired — imitations of stone too closely foreshadowing modern cast work .

- In other words , this XVI I Century example begins to lack

! that precious , indefinable , intimate something called touch i yet it s still a stately , dign ified production , far removed from

inferiority .

In the first decades of the XI X Century S pain was invaded

by French armies and overrun by her own revolution ists . After each of these social disturbances she found herself artistically

poorer . Priceless works of art were carried out of the country as loot by French soldiers or destroyed or stolen by S pan ish

- L iberals . Then , when a quasi peace had been restored to the

- — long suffering land , the greatest despoiler of all the foreign — dealer appeared . But the imperious Reja stood secure from the

r ravages of them all , conscious of the massiveness that made e

- moval in whole or part well nigh impossible , and of the inherent

indestructibility that mocked the fury of enraged mobs . A vast number of Rejas therefore still remain in Spain in the very su r

r roundings for which their builde s designed them . Further

more , being insusceptible to tampering and remodeling by later

- well meaning but uninspired generations , they announce elo quently and accurately for all time the artistic conceptions of m ’ their creator . More of the than could be examined in a year s

diligent searching await the lover of beautiful ironwork . Indeed , a year ’s time could be given to what was produced in Sevilla

alone in the first quarter of the XVI Century .

45

Pal te XIV

SEVI LLA CATHEDRAL REJA OF THE HIG H ALTAR

S EVI L LA C ATH E D RAL

REJA OF T H E CAPI LLA MAYO R O R H I G H ALTAR

H IS Rej a and that of the coro facing it are both m ighty

Plateresque erections . They are two of the largest in

Spain , and , being lavishly gilt , are indescribably sump tu o us seen glittering in the dim l ight of the cathedral , like some vast b its of gold lace heavy enough to stand of them

selves on edge . The one under consideration was wrought

by the celebrated Friar , Francisco de Salamanca , who produced

1 it between and 5 3 3 , havin g previously gained much experience by making a beautiful late - Gothic screen for the Monastery of M iraflores outside of Burgos and another for the

Monastery of Guadalupe in Estremadura .

In the present instance the composition is d ivided hori zo n tally by elaborate open - work friezes into two stages and

crestin g ; and vertically by columns into five bays , the central one being widest to accommodate the grand double gates

’ open in g to the altar . All the Friar s uprights are spindled (though at the very moment Sancho M ufi e z opposite was S fashion ing twisted bars) and five of these pindles , where access is provided to the superb pulpit on either side , are almost

5 3

SE VI LLA CATHEDRAL

Plate XVI

SEVI LLA CATHEDRAL REJA O F THE CORO ( 1 5 1 9)

S E V I L LA C AT H E D RA L

R EJA OF T H E CO RO

M ONG the ironworkers who enriched Sevilla Ca

he d ra l in the early XVI Century was Sancho

M u fi ez , whom the chapter summoned from Cuenca . Cuenca in that day must have been a busy center of iron

craft , for we learn that Sancho , when the ecclesiastics had i approved h s design for the coro , returned to his native town

to select artisans who could help him execute it . The

1 1 8 the l following year , 5 , he made latera screens for the

1 1 capilla mayor , which are very handsome , and in 5 9 started

on the one for the coro . That he worked in sympathy with his fellow re j e ro of the capilla mayor i s evident from the general

harmony of their productions . The ac tual proportions vary in accordance with the n atural trad ition that the main chapel should have the grander Rej a ; but the feel ing of both shows a

studied agreement .

I n the Rej a we are considering the lower portion , or body is com posed of twisted Gothic bars surmounted by a tier of A Short Renaissance spindles . s may be seen in D etail Plate

XVI I , the twists are of two different alternatin g sections , each

6 1

Pla te XVII

Pal !t XVIII design and execution , and have a certain value as a substantial

- end motif to such a highly imaginative cresting .

i s n It on record that Sancho Mu ez , while en gaged on this

! masterpiece , l ived in the house of Canon Martin Navarro ,

! to whom the C hapter regularly paid his board ; further , that he was to receive ! two hundred gold ducats a year pro v id e d he took no longer than one and one - half years for

! gilding and all . That such a colossal and varied creation ,

beaten u p out of raw ingots , could be fin ished in the stipulated time is a strain on modern credul ity ; but as one Span ish writer

records that it was , we must accept it and acknowledge that

I n the feat could never be repeated our own day .

