76 COLUMBIAN HISTORICAL EXPOSITION AT MADRID. 



upon the contents of the exhibition. His report was published by the 

 trustees of the museum in March, 1893. The portion of it in reference 

 to the European department is as follows: 



The most striking feature of this part of the exhibition, and that which distin 

 guishes it from any other, is the extraordinary display of Flemish and Spanish tap 

 estries and carpets, and Persian and Arab textiles, with which the walls of every 

 room on the upper floor are lined. Most of the Flemish tapestries from the Escorial 

 and the other royal palaces are already well known, both from their being generally 

 shown to visitors, and from the excellent photographs published by M. Laurent, of 

 Madrid. But in addition to these, many from private collections and from religious 

 establishments, some of them fully as important as those of the royal collections, 

 have come to light, and are now seen for the first time. 



The most striking case of this kind is proba bly that of the Cathedral of Zamora. 

 The authorities at Zamora were asked to contribute to the exhibition some of their 

 works of art, and sent, among other things, several beautiful tapestries of the fifteenth 

 century, of great size, of fine design, and in a good state of preservation. With this 

 consignment came a statement that if more tapestries were required for the dec 

 oration of the walls, the chapter possessed fifty others. It seems impossible that 

 so wonderful a series of precious tapestries could have lain entirely unknown, 

 probably for centuries, and doubtless unseen except by such as attended the serv 

 ices at the cathedral on certain special festivals. Such a case, and it seems to be 

 by no means an isolated one, illustrates in a forcible manner the unknown riches of 

 the religious establishments of Spain, unknown even to the comparatively few per 

 sons in the country who are specially interested in such matters. 



It is said, and probably with strict justice, that however remarkable the collection 

 of ecclesiastical objects at the exhibition may seem to a stranger it does not repre 

 sent one-fifth part of the possessions of the cathedrals of Spain, some of which have 

 been reluctant to entrust to any hands but their own precious or fragile objects 

 which could never be replaced. The difficulties of communication in Spain, once 

 the main routes are left, and the absence of any general interest in antiquarian mat 

 ters, account for much of the ignorance of the riches of isolated institutions. 



A certain number of the principal objects in the exhibition are mentioned in Sefior 

 Riano s Industrial Arts of Spain, an excellent book, and references to this, rather 

 than to more pretentious works, which are not so accessible, may be given. 



The Monastery of Las Huelgas at Burgos has sent one of its greatest treasures in 

 the standard of the Almohade Sultan, captured by Alfonso VIII at the famous 

 battle of Las Navas in 1212, a wonderful specimen of Arab silk weaving, still pre 

 serving in many parts the original colors. Though much restored it still possesses 

 the most important of its original features. It is covered with verses of the Koran, 

 the Mohammedan formula, and other Arabic inscriptions. This precious relic is 

 traditionally stated to have been given by the victorious king to the monastery 

 which still possesses it, and it is only used in the procession of Corpus Christi. 

 Seiior Riafio thinks it probable that &quot;Alfonso VIII&quot; should be Alfonso XI (1312- 

 1350), as he considers the banner to be of fourteenth century work. An appro 

 priate pendant to this comes from the Cathedral of Burgos, the standard of Alfonso 

 VIII, carried at the same battle, or to speak more accurately, all that now remains 

 of it, representing the Crucifixion, the Virgin, and St. John. 



An Arab standard of similar work to the first belongs to the Cathedral of Toledo. 

 This is the Bandera del Salado, made in Fez in the year 1312 A. D. The central 

 design is very original, and the combination of colors singularly beautiful. It is 

 formed of sixteen crescents of gold, arranged in four lines, each having within it, 

 in white on a green ground, the Mohammedan formula repeated eight times, each 

 crescent containing one-half of the formula; and around is a broad border formed 

 by chapters of the Koran, written in intertwined Cufic letters. The effect of the 



