104 REPORT OF NATIONAL Ml'SEUM, 1«93. 



uot yt't been read, Imt they are conjettiucd to be Hebrew, from the fact of the .lewa 

 in Si)aiu devoting themselve.s to the manufacture of arm.s. This sword came from 

 the Church of San Marcehi, the warrior saint, at Leon, and was there long con- 

 nected with him. It is l)elieved that it may have been a gift by the King Ferdi- 

 nand the Catholic on the translation of the body of the martyr from Africa. The 

 Boabdil sword of the Marques Campotejar is of the same general type, but is infi- 

 nitely more sumptuous in execution, and, in addition, it retains its scabbard com- 

 plete. The mounts, both of the sword and scabbard, are of silver gilt, embossed and 

 richly chased with formal floral designs of the same style as those of the ivory 

 casket of the Cathedral of Palencia (6((^;ra, p. 24), though, of course, the sword is of 

 a much later date. The mounts are further enriched with bands and medallions of 

 translucent cloisonne enamel, a feature which this sword has in common with that 

 of the Marques de Yiaue. An interesting, and to some extent peculiar-, circum- 

 stance connected with this sword is that, notwithstanding the pure Moorish char- 

 acter of its ornament, yet it would seem to have been the work of a Christian artif- 

 icer, woi'kiug for the Moors at Granada. The bonds of amity wliicli existed 

 between Boabdil and Ferdinand, for some years before the final stand made by the 

 Moors for the possession of Granada, would account for tlie presence in the Court 

 of Boabdil of Christian workmen, who doubtless succeeded in serving two masters 

 in different capacities. Upon the plain backs of one of the two tabs to which the 

 sword belt was attached is stamped, in characters of the period, the name Iran 

 Abad, with the pomegranate of Granada, as well as another stamp not easy to inter- 

 pret. This Christian stamp illustrates a remark of Senor Riano (in his introduction 

 to the Catalogue of Spanish Works of Art in the South Kensington Museum) : 'The 

 continued contact of the Christian and Mohammedauraces, notwithstanding the bar 

 barism of the time and the difference of creed, did not oblige them to live perpetu- 

 ally as euemies. This contact could not fail to influence works of art and industry, 

 and for this reason many archaeological objects of the Spanish Middle Ages possess 

 a peculiar charactei.' 



"The third sword of this type and, like the last, once the property of Boalxlil, is 

 that belonging to the Marrjuesde Viane, who exhibits also the velvet jacket, another 

 sword, and a dagger, stated to have been taken from the Moorish King at his defeat 

 (in 1492) and given by Ferdinand the Catholic to one of the ancestors of the present 

 owner. One of these is the most perfect example in the exhibition of the refine- 

 ment and richness of effect of which Arab art is capable. It combines the highest 

 eft'orts of the enameler, the carver, and the goldsmith, and doubtless the blade is of 

 corresponding quality, and in every part it is well preserved. The actual grip is 

 of ivory, the rest of the hilt is of gold, entirely covered with granular work and 

 filigree, in which are set at intervals eight pointed and cruciform panels of translu- 

 cent cloisonne enamel. The ivory grip is deeply carved with geometrical designs 

 forming panels of various shapes, filled with Arabic inscriptions alluding to the 

 weapon, and ornamental leaves and other devices, and where the ivory joins the 

 metal are two broad bands of cloisonne enamel (the cloisons being here, as upon 

 other parts of the mounting, of gold) composed of scroll work of the greatest beauty, 

 interrupted by shaped panels containing Arabic inscriptions, among which might 

 be expected the name of the artist, but this nowhere appears. The pommel is 

 spherical, but at the upper end is prolonged as a straight point, and is entirely 

 covered with the granular work and enameled panels mentioned above. This 

 granular goldsmith's work is of the samc^ style as that of the bands of the Persian 

 casket from the Cathedral of Saragossa and might in fact be the work of the same 

 artist. The ground is filled with minute ])cllet3 of gold, through which run lines 

 of Arabic inscriptions, outlined in flat gold wire, thus leaving the interior of each 

 letter empty. The enameled crosses upon the ])ommel are changed into a diflerent 

 form by the exigencies of the shape of the iiommel, the artist finding it ni'cessary 

 to reduce the four limbs of the cross tt) three, and the corresponding outlines of the 