Plaet XIX

GRANADA CATHEDRAL REJA O F THE RO Y AL CH APEL

Pal !t XX I

GRANADA CATHEDRAL LOWEST STAG E OF ROY AL REJA ( 1 5 1 3 ) structural members , as it perm itted the ornamental sheath to be

riveted d irectly to the core , thus securing that excel lent align

men t still to be seen in most of the old Rej as . H ow thoroughly Bartolomé understood color decoration in

ironwork may be seen in the escutcheon over the door ; for here , in contrast to those examples in other countries where the e n

wi de tire screen is painted , color is confined to the blazon ( Fron t i s i e ce is p ) , where , in reproducing the original , its use certainly

legitimate . This panel may be called the bravura piece of her — a ld i c ironwork in Spain the arms of the Cathol ic Kings who

sleep beyond and the eagle of their H apsburg grandson , Charles

V . But this portion , remarkable though it is , pales beside the

splendid cresting , which i s m ade up of ten B ibl ical scenes con tain ing over thirty figures more than half l ife size and beaten

! - in the round . A veritable story tell ing picture this , com posed as freely in iron as the frescoist would have proceeded S N in covering a given wall pace . either to the structural uprights below n or to the rinceaux above do these figures bear

an y relation ; that is , effect is obtained by sheer size and

quantity , by the amazing feat of assembl ing in one motif some

as thirty iron Statues over half l ife size . Don e it is with great an imation and yet maintain ing a profound dign ity , the

’ picture surpasses all one s previous conceptions of the p o ss ib il

i s ities of iron . The cresting fin ished off by a conventional

arrangement of lofty candelabra con nected by rich arabesques , making altogether a colossal and noble monument to the fame

of the obscure citizen of Jaén who made it . ' N Than this , that he came from Jaen in orthern Andalucia ,

7 9

and that he worked there and in Sevilla at the Rej a of the pres b te r y y , little more is known of Maestre Bartolomé except that he was forced to petition Charles V for Sixteen hundred ducats

due him on the Gran ada work , which the clergy refused to pay .

1 2 The Royal Reja is supposed to have been finished in 5 3 , but

no details are available as to the length of time spent on it .

Plat! XXIII

!!RGO S CATHEDRAL REj A o r T H E CONSTA!LE ‘ S CH APEL

B !R G O S C AT H E D RA L

R EJA OF T H E CO NSTA!LE ’S C H APE L

H E chapel screened by this d istingu ished Rej a was built in richest style for the Constable of

D H 1 8 2 Castile , on Pedro ernandez de Velasco , in 4

t e A . !. M!X X I I I e r . !, the Rej a , dated , being probably the

I ts as o last touch to the superb whole . maker w Crist bal de

re e ro S Andino , architect , sculptor , j and probably ilversmith

son to Pedro de Andino , who l ikewise practised these arts .

Cristobal d id much excellent work at , but this at

Burgos is his masterpiece , acclaimed as such even during his

O ! ! l ifetime . f it a contemporary wrote All who wish their work to breathe the spirit of authority and to pass without o rebuke should follow , l ike Crist bal Andino , ancient precepts in that hi s works have greater beauty and elegance than any

I have seen before . I f this , you think , be not the case , look

at that Rej a he is making for my lord the Constable , which

Rej a i s well known to be superior to all others in the king

dom . From most modern critics , also , this Burgos production

' h h evokes the same lavish p ra i se , t o ug one might be allowed a

preference for one of the Toledo examples , or for on e from

8 7

Plate XXIV

TOLEDO CATHEDRAL PORTION or THE CORO may; ( 1 54 3 )

Plate XXVI

PALENCIA CATHEDRAL

adm i r ably su perior . A new feature to be observed here is the able way i t is tied in architecturally with its surroundings by means of a marble parapet ; this goes far towards making the

great piece of ironwork seem like an integral part of the edifice .

r A condition im posed on the Pa l e n c i a n re j e o s, both for

capilla mayor and coro , was that the arms of the prelate who donated them should be incorporated as a decorative motif ;

this in the present instance , along with the figures of the

four evangel ists with their emblems , makes for great richness .

The crown ing figures are of sol id bronze , and the entire

Rej a is gilt and painted . The total height is nearly thirty

feet ; the width , thirty feet and six inches to the centers of

the end colonnettes .