,,the ,,spanish ,,series ,,royal ,,palaces ,,of ,,spain ,,the ,,spanish ,,series ,,edited ,,by ,,albert ,f4 ,,calvert ,,goya ,,toledo ,,madrid ,,seville ,,murillo ,,cordova ,,el ,,greco ,,velazquez ,,cervantes ,,the ,,prado ,,the ,,escorial ,,royal ,,palaces ,,of ,,spain ,,spanish ,,arms ,,and ,,armour ,,granada ,,and ,,the ,,alhambra ,,leon1 ,,burgos1 ,,and ,,salamanca ,,valladolid1 ,,oviedo1 ,,segovia1 ,,zamora1 ,,avila1 ,,and ,,zaragoza ,in preparation-- ,,galicia ,,sculpture ,,in ,,spain ,,cities ,,of ,,andalucia ,,murcia ,,and ,,valencia ,,tapestries ,,of ,,the ,,royal ,,palace ,,catalonia ,,and ,,balearic ,,islands ,,santander1 ,,viscaya1 ,,and ,,navarre ,,royal ,,palaces ,,of ,,spain ,a ,,historical ,,descriptive ,,account ,,of ,,the ,,seven ,,principal ,,palaces ,,of ,,the ,,spanish ,,kings1 ,,with #afd ,,illustrations4 ,,by ,,albert ,f4 ,,calvert ,,london3 ,,john ,,lane1 ,,the ,,bodley ,,head ,,new ,,york3 ,,john ,,lane ,,company ,,mcmix ,edinburgh3 ,t4 and ,a4 ,,constable1 ,printers to ,his ,majesty ,,preface ,since despotism has been replaced by constitutional rule the divinity that doth hedge a ,king has shed something of its significance1 but the staunchest republican will admit that there is at least a certain picturesqueness about royalty2 and the interest attaching to a crowned head naturally extends to the ancestral homes of majesty4 ,spain is unusually rich in #8cloud-capped towers and gorgeous palaces1' many of which have been the scenes of stirring and momentous events in her history4 ,on the gloomy pile of the ,escorial--worthier of an ,egyptian ,pharaoh--,philip ,,ii4 stamped conspicuously and indelibly his own sombre personality2 ,aranjuez and ,la ,granja reveal to us monarchy in its lighter aspect2 the ,alcazar reminds us of the days when ,castilian royalty aped the pomp of the ,saracen and became itself half-,oriental2 the ,royal ,palace of ,madrid epitomises the greatest crisis in the nation's history1 of the expulsion of its legitimate sovereign1 and of the usurpation of the eldest ,buonaparte4 ,napoleon himself ascended its grand staircase1 and looking round at the splendid home of the ,spanish ,bourbons1 he was able to say to his brother1 #8,i hold at last this ,spain so much desired6' ,these palaces of the haughtiest royal race in ,europe are endowed with the rarest treasures of art and taste such as only a semi-despotic ,power could accumulate in bygone days4 ,it is the object of this little book to reveal these riches to the curious in such matters by means of illustrations1 the accompanying text being only to be considered in the light of explanatory notes and chronological data4 ,a4 ,f4 ,c4 ,,contents ,,chap4 ,,page ,i4 ,,the ,,escorial #a ,,ii4 ,,la ,,granja 7,,san ,,ildefonso7 #ai ,,iii4 ,,el ,,pardo #ch ,,iv4 ,,aranjuez #di ,v4 ,,miramar #fd ,,vi4 ,,el ,,alcazar 7,,seville7 #gd ,,vii4 ,,royal ,,palace 7,,madrid7 #ia ,,illustrations ,,escorial ,,subject ,,plate ,view of the ,palace1 #a ,view of the ,palace1 #b ,view of the ,palace 7east side71 #c ,north-west angle of the ,palace1 #d ,principal ,faade and ,angle of the ,palace1 #e ,view of the ,principal ,staircase of the ,palace1 #f ,hall of ,ambassadors1 #g ,reception ,hall1 #h ,view of the ,dining ,hall1 #i ,pompeian ,hall1 #aj ,library1 #aa ,chapter ,room1 #ab ,the ,holy ,family1 by ,raphael1 #ac ,the ,last ,supper1 by ,titian1 #ad ,a ,smoker1 by ,teniers1 #ae ,country ,dance1 by ,goya4 ,tapestry1 #af ,children ,picking ,fruit1 by ,goya4 ,tapestry1 #ag ,the ,grape-sellers1 by ,goya4 ,tapestry1 #ah ,the ,china ,merchant1 by ,goya4 ,tapestry1 #ai ,diptych1 in ,ivory1 of the #acth ,century1 #bj ,,san ,,ildefonso1 ,,la ,,granja ,view of the ,palace1 #ba ,view of the ,palace and the ,cascade1 #bb ,view of the ,palace1 #bc ,view of the ,palace and ,fountain of the ,fama1 #bd ,view of the ,palace from the ,fountain of the ,fama1 #be ,view of the ,palace1 #bf ,the ,palace in perspective1 #bg ,entrance to the ,palace1 #bh ,view of the ,collegiate ,church and the ,palace1 #bi ,palace of ,rio ,frio1 #cj ,cascade1 #ca ,palace and ,fountain of ,fama1 #cb ,fountain of ,fama1 #cc ,fountain of ,fama1 #cd ,fountain of the ,courser1 #ce ,fountain of the ,three ,graces1 #cf ,fountain of the ,three ,graces1 #cg ,fountain of ,neptune1 #ch ,fountain of ,neptune1 #ci ,part of the ,fountain of ,neptune1 #dj ,fountain of ,neptune1 #da ,fountain of the ,baths of ,diana1 #db ,fountain of ,dragons1 #dc ,fountain of ,latona1 #dd ,fountain of ,eslo1 or of the ,winds1 #de ,fountain of ,andromeda1 #df ,fountain of the ,canastillo1 #dg ,fountain of the ,cup1 #dh ,fountain of the ,cup1 #di ,source of the ,arno1 underground river1 #ej ,the ,river1 #ea ,the ,reservoir1 #eb ,the ,reservoir1 #ec ,cascade of the ,reservoir1 #ed ,the ,lake1 #ee ,group of ,vases in the ,parterre of ,andromeda1 #ef ,three ,vases in the ,parterre of ,andromeda1 #eg ,vase in the ,parterre de la ,fama1 #eh ,vase in the ,parterre de la ,fama1 #ei ,vase in the ,parterre de la ,fama1 #fj ,vase of the ,baths of ,diana1 #fa ,vase in the ,parterre of ,andromeda1 #fb ,vase in the ,parterre of ,andromeda1 #fc ,vase in the ,parterre of ,andromeda1 #fd ,,el ,,pardo ,view of the ,palace from the ,grounds1 #fe ,the ,palace1 #ff ,the ,palace1 #fg ,the ,palace1 #fh ,the ,palace1 #fi ,hall of ,ambassadors1 #gj ,hall of ,ambassadors1 #ga ,dining ,room1 #gb ,ante-,room1 #gc ,ante-,room1 #gd ,private ,room1 #ge ,private ,room1 #gf ,scene of the ,royal ,theatre1 #gg ,royal ,box in the ,theatre1 #gh ,casa del ,principe1 #gi ,,aranjuez ,principal ,faade of the ,palace1 #hj ,southern ,faade of the ,palace1 #ha ,royal ,palace from the ,parterre1 #hb ,royal ,palace from the ,gardens1 #hc ,royal ,palace and ,suspension ,bridge over the ,tajo1 #hd ,the ,grand ,staircase1 #he ,porcelain ,room1 ,japanese style1 #hf ,detail of ,porcelain ,room1 ,japanese style1 #hg ,detail of ,porcelain ,room1 ,japanese style1 #hh ,detail of the ,porcelain ,room1 ,japanese style1 #hi ,detail of the ,porcelain ,room1 ,japanese style1 #ij ,casa del ,labrador1 #ia ,convent of ,san ,antonio1 #ib ,entrance to the ,gardens of the ,island1 #ic ,fountain in the ,plaza de ,san ,antonio1 #id ,avenue of the ,catholic ,sovereigns in the ,gardens of the ,island1 #ie ,jupiter1 bronze group in the ,gardens of the ,island1 #if ,ceres1 bronze group in the ,gardens of the ,island1 #ig ,juno1 bronze group in the ,gardens of the ,island1 #ih ,pavilions of the ,river1 in the ,garden of the ,prince1 #ii ,fountain of ,apollo1 in the ,garden of the ,prince1 #ajj ,fountain of ,ceres1 in the ,garden of the ,prince1 #aja ,fountain of ,narcissus1 in the ,garden of the ,prince1 #ajb ,fountain of the ,swan1 in the ,garden of the ,prince1 #ajc ,general ,view of the ,tajo and the ,parterre1 #ajd ,fountain of ,hercules1 in the ,gardens of the ,island1 #aje ,fountain of ,hercules1 in the ,gardens of the ,island1 #ajf ,fountain of ,apollo1 in the ,gardens of the ,island1 #ajg ,,miramar ,side ,view of the ,palace1 #ajh ,reception ,room1 #aji ,billiard ,room1 #aaj ,,seville ,faade of the ,alcazar1 #aaa ,alcazar1 ,gates of the ,principal ,entrance1 #aab ,interior of the ,hall of ,ambassadors1 #aac ,interior of the ,hall of ,ambassadors1 #aad ,interior of the ,hall of ,ambassadors1 #aae ,hall of ,ambassadors1 #aaf ,hall of ,ambassadors1 #aag ,court of the ,hundred ,virgins1 #aah ,court of the ,dolls1 #aai ,court of the ,dolls1 from the ,room of the ,prince1 #abj ,court of the ,dolls1 #aba ,court of the ,dolls1 #abb ,court of the ,dolls1 #abc ,upper ,part of the ,court of the ,dolls1 #abd ,dormitory of the ,moorish ,kings1 #abe ,sleeping ,saloon of the ,moorish ,kings1 #abf ,entrance to the ,dormitory of the ,moorish ,kings1 #abg ,view of the ,gallery from the second floor1 #abh ,hall in which ,king ,st4 ,ferdinand died1 #abi ,interior of the ,hall of ,st4 ,ferdinand1 #acj ,interior of the ,hall of ,st4 ,ferdinand1 #aca ,,madrid ,the ,royal ,palace1 #acb ,the ,royal ,palace from the ,plaza de ,oriente1 #acc ,the ,royal ,palace1 #acd ,principal ,faade of the ,palace1 #ace ,the ,royal ,palace from the ,plaza de ,oriente1 #acf ,the ,royal ,palace1 #acg ,the ,royal ,palace1 #ach ,palace from the ,plaza de la ,armeria1 #aci ,grand ,staircase of the ,palace1 #adj ,principal ,staircase of the ,palace1 #ada ,grand ,staircase of the ,palace1 #adb ,the ,grand ,staircase1 #adc ,hall of ,columns1 #add ,general ,view of the ,throne ,room1 #ade ,the ,throne1 #adf ,the ,throne1 #adg ,detail of ,throne ,room1 #adh ,ceiling of the ,throne ,room1 by ,tiepolo1 #adi ,ceiling of the ,throne ,room1 by ,tiepolo1 #aej ,ceiling of the ,throne ,room1 by ,tiepolo1 #aea ,the ,king's ,privy ,council ,chamber1 #aeb ,the ,queen's ,room1 #aec ,the ,music ,room1 #aed ,the ,room of ,mirrors1 #aee ,reception ,room1 #aef ,bronze ,urn in the ,reception ,room1 #aeg ,room of ,charles ,,iii41 #aeh ,chinese ,room1 by ,gasparini1 #aei ,chinese ,room1 by ,gasparini1 #afj ,porcelain ,room1 #afa ,corner in the ,porcelain ,room1 #afb ,the ,porcelain ,room1 #afc ,porcelain ,group in the ,buen ,retiro1 #afd ,royal ,palaces of ,spain ,i ,,the ,,escorial ,if men may be known by their works1 the ,escorial will help us to a better understanding of ,philip of ,spain--of his temperament and his purpose--than can be gained by the study of any other architectural monument for which he was responsible4 ,philip ,,ii4 was guilty of craft and duplicity2 he inflicted suffering and death upon hosts of his innocent vassals2 he has been depicted as a monster of cruelty and bigoted intolerance4 ,but as a monarch inspired with unfaltering belief in the divine right of his kingship1 he could not be expected to be tolerant of the stubbornness of others2 and as the instrument of ,god1 appointed to enforce religious unity not only among his own subjects1 but also upon the rest of ,europe1 he doubtless felt he was justified in employing any means to accomplish his mission4 ,the ,emperor ,charles ,v4 had exhorted ,philip to exterminate every trace of heresy from his dominions1 and his son never forgot the injunction nor sought to escape the obligation that had been thrust upon him4 ,throughout his reign1 which was inaugurated by an impressive auto-da-f at ,valladolid--in which twelve tortured creatures were sacrificed on the fiery altar of their sovereign's religious zeal--and closed in an agony of devotion and unshaken faith1 he pursued a course which he never doubted was right4 ,a ,spaniard of the ,spaniards1 convinced that ,spain was the only centre of true religion1 he allowed nothing to stand between him and the attainment of his high purpose4 ,an intense and dangerous individualist1 cursed with the religious exaltation of his house1 his ecstatic asceticism enabled him to endure suffering and practise rigid mortifications with the same stoicism as that with which he afflicted others4 ,in his zeal for ,god and ,spain he was sincere2 he never permitted failure1 disaster1 or catastrophe to daunt him4 ,his most cherished schemes were frustrated2 his beloved country was pauperised and desolated by his policy2 he1 who devoted all his energies and power to the crushing of ,protestantism1 lived to see the hated faith enthroned in ,england1 ,scotland1 ,holland1 ,north ,germany1 and ,scandinavia2 yet he died after a lingering illness of indescribable physical suffering in the great monastery he had built to the honour of ,god1 convinced to the end of his acceptability as ,vicegerent of ,jehovah1 and conscious that he had exercised his trust to the brighter glory of his ,maker4 ,as the inheritor of divine rights1 ,philip could do no wrong1 and as the greatest king of the greatest kingdom of the world1 he always rose superior to personal or national calamity4 ,his arms suffered overwhelming reverses in the ,netherlands2 he retaliated with massacre and extermination1 and was deaf to entreaty4 ,the defeat of his #8invincible' ,armada was the death-blow to his hopes of converting ,england to the true faith1 but he heard the news of this crowning catastrophe of his life without suffering his #8marble serenity' to be ruffled4 ,into his dying ears was poured the story of the dire devastation of ,cadiz by the ,english fleet1 but he only gnawed his rude crucifix and resigned himself the more devoutly to the will of ,god4 ,this was the man who in the leisure of thirty years of his life stamped his individuality upon the ,royal ,palace and ,monastery of the ,escorial1 and fashioned this mighty pile to be a monument to his power and a revelation of his mind--a mind diseased with that virus of morbidity which turned from the contemplation of mercy1 charity1 and love to ponder on the awful and retributive side of religion4 ,the man explains the edifice1 and the edifice is the picture of the man4 ,the granite towers1 resting on deep massive foundations1 rise boldly into the heavens--lofty1 aspiring1 severe1 like the prayers his stern heart sent up to ,god4 ,the spacious halls and lofty corridors1 all leading finally to the church and the altar1 have been likened to the avenues of his mind4 ,in #aeeg1 two years before ,philip first showed himself to his people as champion of the purity of the faith1 the meeting between the ,spanish and the ,french arms at ,st4 ,quentin credited ,spain with a decisive and sorely needed victory4 ,the battle involved the destruction of a church dedicated to ,st4 ,lawrence1 and ,philip1 who had spent the day invoking the aid of the martyred saint1 bound himself by an oath to found a monastery to his name4 ,he had also been bound under the will of ,charles ,v4 to provide a royal burial-place for the reception of his father's remains1 and ,philip was probably actuated by a desire to fulfil both these obligations in building the monastery of the ,escorial4 ,in the #8,carta de ,dotacion1' which appears in ,cabrera's ,vida de ,felipe ,,ii41 the king explains his reasons as follows3-- #8,in acknowledgment of the many and great blessings which it has pleased ,god to heap on us1 and continue to us daily1 and1 inasmuch as ,he has been pleased to direct and guide our deeds and acts to ,his holy service1 and in maintenance and defence of ,his holy faith and religion1 and of justice and peace within our realms2 considering likewise what the emperor and king1 my lord and father1 in a codicil which he lately made1 committed to our care1 and charged us with1 respecting his tomb1 the spot and place where his body and that of the empress and queen1 my lady and mother1 should be placed2 it being just and meet that their bodies should be most duly honoured with a befitting burial-ground1 and that for their souls be said continually masses1 prayers1 anniversaries1 and other holy records1 and because we have1 besides1 determined that whenever it may please ,god to take us away to ,him1 our body should rest in the same place and spot near theirs 444 for all these reasons we found and erect the ,monastery of ,san ,lorenzo el ,real1 near the town of ,el ,escorial1 in the diocese and archbishopric of ,toledo1 the which we dedicate in the name of the ,blessed ,st4 ,lawrence1 on account of the special devotion which1 as we have said1 we pray to this glorious saint1 and in memory of the favour and victories which on this day we received from ,god4444 ,although located in a desolate waste of rugged mountains and treeless plains1 amid surroundings which most men would shun1 the site of the ,escorial was selected as the result of much careful thought and personal investigation by #8the holy founder1' as ,philip is called by the monks4 ,his sentimental attachment to the spot is explained by its air of unrelieved melancholy1 but he was also influenced in his choice by the fact that the district contained the abundance and quality of stone suitable for his purpose4 ,already he had conceived the form and dimensions of his hermitage and sanctuary1 the austerity and magnitude of which were to be in harmony with its natural surroundings4 ,before the work of clearing the land was begun he had erected upon the newly acquired site a rude temporary lodging for his own accommodation4 ,he entrusted his ideas for the construction of the building to ,juan ,bautista de ,toledo1 whose plans1 ambitious and eccentric in the first place1 were severely revised by ,philip4 ,on ,april #bc1 #aefc1 the first stone was laid1 and from that time until ,september #ac1 #aehd1 when the pile was completed1 the king1 assailed by the fear that he might die before his scheme was brought to completion1 devoted every moment he could seize from affairs of ,state to superintending the work1 and urging architects1 artists1 and decorators to greater efforts in the accomplishment of their several tasks4 ,in #aefg ,toledo died and was succeeded by ,juan de ,herrera1 who enlarged the convent and added a bell-tower to the building4 ,in #aegd the temporary ,panteon1 or royal burying-place1 situated under the high altar of the church1 was completed1 and to this vault the remains of ,charles ,v4 were transferred in #aegd4 ,the solemn service with which they were received was terminated by a terrific storm which broke over the monastery and made a wreck of the gorgeous dais that had been erected for the ceremony4 ,during another storm which visited the district1 when the construction of the edifice was almost finished1 a lightning stroke set fire to the fabric1 destroying the fine belfry and its costly peal of bells and doing much other damage4 ,in #aehb an epidemic1 which carried off the queen1 attacked the king1 and for a while his life was despaired of4 ,but ,philip survived to see the completion of his initial plans1 and two years later he took formal possession of his royal home which had cost the then enormous sum of #ffj1jjj4 ,here for fourteen years he lived1 half monarch and half monk1 exercising alternately the powers of a tyrant and the self-sacrificing humiliations of a saint1 and boasting that1 from the foot of a mountain1 he governed both the old and new world with two inches of paper4 ,in the first stages of his fatal illness in #aeih1 ,philip desired to be removed from ,madrid to his beloved ,escorial4 ,the distance is only eight leagues1 but the king was so weak that six days were consumed by the journey4 ,it was his wish to inspect every part of the huge building before he died1 and during the fifty days in which his tortured body held death at bay his last desire was gratified4 ,he died on the same day of the same month on which the ,escorial was completed4 ,proudest among monarchs and the most devout among monks1 his gift to posterity is a convent having the proportions of a palace1 and a palace revealing the austerity of a convent--a structure which is at once the first and largest ,spanish edifice into which the ,grco-,roman element was cast4 ,but although ,philip had gratified his ambition1 had built monastery1 church1 and palace1 and had established a court and a college in this ,castilian highland1 had laid out gardens and planted elms brought from ,england1 the royal burying-place at his death was nothing more than a plain vault4 ,philip ,,iii41 in accordance with his father's wishes1 commenced to enrich the chamber1 and the present gorgeous sepulchre was finished in #afed by ,philip ,,iv4 #8,no monarchs of the earth1' it has been written1 #8have a mausoleum comparable to this of the ,escorial1 which1 to the glory of ,spain1 was conceived by ,charles ,v41 undertaken by ,philip ,,ii41 carried on by ,philip ,,iii41 and completed by ,philip ,,iv4' ,thus it was more than a century after the death of the emperor that his remains were laid to rest in the sepulchre which he had commanded to be built for the princes of his house4 ,to-day the ,eighth ,wonder of the ,world1 the ,octava ,maravilla1 which it is calculated cost from first to last some ten millions1 is but a shadow of its past glory4 ,it is no longer a royal residence1 the number of its monks has become few1 its revenues have been wrested from them1 and the spirit of the palace-monastery has departed4 ,a fire which broke out here in #afga was not quenched for fifteen days1 and the damage then sustained was repaired in #afgf by the queen-regent1 ,anne of ,austria4 ,charles ,,iii4 effected some further restorations1 and his son proposed to make the place more habitable by the construction of a bull-ring4 ,later1 this prince1 when ,charles ,,iv4 and fast approaching the close of his ignoble reign1 discovered at the ,escorial the plot of the ,queen ,maria ,luisa1 ,prince ,fernando1 and ,godoy to betray ,spain to ,france1 and the royal monastery became a royal prison4 ,the ,french troops pillaged the monastery in #ahjg1 and during the ,carlist war its treasures were depleted by the removal of about a hundred of the choicest paintings to the greater security of ,madrid4 ,other pictures were transferred from the ,escorial to the capital after the death of ,ferdinand ,,vii41 who had done what he could to repair the ravages of ,la ,houssaye's troopers4 ,but the days of the ,escorial's importance as a centre of political or courtly life were already numbered1 and by the summer of #ahfa1 when the first train arrived at the ,escorial station from ,madrid1 the palace had ceased to be a royal residence4 ,it must be admitted that1 at first sight1 the ,escorial produces a feeling of disappointment2 the first impression of the clean granite1 the blue slates1 and the leaden roofs is not wholly pleasing4 ,but as one approaches this #8grandest and gloomiest failure of modern times1' the size and simplicity of the ashy-coloured pile takes possession of the imagination1 its sombreness and its austere magnificence stands out more and more clearly from its sombre and magnificent surroundings1 and one begins to realise something of the spirit of the place and of the character of the man that called it into being4 ,the edifice is a rectangular parallelogram1 having a length of #gdd feet from north to south1 and a depth of #ehj feet4 ,it has been said that the architecture exhibits a series of solecisms which would have shocked the disciples of ,vignola and ,palladio1 but ,mr4 ,fergusson in his ,history of the ,modern ,styles of ,architecture declares that the whole design shows more of ,gothic character than the masterpieces of ,wren and ,michael ,angelo4 ,one building1 which turns its back on ,madrid1 faces the ,sierra on its west or principal side and on the north side1 while on the east and south the terraces overlook the hanging gardens and fish ponds4 ,the building covers an area of #ejj1jjj feet and is #cjjj feet in circumference4 ,it is not proposed to enter here into a detailed description of the huge structure or its contents4 ,indeed1 a building which boasts #af courtyards1 #ae cloisters1 #dj altars1 #hh fountains1 #hf staircases1 #abjj doors1 #bfgc windows1 #cjjj feet of painted fresco1 and #abj miles of corridor cannot be dealt with in the space at our disposal1 and an enumeration of the literary and artistic treasures that are still left to it would occupy some hundreds of pages of print4 ,but only a tithe remains of the myriad treasures which once adorned its walls and altars4 ,before the ,french invasion its pictures were priceless1 for ,philip ,,ii4 drained ,europe of paintings and painters for the adornment of his palace1 and the church teemed with priceless articles--sacred vessels of gold1 a multitude of shrines and reliquaries1 and a tabernacle of such exquisite workmanship that it was declared to be worthy to be one of the ornaments of the celestial altar4 ,the grand central portal in the western faade1 which was formerly opened only to admit royalty either alive or dead1 leads into the ,court of the ,kings1 named from the statues of the ,kings of ,judah connected with the ,temple of ,jerusalem4 ,the figures possess little artistic merit1 but they share with the ,court and everything connected with the ,escorial the distinction of immensity4 ,they are #ag feet high1 and were each cut by ,juan ,bautista ,monegro out of one block of granite4 ,on the right of the ,court is the ,library1 with its twenty thousand books and three thousand ,arabic manuscripts1 and on the right are the ,halls of ,philosophy1 the ,seminary and the ,refectories4 ,the ,relicario1 from which one descends to the ,panteon1 is at the extreme right-hand corner of the church4 ,philip ,,ii4 was a relicomaniac1 and here in five hundred and fifteen costly shrines he kept his innumerable precious relics4 ,la ,houssaye scattered the relics to strip the precious metals from the shrines that contained them4 ,he also stole upwards of a hundred sacred vessels of gold and silver1 the gold and jewelled custodia1 and the life-size silver statue of ,st4 ,lawrence1 which weighed four and a half hundredweight4 ,a procession of fourteen carts was engaged to convey the treasure to ,madrid4 ,the ,court of ,evangelists and the ,palace ,court1 facing the south1 are on the right and left of the church1 and beyond it is the palace4 ,the secret of the grandeur of the ,escorial ,church is in the conception and proportion1 but also from the point of view of architectural beauty it is the finest of the several buildings within the walls4 ,the vaulted roof is ornamented with the frescoes of ,luca ,giordano1 and the screen1 which is #ic feet high by #dc wide1 monopolised the energies of ,giacomo ,trezzo of ,milan for seven years4 ,the high altar and its superb retablo are flanked on either side by the oratories of marble for the royal family1 above which are placed bronze-gilt effigies of ,charles ,v4 and his wife1 ,philip ,,ii4 and his fourth wife and their children1 inlaid with marbles and precious stones4 ,here1 in his epitaph1 is ,philip of ,spain's challenge to future kings to surpass him in greatness and power4 ,in the ,library are his devotional books1 and high up on a pinnacle above the chapel is a plate of gold1 placed there to show that the building of the ,escorial had not left #8the holy founder' penniless4 ,just beyond the precincts of the church1 as one enters the palace1 is the #8,room of the ,founder1'--the name given to the apartment occupied by ,philip ,,ii4 whenever he visited the monastery--a simple cell rather than a chamber befitting a king4 ,it was in this room that he died on ,september #ac1 #aeih4 ,on the wall is a slab with the following inscription3-- #8,en este estrecho recinto muri ,felipe segundo1 cuando era pequeo el mundo al hijo de ,carlos quinto4' ,there still remain the bedroom he had built next to the royal oratory2 the study1 some of the chairs he used1 and two chairs without arms on which he used to repose the leg in which he had gout4 ,the ceiling is smooth and without ornaments2 the walls are whitewashed1 and the floor is of brick4 ,from this bedroom the high altar can be seen through two doors that lead to the galleries4 ,the palace contains a series of small rooms1 the most remarkable of which are a set of four4 ,the other apartments are covered with beautiful tapestry made from designs by ,rubens1 ,teniers1 and ,goya1 but the walls of these particular rooms are covered with the finest inlaid woodwork4 ,the hinges1 locks1 and handles of the doors are in gilt-bronze and steel1 and the ceilings are painted by ,maella4 ,the entire work is said to have cost #bhj1jjj4 ,the ,battle ,room derives its name from the battle-scenes painted on the walls2 these frescoes are by the celebrated ,italian artists ,granelio and ,fabricio4 ,this gallery is #aih feet long by #bh wide1 and #be high to the keystone of the vault4 ,the principal fresco1 which is very large1 represents the battle of ,higueruela and the victory obtained over the ,arabs by ,john ,,ii4 on the ,vega at ,granada4 ,the other frescoes refer to the battle gained on the day of ,st4 ,lawrence1 #aeeg1 by ,duke ,filiberto1 commander of the ,spanish army2 the capture of the ,french general1 the ,constable de ,montmorency1 and the siege and capture of ,san ,quentin4 ,there are also representations of two expeditions to the ,azores in the time of ,philip ,,ii4 ,the vault contains a variety of figures and caprices all designed fantastically and ingeniously1 with taste and consummate skill4 ,of the three hundred and thirty-eight rich tapestries in the palace1 one hundred and fifty-two of them were manufactured in the old ,royal ,factory of ,madrid2 one hundred and sixty-three in ,flanders1 from designs for the most part by ,david ,teniers2 twenty in ,france and five in ,italy4 ,nearly all represent country scenes1 landscapes1 ,spanish customs1 views of ,madrid1 and hunting scenes4 ,the ,casa del ,principe was built in #aggb by order of ,charles ,,iv41 when ,prince of the ,asturias4 ,when the ,war of ,independence broke out the treasures that adorned it were taken to ,madrid and many of them disappeared4 ,it was redecorated and embellished in #ahbd1 and carefully restored some years later4 ,it is entirely built of stone and is called #8,casita de ,abajo1' to distinguish it from another called #8,casita de ,arriba1' built by the ,infante ,gabriel4 ,the curiosities and works of art in this pleasant edifice are innumerable4 ,of the ceilings twenty are of great merit1 painted by ,duque1 ,gmez1 ,gerroni1 ,maella1 ,briles1 ,prez1 ,japeti1 and ,lpez4 ,in the nineteen rooms1 of which the two floors of the edifice consist1 there are over two hundred oil-paintings and prints1 the subjects for the most part religious1 some of them of real merit4 ,there is also a fine collection of ivory reliefs consisting of thirty-seven pictures1 representing mythological and sacred and profane scenes1 and a beautiful collection of two hundred and twenty-six pieces of porcelain made at the ,buen ,retiro factory4 ,in the time of ,ferdinand ,,vii4 the house was valued at thirty-seven million pesetas1 and it is at present a veritable museum of curiosities4 ,the ,royal ,school of ,alfonso ,,xii41 which occupies the north-east end of the edifice1 is entered from the principal faade4 ,among its many and notable apartments is the spacious and magnificent paraninfo1 the ceiling of which is formed by a painting of extraordinary size1 which is believed to have been painted by the pupils of ,jordn4 ,two smaller paintings represent symbolical figures of different sciences1 and are signed by ,llamas4 ,near the paraninfo are the fine ,physics and ,natural ,history rooms1 the lucerna or light court1 and the children's dining-rooms1 adorned with a collection of pictures representing incidents in the life of ,alexander4 ,these were painted for the palace of ,san ,ildefonso by order of ,philip ,v41 and they are all signed by eminent ,italian artists4 ,over the paraninfo is another fine room1 the centre of which is occupied by a beautiful statue of ,st4 ,augustine1 carved in wood1 conceived and executed by the lay-friar ,s4 ,cuado to commemorate the fifteenth centenary of the conversion of ,st4 ,augustine4 ,in #ahgh1 by the direction of ,alfonso ,,xii41 the studies at this ,royal ,college were reorganised with great success4 ,later 7in #ahhe7 the teaching being entrusted to the ,augustinians1 its credit was so enhanced that now1 owing to the unsurpassed position of the place1 the installation of electric light1 the perfection and abundance of teaching material1 and still more the competence and zeal with which the learned corporation carries out its delicate task of the moral1 physical1 and scientific education of a large number of youths1 the ,royal ,college at the ,escorial well fulfils the high aims of its royal restorer1 and is one of the most important centres of instruction in ,spain4 ,,ii ,,la ,,granja 7,,san ,,ildefonso7 ,george ,borrow loved ,spain well1 but he loved not the solitude in which ,philip ,v4 found respite from the cares of ,state and from the dominating personality of ,elizabeth ,farnese4 #8,so great is the solitude of ,la ,granja1' he writes1 #8that wild boars from the neighbouring forests1 and especially from the beautiful pine-covered mountain which rises like a cone directly behind the palace1 frequently find their way into the streets and squares1 and whet their tusks against the pillars of the porticos4' ,but at the time this was written the country was overrun with ,carlists4 ,candido lurked in the undergrowth1 ,garcia and his fellow-conspirators had driven ,queen ,cristina from the palace1 and nine-tenths of the inhabitants of the town had fled4 ,even in the season ,la ,granja may be described as solitary1 but it is not desolate1 to quote another word that ,borrow employed to describe it4 ,situated at an altitude of nearly four thousand feet above the sea1 it has been styled1 with much truth1 a #8castle in the air4' ,surrounded as it is by lovely woods1 which extend for leagues in every direction1 by gardens1 lakes1 and streams1 the ,palace of ,san ,ildefonso1 in the month of flowers1 is a paradise and a miracle combined4 ,for the site1 although not exactly hit upon at random1 was selected with a royal inconsequence of the difficulty and expense involved in the labour of transforming a monkish farmhouse into a palace rivalling the glittering creations of ,versailles4 ,the ,bourbon ,philip ,v41 like his ,austrian predecessor ,philip ,,ii41 conceived a craving for solitude1 and while hunting at ,valsain in #agbj he observed ,la ,granja 7the ,grange1 or farmhouse7 of the ,segovian monks of ,el ,parral1 and coveted it for a place of retirement4 ,philip's nature had undergone a great change since he entered ,spain1 a handsome1 resolute soldier1 in #agja4 ,his first wife1 ,marie ,louise of ,savoy1 had been at his side during the troublous1 early days of his reign1 and in #agad1 when ,spain was at peace for