ROAIAXTIC SPAIN 



203 



CROSS OF ovie;do: ili^ustrations 



FROM old manuscripts IN 

 THF ESCURIAL 



fight against the Saracen — with Alpha 

 and Omega hanging from it. 



Madrid is a well-bnilt, modern city 

 with busy offices and busthng trolley 

 cars. Like our own capital, it is an arti- 

 ficial city, depending upon the govern- 

 ment, tourists, and society for its subsist- 

 ence. Its picture gallery, in the Prado, 

 is the peer of any in the world, and must 

 be visited by students of Titian, whose 

 paintings here preserved rival those of 

 Velasquez in beauty and interest. 



A greater attraction to the populace is 

 the huge bull ring, seating nearly 15,000. 

 On Sunday afternoons a gay throng 

 gathers there ; the bull-fighters march out 

 in their brilliant costumes, and the cere- 

 mony of slaying the bull begins. It is 

 almost a ritual, and every detail must be 

 punctiliously observed. First, the bull is 

 made to charge the horsemen, the pica- 

 dores, who jab him with short-pointed 

 spears; the horses wear a blinder, over 



OUR FIRST PARENTS AND THE SERPENT AS 



PICTURED BY .\ SPANISH MONK OF THE 



TENTH CENTURY (SEE PAGE 200) 



one eye, so that their rider can keep 

 them from seeing the bull's onset. If 

 they are not killed at once when the bull 

 gores them, they are sewed up and made 

 to meet another attack. This is the re- 

 volting part of it. After enough of this, 

 nimble banderiUcros throw their darts 

 into the creature's neck and shoulders 

 at just the proper ])lace and interval. 

 These men, and the cspadas who follow 

 them, show great dexterity and grace. 

 The csf'ada is a seasoned bull-fighter; 

 his function is to plunge his rapier into 

 the bull's heart, and his calmness as he 

 maneuvers the beast into a favorable 

 position, teasing him the while, is fas- 

 cinating to watch. The audience, with 

 eyes keen as hawks', api:)laud every good 

 stroke, and hoot in derision at any mis- 

 plays. 



The net influence of the sport is de- 

 moralizing, and nuich of the best element 

 in Spain is against it, unless it can be 



