28 
House & 
Garden 
GRATES AND RAILINGS OF SPANISH IRON 
The Role They Played in Old Spanish Architecture Is 
Reflected in Latin America 7 oday 
A NY collector readily ap- 
L preciates the role played 
by iron in Spanish art. It has 
not only been used in such 
small details as chest locks, 
knockers, lamps and brackets, 
but also in those larger mani¬ 
festations in which Spanish 
forged iron was perfection it¬ 
self. One of the developments 
most worthy of study and con¬ 
sideration is that relating to 
grates and railings. 
They were first made to dec¬ 
orate and embellish churches, 
convents and palaces, and to 
give a more pronounced aspect 
of privacy to the homes, rural 
properties and gardens which 
are frequently surrounded in 
Spain by iron railings instead 
of wall-fences or mud-walls. 
Many splendid forged iron 
railings are to be found in the 
old cathedrals. Many are of 
the XII Century in which the 
primitive Gothic influences as 
well as Moorish are very pro¬ 
nounced. As the years pass by 
we find other influences of 
foreign art, sometimes French 
and other times German, but 
as a general rule the art de¬ 
veloped in the designs and 
forms of these railings or 
grates is purely and character¬ 
istically Spanish in spirit. 
Patios and Convents 
Some of these rail¬ 
ings are huge in size, 
such as those at 
chapel entrances in 
the cathedrals and 
in the cloisters of 
JESUSA ALFAU 
Outside stairs executed 
in wrought iron are 
characteristic of Span¬ 
ish architecture. This 
example is found in the 
Vedado at Havana 
An interesting feature 
of this Latin-American 
iron gate is the shutter, 
or little door, used for 
ordinary occasions. The 
design is characteristic 
numerous convents and monas¬ 
teries. In Andalucia, Spain, 
in all the cities artistically in¬ 
clined, these railings are to be 
found at the entrances of the 
famous patios or yards. It is 
an iron lace that prohibits the 
entrance to the quiet and se¬ 
cluded privacy of the patio, 
without depriving whoever 
passes by the door from ad¬ 
miring this wonderful sight. 
Another interesting example of 
Spanish iron is the railing that 
closes the windows, the grates 
around which legend and 
poetry have wound their 
wreaths, just as vines climb 
and entangle themselves in 
their braces, covering them 
with flowers and foliage. These 
are the railings through which 
the Andalucian sweethearts 
speak to their lovers, and that 
also preserve the sacredness of 
the old convents. 
The Designs 
Most of the grates and rail¬ 
ings are made of round and 
square braces, sometimes tri¬ 
angular ones, finished up at 
the top by fleurons, pikes or 
spears. We also have the most 
ornamental types in which the 
iron turns into complicated 
curves and arabesques are en¬ 
riched with withered leaves 
and decorative ele¬ 
ments. These orna¬ 
mental railings give 
ingress to many 
buildings, close the 
altars and the 
(Cont’d on page 58) 
A Moorish star and letters remi¬ 
niscent of Gothic influence deco¬ 
rate the top of this corner gate¬ 
way in the Vedado. Tall pillars 
pronounce the gate. The railing 
is set on a rubble base 
A low socle or base forms the 
foundation for this railing around 
a tropical garden in the Vedado. 
Here, tall carved stone columns 
support the gates, which are elab¬ 
orately wrought 