the first time since he assumed the crown1 his wife died4 ,under the stress of warlike excitement and the gentle1 sustaining sympathy and influence of ,marie ,louise1 ,philip had proved himself a prince of high spirit1 determination1 and resource1 but under the domination of the ambitious1 intriguing1 masterful ,elizabeth he lost all initiative and sunk into a moody inaction1 which subsequently developed into lethargic insanity4 ,it has been said that1 personally1 ,philip did little good for ,spain1 and it must be admitted that1 when it was most incumbent on him to play the man1 he weakly involved the country in prolonged wars at the bidding of his wife4 ,if the national revenue increased enormously during his reign1 the expenditure was more than proportionately increased in the construction of the three palaces he left to ,spain and in the extravagant collection of works of art with which he furnished them4 ,from ,versailles he had brought the love of letters which prompted him to found the ,royal ,spanish ,academy1 the ,national ,library1 the ,royal ,academy of ,history1 and the ,school of ,nobles4 ,his training at the ,court of ,louis ,,xiv4 was also evident in the change in the social customs of the country4 ,the nobles adopted ,french fashions in costumes and cookery1 they affected ,french furniture and ,french books4 ,the king1 who had thus stamped his personal tastes upon the ,court1 saw his opportunity of further gratifying his ,french sympathies by creating a #8,spanish ,versailles' and a #8,spanish ,fontainebleau4' ,it was on the rocky eminence of ,la ,granja1 overlooking ,segovia's brown towers and the distant ,roman aqueduct1 that ,philip ,v4 gave orders for an estate to be laid out that should be reminiscent of his beloved ,versailles4 ,the fact that no suitable level existed on the sharp mountain slope for the erection of a palace mattered nothing4 ,the level must be made4 ,tens of thousands of tons of rock were blasted away2 tens of thousands of tons of soil were brought up from the sunny plain below2 and on the astonishing ledge thus torn out of the sides of the mountain1 the ,royal ,palace arose in a garden of the most beautiful flowers and adorned with the choicest fountains in all ,spain4 ,the building itself1 which cannot compare with the ,palace of ,versailles1 is a severe-looking structure of two stories1 and is the antithesis of the proud1 gloomy ,escorial on which it turns its back4 ,the faade facing the gardens is white and cheerful1 but the multitude of windows gives it the air of a monster conservatory4 ,the place1 which is so essentially ,french1 appears incongruous amid surroundings which are so characteristically ,spanish2 but the ,castilian people find no fault with it on that account4 ,it is1 they say1 a worthy chteau of the ,king of ,spain4 ,as he is the first and loftiest of all earthly sovereigns1 so his abode soars nearest to ,heaven4 ,the argument is ,spanish and unanswerable6 ,the cost of building the palace and laying out the gardens1 and of acquiring the pictures and sculptures to adorn the saloons1 reached the enormous total of forty-five million pesetas1 the precise sum in which ,philip ,v4 died indebted4 ,in this luxurious retreat in the mountains of ,segovia he surrendered himself to the morbid mysticism of that form of devotion which exaggerates the vanity of all earthly things4 ,sunk at length into a condition of religious melancholy1 in ,january #agbd1 at ,la ,granja1 he swore to renounce his crown for ever and abdicate in favour of his son ,louis4 ,seven months later the boy-king died at the age of seventeen1 and ,philip1 reluctantly acceding to the urgent requests of his wife1 who had already tired of the domestic retirement of ,la ,granja1 resumed the burden of sovereignty4 ,many strange historical events have taken place in the ,palace of ,san ,ildefonso since ,philip ,v4 declared before the ,bao de ,diana that it had cost him three million pesetas and had amused him for three minutes4 ,it was here1 in #aghc1 that the great king1 ,charles ,,iii41 received the ,count d',artois when he started upon his fruitless mission to wrest ,gibraltar from the ,english4 ,here1 in #agif1 ,godoy1 the notorious favourite of ,charles ,,iv4 and the paramour of his wife--who in the previous year had earned the title of ,prince of the ,peace by negotiating the shameful surrender by which the war between ,spain and ,france was concluded--signed the famous and fatal treaty by which ,spain was dragged at the tail of ,france until such time as the ,french ,emperor chose to annex it4 ,in #ahcj1 when ,ferdinand ,,vii4 lay ill at ,la ,granja1 and his heir and brother1 ,don ,carlos1 was holding himself in readiness to assume the responsibility of sovereignty1 ,queen ,cristina1 anxious for her three-year-old daughter's interest1 induced the king to abolish the ,salic law and declare his daughter ,isabel to be his successor4 ,three years afterwards1 ,ferdinand died1 and three years later the king's abrogation of the constitution was revoked by a mob of common soldiers1 led by ,sergeant ,garcia1 who compelled the queen to renounce her royal rights and proclaim the ,cadiz constitution of #ahab4 ,george ,borrow1 who was in ,madrid at the time these events were taking place1 had the story of the revolution of ,la ,granja from eye-witnesses1 and it is related here in his words4 #8,early one morning1' he writes--#8it was the morning of #abth ,august #ahcf--;a party of these soldiers1 headed by a certain ,sergeant ,garcia1 entered her apartment1 and proposed that she should subscribe her hand to this constitution1 and swear solemnly to abide by it4 ,cristina1 however1 who was a woman of considerable spirit1 refused to comply with this proposal1 and ordered them to withdraw4 ,a scene of violence and tumult ensued1 but the ,regent still continuing firm1 the soldiers at length led her down to one of the courts of the palace1 where stood her well-known paramour1 ,muoz1 bound and blindfolded4 8,swear to the constitution1 you she-rogue10 shouted the swarthy sergeant4 8,never60 said the spirited daughter of the ,neapolitan ,bourbons4 8,then your cortejo 7lover7--he was in reality her husband--shall die60 replied the sergeant4 8,ho6 ho6 my lads2 get ready your arms and send four bullets through the fellow's brain40 ,muoz was forthwith led to the wall and compelled to kneel down1 the soldiers levelled their muskets1 and another moment would have consigned the unfortunate wight to eternity1 when ,cristina1 forgetting everything but the feelings of her woman's heart1 suddenly started forward with a shriek1 exclaiming1 8,hold6 hold6 ,i sign6 ,i sign60' ,still more recently1 it will be remembered1 ,alfonso ,,xiii4 carried his ,english bride from the wedding festivities of ,madrid to spend their honeymoon amid the natural beauties of the scenery of ,segovia4 ,the ,royal ,palace consists of a large rectangular building1 in the centre of which is preserved the ancient cloister of the friars' hospitium1 now called the ,patio de la ,fuente4 ,the idea for the central faade of the palace originated with the ,abb ,juvara1 the ,italian architect who was summoned to ,spain to assist ,philip ,v4 in his palace-building operations1 but it was his pupil1 ,sachetti1 who prepared the finished designs4 ,it was carried out in #agci at a cost of #c1cfj1jjj reals4 ,the general faade of the edifice at the back1 overlooking the ,palace ,square1 recalls the ,roman-,spanish style created at the ,escorial by ,herrera4 ,one of the best views of the palace is from the back1 where the building with its slate-covered towers at the sides1 and the ,collegiate ,church in the centre1 surmounted by its elevated cupola and the simple towers accompanying it1 compose an agreeable picture4 ,the principal entrance to the edifice is in this faade facing the ,palace ,square1 and leads to the vestibule of the principal staircase4 ,this is of simple construction1 and is composed of two flights of stairs which meet at the top landing-place4 ,the steps are of granite1 as well as the pillars of the balustrade which support a small iron banister painted white and gold4 ,the whole well of the staircase is surmounted by a semicircular vault finished by a lantern1 in which are the windows4 ,this staircase did not exist in the time of ,charles ,,iv41 as may be ascertained by examining the plans of the palace made at that