COLUMBIAN HISTORICAL EXPOSITION AT MADRID. 79 



prototypes are seen in perfection upon the sword of Boabdil belonging to the Mar 

 ques de Viane. The stem, knop, and foot are Gothic in design, the tracery being 

 fairly pure in style, but the foot is ornamented with embossed designs of the rich 

 floriated style common in Spanish and Portuguese objects of the Renaissance. This 

 mixture of Gothic and Renaissance motives is, in fact, the remarkable characteristic 

 of the church plate of the Peninsula in the sixteenth century, and the exhibition fur 

 nishes numberless examples of.it. This chalice has upon the foot the arms of an arch 

 bishop in enamel. 



The second chalice, of about the same date, from the Cathedral of Valencia (No. 

 50), is of a somewhat different design and in many details recalls the drawings of 

 cups by Holbein, though here again the border at the foot is of Gothic tracery. But 

 for an unfortunate heaviness of the base, this vessel would be of very graceful design. 

 It is singularly secular in its details, which are chiefly composed of festoons of flowers 

 and fruit and cherubs, and upon the knop tiny cupids riding dolphins The only 

 indications of its sacred character, apart from its shape, are six circular medallions 

 let into the foot, which are engraved with the Crucifixion and other designs of the 

 same character. These have once been enameled, but the enamel has now entirely 

 disappeared, owing to the vessel having been passed through the fire to freshen the 

 metal, a practice which seems to have been common in Spain, as a large proportion 

 of the enameled details on church ornaments of all kinds are now bare metal, owing 

 to this somewhat barbarous practice. 



The third chalice, from the church of Osuna, has, perhaps, a more peculiar feature 

 than either of the others, in having the bowl and knop surrounded with small bells, 

 ten on the former and six on the latter. It is unusually rich in detail, with the 

 customary mixture of Gothic elements with florid Renaissance foliage. The knop 

 is composed of rich canopy work, beneath, or rather inside, which are seated figures 

 of Apostles, and upon the foot are highly-embossed scenes from the Passion. The 

 inscription on the paten is a curious instance of the misspelling of Latin, Pax 

 Domini sit senpir bobiscvm. 



Among the paxes are several deserving of special mention. 



The Cathedral of Valencia sends the most beautiful of these. It is of fine gold, 

 elaborately chased and enameled in brilliant colors. The front is in the form of a 

 chair, in which is seated the Infant Savior, the whole of the figure being enameled; 

 the back of the chair is covered with elaborate- scroll work of beautiful design and 

 filled with enamel: the lower part of the chair beneath the seat is hollow and has 

 two small doors, which open and display a group modeled in the round, and repre 

 senting the Nativity. The pediment above the back of the chair is edged with two 

 elegant scrolls in open work, and at the base of the pediment on each side is a figure 

 of a warrior standing. The back is minutely engraved and enameled with sacred 

 subjects, the Adoration of the Magi, Christ among the Doctors, etc. This specimen 

 is by far the most remarkable of all the paxes exhibited, and its attribution to the 

 hand of Cellini is much more reasonable than is generally the case with works 

 assigned to that artist. A certain delicacy and refinement in the designs points 

 rather to Italy than to Spain as the country of its origin, though whether it is 

 really by Cellini is a far more difficult point to decide. This appears in the will 

 (A. D. 1566) of Don Martin de Ayala, archbishop of Valencia, who bequeathed it to 

 the cathedral. 



A pax of perhaps greater interest, and of nearly equal beauty, is that from the 

 Cathedral of Ciudad Real. The interesting feature about this specimen is that it 

 has for its central subject a carving in black stone of Byzantine period, representing 

 the Descent into Hell, with the legend above, &quot;H Anactacie,&quot; i. e., Resurrection, 

 and behind the figure of Our Lord stand the Emperor and Empress, crowned, and 

 with halos round their heads. The frame is in the best style of the Spanish 

 Renaissance, of silver gilt and enameled, and its bears the date 1565. On either 

 side are square projecting stages, supported on well-designed caryatid figures, 