time1 and its construction should be attributed to ,ferdinand ,,vii4 ,the palace is a structure of two stories4 ,on the ground floor are the #8,galeria baja de estatuas' 7lower gallery of statues71 one of the rooms in which is the dining-room1 the ,high ,court of ,halberdiers1 the offices of the ,lord ,high ,steward1 and other dependencies2 while the upper floor consists of the #8,galeria oficial' 7,official ,gallery71 used for receptions1 audiences1 and councils of ministers1 and the private apartments of their ,majesties and ,royal ,highnesses4 ,the #8,galeria de estatuas' is open to any one provided with a permit supplied by the ,administration ,patrimonial when the ,court is absent4 ,the apartments are generally decorated in good style4 ,most of the furniture is in the ,empire style1 especially that in the ,official ,gallery2 but there is also some in ,louis ,,xiv41 ,regency1 and ,louis ,,xv4 style4 ,the collection of pictures1 especially of the ,flemish and ,dutch schools1 was very fine1 for ,queen ,isabella ,farnese acquired in ,rome for this palace in #agce1 through the ,venetian painter ,g4 ,b4 ,pittoni1 and on the recommendation of the ,abb ,juvara1 a considerable number of very notable pictures of these schools4 ,on the creation of the ,royal ,prado ,museum in #ahbi1 the best were taken there by order of ,ferdinand ,,vii41 and there are at present in its catalogue three hundred and fifty-one pictures which came from this palace1 among them three by ,correggio1 two by ,luca ,giordano1 four by ,il ,guido1 one by ,paul ,veronese1 six by ,tintoretto1 one by ,claudio ,coello1 sixteen by ,murillo1 two by ,ribera1 four by ,velazquez1 four by ,van ,dyck1 fourteen by ,rubens1 and twenty-four by ,teniers4 ,among the pictures of the original collection which exist at the present time1 there are none of great merit2 but the large number painted by ,michel ,ange ,houasse1 of the ,french school1 who was born in ,paris in #afge1 and died in ,spain in #agcj1 being the chief painter of ,philip ,v41 are of no little merit4 ,the marble statues that enrich the ,lower ,gallery1 some of them ,greek ones of great merit1 like the ,castor and ,pollux group1 form the greater part of the sculptures of the ,madrid ,museum4 ,they were acquired in ,rome through the celebrated ,venetian sculptor ,camillo ,rusconi1 and came from the collection made by ,queen ,christina of ,sweden4 ,their cost1 #ab1jjj doubloons1 or #cf1jjj dollars1 was defrayed by ,philip ,v4 and ,isabella ,farnese equally4 ,the lower gallery of statues were painted al fresco by ,bartolom ,ruscha1 and with them were placed1 under the direction of ,don ,domingo ,sanni1 and by order of the royal founders1 the statues of the collection formed by ,queen ,christina of ,sweden and acquired by them in ,rome4 ,the sculptors ,fremin and ,thierri1 who at the time were doing work for the gardens1 restored many of them and added some others by themselves1 but the majority of the best statues were removed in #ahbi to the sculpture room in the ,madrid ,museum1 where they are still preserved and constitute almost its only statuary wealth4 ,at present there are in these rooms very few marble statues1 and nearly all those forming their decoration are copies in plaster of the original ones1 and they have therefore lost the great artistic value which the pure ,greek sculpture in the collection of ,queen ,christina of ,sweden conferred on them4 ,among them the most valuable pieces to be seen here are the group of ,castor and ,pollux2 two colossal statues of ,julius ,csar and ,augustus in alabaster1 with heads1 arms1 and legs of gilded bronze2 a fine urn which it is believed contained the ashes of ,caius ,caligula2 the representations of ,day and ,night2 a very handsome ,apollo2 a ,daphne2 a ,venus coming out of the bath2 a ,faun leaning on the trunk of a tree2 another ,venus with her knee on a tortoise2 many handsome busts of deities and ,roman emperors2 the nine ,muses2 two superb heads of ,antinous and ,alexander2 the recumbent statue of ,ariadne1 a replica of the one in the ,museum of the ,vatican2 a copy of the ,venus de ,medici2 an excellent small statue representing ,seneca2 ,leda with the swan2 a head of ,homer2 a colossal head1 in bronze1 of ,queen ,christina of ,sweden2 and ,ganymede attacked by the eagle4 ,with this array of sculpture and antiquities1 the ,palace of ,ildefonso may be said to be more like a museum than a home2 and in truth1 apart from the ,royal ,chapel which contains the tomb of ,philip ,v4 and his queen1 ,elizabeth ,farnese1 and boasts some superbly embroidered vestments and mantles of the ,virgin1 the visitor must seek the beauties of the palace in its church and in its gardens and fountains4 ,in order to enhance the splendour of the worship that should be conducted in the ,palace ,chapel1 ,philip ,v4 obtained from ,pope ,benedict ,,xiii4 a bull1 ,dum ,infatigabilem1 dated #bjth ,december #agbd1 making it a collegiate church4 ,among other provisions in this bull it conceded that the new collegiate church should be the mother-church of all the churches and chapels of the town and its abbey2 that it should have a chapter composed of an abbot1 four officiating prebendaries1 eight canons1 six prebendaries1 and four chaplain-acolytes2 that the abbots should be a royal appointment with exclusive ecclesiastical jurisdiction throughout the district to be marked out by the ,pope's ,nuncio1 and at liberty to use the pontifical insignia and dress2 that the abbot and canons should devote half the masses celebrated to the royal founders during their lifetime1 and for their souls after their death1 and that the canons should wear the choral dress of those of ,st4 ,peter's in ,rome4 ,the same bull contained the king's promise to endow the new collegiate church with the sum of #hfbe gold ducats 7#bgf1jjj reals of present ,spanish money71 to be distributed as follows3 #egfd ducats for the fabric and its dependents1 and the remainder1 #bhfa1 for the abbot and prebendaries4 ,in the reign of ,charles ,,iii4 the collegiate church was renovated at the expense of the royal treasury and under the direction of ,marshal ,sabatini1 the vaults were painted with frescoes by ,bayeu and ,maella1 and the mouldings and reliefs were decorated by ,vega4 ,by the decree of ,joseph ,bonaparte1 given in ,madrid on ,may #cj1 #ahaj1 the collegiate church was suppressed1 and it was reduced to a simple private chapel of the ,royal ,palace1 uniting its parish with that of the ,cristo ,church1 and adding the territory of the abbey to the bishopric of ,segovia4 ,the church was only closed four years1 and on ,june #bd1 #ahad1 ,ferdinand ,,vii4 restored things to their original condition1 this event being celebrated by four days of public rejoicing and ftes4 ,the church is in the shape of a ,latin cross1 the ends of the four arms being occupied by the high altar1 choir1 and two principal doors4 ,the #8platillos' of the four vaults1 surrounded by a moulding1 were painted al fresco by ,maella1 and all the paintings on the cupola are by ,bayeu1 brother-in-law of ,goya4 ,some of the studies for these paintings were purchased by ,queen ,isabel ,,ii41 and are now in the ,madrid ,museum4 ,the gardens with which ,philip ,v4 surrounded his palace cover an area of three hundred and sixty acres1 and are the finest in the kingdom1 while even the admirers of ,versailles admit that ,la ,granja has the more amazing fountains4 ,from the grand walk one looks out across a panorama of the rocks and forests of ,new ,castile1 or gazes down upon the beautiful extravagancies of these literally hand-made gardens4 ,the formal design of the ground-plan1 the regularity of its well-ordered box avenues and mazes1 the artificiality of its numerous fountains1 its marble vases and statuary1 and the baths and summer-houses that rise out of the dwarf-like vegetation1 are all in striking contrast with the wild grandeur of the distant scenery4 ,yet1 artificial as the aspect undoubtedly is1 the gardens are a sheer delight1 for beyond the flower-beds are masses of yellow broom and springing ferns1 and the grass is a blaze of wild hyacinths1 forget-me-nots1 cowslips1 and periwinkle4 ,higher up the mountain1 to where the sky-line shows1 #cjjj feet above the palace1 are woods of chestnut trees1 oaks1 elms1 and innumerable pines1 in which myriad butterflies of every hue disport themselves1 and scores of streams trickle down to feed the royal fountains in the gardens below4 ,the statues representing ,lucretia1 ,bacchus1 ,apollo1 ,daphne1 ,america1 ,ceres1 and ,milo1 and many others1 are of no great artistic value2 while the fountains1 to the number of twenty-six1 are unique4 ,the ,fama1 which throws up its waters to a height of #acj feet1 is the most renowned2 and from another fountain1 compact of sculptured flowers and fruits1 forty spouts send out their two-score jets #hj feet high4 ,the ,cenador is a single vast cascade of gleaming water from the mountain snows4 ,then there are the ,ranas 7,frogs71 ,ocho ,calles1 ,canastillo1 ,tres ,gracias1 and the ,neptuno1 at which1 says ,m4 ,bourgoin1 the ,egotist read ,virgil and quoted #8quos ego4' ,last of all1 there is the wonderful ,bao de ,diana1 to which reference has already been made4 ,here1 where ,art is truly ,french1 and ,nature is truly ,spanish1 where even ,nature conceives in bleak discomfort for eight months in each year to bring forth four months of flowers and farie1 the ,king of ,spain and his ,english bride retired to surroundings amid which a honeymoon will not be forgotten4 ,madrid has its magnificent royal palaces2 ,el ,pardo boasts its wondrous tapestries2 ,aranjuez its gardens1 and ,rio ,frio its orchards2 ,el ,escorial is the eighth wonder of the world1 and ,miramar looks over the yellowest of golden sands into the bluest of blue waters2 but ,la ,granja1 in the ,guadarrama ,mountains1 is that place apart where lovers may find a bower #8,of coolest foliage1 musical with birds'2 and here one may listen to #8,the murmurs of low fountains that gush forth ,i' the midst of roses6' ,the auxiliary residence to the palace of ,san ,ildefonso1 located some fourteen miles from it beyond the city of ,segovia1 is the royal house of ,rio ,frio1 situated in a picturesque park which is full of game of every description4 ,the small elegant building which stands in the centre of the park was begun by ,isabel1 the widow of ,philip ,v41 and was completed internally by ,alfonso ,,xii4 ,it is a two-storied square building1 the four sides of which are all exactly alike1 and a large square court1 paved with granite flags1 occupies the centre of the building4 ,a large portico of ,tuscan pilasters surrounds the court and supports a covered gallery on the level of the first floor4 ,from this court a noble staircase1 consisting of two independent flights1 which start from the vestibule in opposite directions1 each subdividing into two other parallel ones1 on the level of the first landing4 ,the two independent flights end at the first floor at the opposite ends of the room which is used as a guardroom for the halberdiers4 ,the steps are of granite1 and the balustrades1 which are supported by figures of children in various attitudes1 are of a pretty yellow limestone4 ,the sculpturing is also in stone1 but it was unfortunately painted white1 thus depriving it of its artistic merit1 and giving the appearance of plaster4 ,the whole of this work is from the chisel of ,bartolom ,seximini4 ,the entire weight of the staircase rests on four large ,tuscan columns 7monoliths71 constructed of granite1 and eight semi-columns of the same kind4 ,the apartments on the first floor1 which with the exception of the sacristy and chapel on the ground floor are the only rooms that call for description1 are decorated and furnished with a simplicity that would seem to betoken actual poverty4 ,this is accounted for by the fact that the royal family very seldom resides in this palace2 and at such times whatever is required is conveyed there from the palace of ,san ,ildefonso4 ,on the other hand1 the collection of pictures is superior in number and merit to that of ,san ,ildefonso1 for among its six hundred and fifty-eight pictures there are many originals of the great masters of the different schools4 ,there is one each of ,van ,dyck1 ,titian1 ,albert ,drer1 and ,goya2 two by ,zurbaran1 ,navarrete1 ,guido de ,reni1 ,pantoja de la ,cruz1 and ,correggio2 eight by ,jordn1 three by ,teniers1 four by ,domenichino1 and six by ,poussin4 ,,iii ,,el ,,pardo ,at the royal residence of ,el ,pardo ,maria ,cristina was lodged on the eve of her marriage with ,alfonso ,,xii4 in #ahgi4 ,seven years later in the same palace she wept beside the deathbed of her husband1 the father of the unborn king1 ,alfonso ,,xiii4 ,for a score of years ,el ,pardo was avoided by the queen-mother1 until1 in #aijf1 ,don ,alfonso brought to the suburban palace the ,english princess who1 on the #cast of ,may of that year1 went in state to the church of ,san ,jeronimo to be married to the ,king of ,spain4 ,from the earliest days of ,madrid's claim to royal favour1 over a hundred years before ,charles ,v4 transferred the ,court from ,valladolid to the present capital1 the ,kings of ,spain have had a residence at ,el ,pardo4 ,henry ,,iii41 ,el ,doliente1 when making some additions to the old town of ,madrid about #adfa1 built a pleasure-house on this site4 ,the attraction of the district was undoubtedly the abundance of boar and bear which found ample cover in the forests which surrounded the capital4 ,generations of improvident inhabitants have destroyed these woods1 but the preserves within the stone wall which surrounds the royal residence are well timbered1 and the plantations are full of deer and boar and all kinds of small game4 ,charles ,v4 transformed the building into a winter palace and left the task of completing it to ,philip ,,ii41 who1 one imagines1 spared but scant leisure from his colossal building operations at the ,escorial to superintend the furnishing of a mere shooting-box4 ,at the beginning of the seventeenth century the original structure was destroyed by fire and the present chteau was built by ,philip ,,iii4 ,charles ,,iii4 altered and added to the palace in which he found refuge after the famous riots against ,squillaci1 and here in the reign of ,charles ,,iv4 were hatched the plot and counterplot of ,ferdinand and ,godoy which culminated in the revolution of ,aranjuez1 the fall of the much-abused favourite1 and the deposition of ,charles and his crafty sons4 ,philip ,,ii4 by the prosecution of his religious policy1 which was fruitful of ruinous wars1 had beggared ,spain in money and credit4 ,philip ,,iii4 succeeded in #afba to the crown of a country that the ,cortes officially described as #8completely desolated4' ,agriculture and every form of manufacture was fallen into decay1 the land was left desert for want of cultivators1 the looms were idle1 and the wealth of the ,spanish-,american possessions was swallowed up by the crowd of avaricious and unscrupulous office-holders and their underlings4 ,but if ,philip ,,ii4 had reduced the nation to these straits by his bigoted zeal and arrogant vainglory1 his son aggravated the conditions by his reckless extravagance and riotous splendour4 ,when the country's resources had been taxed to an extent that made further taxation an impossibility1 the king1 through the agency of his all-powerful favourite1 the luxurious ,duke of ,lerma1 raised funds to gratify his prodigal expenditure by the sale of knighthoods and patents of nobility4 ,when that source failed him1 he attempted to wrest from the church its silver plate and ornaments1 and being terrified out of this resolve by the threats of the bishops1 he made a personal appeal to the people4 ,the king's officers went from door to door begging in the name of the sovereign for the money required for carrying on the business of the ,government4 ,but ,philip ,,iii4 still claimed to be the richest potentate in ,christendom2 his subjects still believed themselves the richest people in the world4 ,the king could afford to expel #ejj1jjj of his ,moslem subjects to ,barbary1 after robbing them of all they possessed2 he could afford to plunge his country into a foolish war to gratify ,spanish pride2 and he could still afford to indulge his wildest and most extravagant personal whims1 of which the rebuilding of ,el ,pardo was one of the least expensive4 ,the palace1 located in contiguity to the village1 which consists of about two hundred houses whose inhabitants are employed on the ,royal ,patrimony1 has a length of #dcb feet and a depth of #aib feet4 ,a tower commands each corner1 and the entire building is surrounded by a moat1 #cj feet wide1 which once served the double purpose of irrigation and defence4 ,the principal entrance to the estate is through the ancient and beautiful ,puerta de ,hierro 7,iron ,doorway71 built about the year #agec by ,ferdinand ,,vi4 and distant about five miles from the town of ,el ,pardo4 ,from the doorway a wall of stout masonry1 six feet high1 runs right and left round the demesne for a distance of sixty-two miles4 ,the property is intersected from north to south by the ,river ,manzanares4 ,the stream enters on the ,sierra side beneath a high stone bridge1 the piers of which rest on the tall rocks that enclose the narrow pass of ,marmota4 ,from this bridge may be obtained a magnificent view of the country bounded and framed by the distant snow-clad ,guadarrama ,mountains4 ,the rugged and broken ground is prolific in evergreen oaks1 cork trees1 and extensive areas of the cistus shrub4 ,for purposes of defence the estate is divided into twenty departments1 and the fifty warders who guard the royal residence are accommodated in twenty-six spacious and well-built houses4 ,the impression conveyed by the sombre1 granite-built palace is distinctly imposing4 ,several stone staircases lead to the royal apartments1 consisting of sixty commodious rooms1 nearly all of which are covered with rich and brilliantly coloured tapestries1 manufactured at ,madrid from designs of ,goya1 ,bayeu1 ,castillo1 and ,teniers4 ,the subjects portrayed are landscapes1 hunting and country scenes1 and passages in the history of ,don ,quixote4 ,the stucco of the ceilings of most of the saloons is the exquisite work of ,roberto ,michel1 while the many fresco paintings were executed by ,patricio ,carco1 ,carducho1 ,bayeu1 ,maella1 ,galvez1 ,ribera1 and ,zacarias ,velazquez4 ,the fine collection of pictures that once adorned the walls was destroyed by the fire of #afjd1 and of the forty-seven portraits by such famous masters as ,titian1 ,a4 ,moro1 and ,coello1 only a few remain4 ,the magnificent glass chandeliers are a feature of the royal apartments1 and in the ,retablo of the ,oratory there is a copy of ,christ bearing the ,cross1 by ,ribalta1 the original of which is in ,magdalen ,chapel1 ,oxford4 ,the ,court officials are lodged in a commodious building having a complement of a hundred rooms4 ,to the north of the town is the ,prince's ,cottage1 another creation of that villa-building monarch1 ,charles ,,iv4 ,it is a delightful example of the three noble arts that vie with one another to give beauty to the villa--the old silks that cover the walls1 the carvings that adorn them1 and the magnificent chandeliers and rich1 varied furniture1 which make a valuable museum of this so-styled cottage4 ,there are also other two palaces called ,la ,zarzuela and the ,quinta4 ,both are surrounded by fine gardens1 and contain sumptuous oratories where ,mass is celebrated on special occasions4 ,these two buildings are surviving portions of the old edifice4 ,in ,la ,zarzuela ,don ,fernando1 the brother of ,philip ,,iv41 was wont to organise those little vaudeville entertainments which were christened ,zarzuelas4 ,it is no longer used for that purpose1 the theatrical performances at ,el ,pardo now taking place in the small but elegant theatre in the palace which ,alfonso ,,xiii4 had restored when the residence was prepared for the accommodation of ,princess ,victoria ,ena4 ,to the ,royal ,patrimony also belongs the parish church and the ,capuchin convent of ,santo ,cristo1 situated on the left bank of the river1 and hither1 on ,st4 ,eugene's day1 the people of ,madrid journey in crowds4 ,on other feast days1 also1 the beautifully wooded slopes and shady avenues of ,el ,pardo attract thousands of visitors from the city4 ,it would be difficult to find anywhere in ,europe1 at the very doors of the capital1 such beautiful rustic scenery as that enclosed in this royal estate4 ,we have said that ,charles ,,iii4 retired to ,el ,pardo after the ,squillaci riots1 and it is curious to reflect that this best of ,spanish kings was sadly out of touch with the character of his own people4 ,he was a man of extraordinary ability1 sound experience1 and commanding personality4 ,he had the will and the power to carry the government of the ,state on his own broad shoulders1 and to manage the domestic affairs of his subjects into the bargain4 ,he realised the crying need for domestic reforms in his capital1 but the ,madrileos failed to recognise the necessity1 and resented his interference4 ,the king found the city ugly1 filthy1 and insanitary1 and he decreed that it should be made clean and kept so4 ,he was the apostle of order and decency1 and not understanding the pride of the ,spaniards1 he could not comprehend that they were affronted by this imperious resolve to bring them into line with more advanced ,european nations4 ,moreover1 the decree was published by ,squillaci1 the king's ,italian minister4 ,squillaci was a marked man from that day1 and the clergy who had been made to recognise that the ,king would tolerate no clerical interference with his policy1 fanned the spirit of revolt which manifested itself among the people4 ,in #agff ,charles1 having commenced his crusade by cleansing the city1 now turned his attention to the national costume4 ,as a dress-reformer he objected to the long cloaks and wide-brimmed hats affected by the citizens1 and in ,march #agff he issued another decree forbidding their use4 ,immediately ,madrid was in revolt4 ,the king's ,walloon guards were massacred1 the detested ,italian1 ,squillaci1 sought safety in flight1 and for two days the city was in the hands of the murdering1 destroying mob4 ,on the third day the king abolished the ,walloon guards and promised to rule without foreign ministers4 ,the revolution was at an end1 and ,charles retreated to ,el ,pardo to reflect upon the situation4 ,the king was convinced that the priests1 and particularly the clever1 intriguing members of the ,society of ,jesus1 were at the bottom of all the agitation against his policy of reform1 and the result of his reflections was made known in the following year when he decreed that every ,jesuit should be forthwith expelled from his dominions4 ,the people could not believe their ears1 but ,charles was firm as a rock4 ,he cleared ,spain of the power which was behind the priesthood1 and twelve months later he wrung from ,rome the papal decree by which the ,society of ,jesus was temporarily suppressed4 ,charles ,,iii4 was engrossed in business more serious than hunting when he retired from the riot of the capital to take counsel with himself in the woods of ,el ,pardo4 ,still nearer to the city of ,madrid1 from which it is only divided by the ,river ,manzanares1 is the royal shooting-box1 called ,casa de ,campo1 the grounds of which1 abounding in beautiful scenery and stocked with well-preserved game1 are twelve miles in circumference4 ,a network of channels irrigate the estate1 many fountains adorn the gardens1 and the great pond is full of carp and other fish4 ,the residence was built in the middle of the sixteenth century by ,philip ,,ii41 who characteristically gave orders that the house was to be surrounded by a forest4 ,to this end a royal decree was issued on ,january #ag1 #aefb1 authorising the acquisition of some adjoining lands1 and this tract was augmented by the king's private purchase of the ancient and noble estate of the heirs of ,fadrique de ,vargas4 ,philip1 in a fine moment1 declined to have their coats-of-arms removed1 saying that in a king's palace the blazonry of the families that had rendered signal service to the ,state were well placed4 ,in #aehb1 by order of the same monarch1 additional land was purchased2 and though his successors have made little alterations in the original demesne1 ,ferdinand ,,vi41 when ,prince of the ,asturias1 increased it by the purchase of a tract of country valued at #a1bej1baa reals1 and still later a smaller area was purchased by the order of ,charles ,,iii4 ,the documents relating to the acquisition of these properties have been carefully preserved1 and are now in the archives of the royal house4 ,the wall around the estate was commenced in #agcf and finished twenty-two years later2 it is twelve feet high and about two feet thick1 and is composed entirely of brick and solid masonry4 ,,iv ,,aranjuez ,the ,palace of ,aranjuez became a patrimony of the ,crown of ,spain by virtue partly of the wise and able economic reforms instituted by ,ferdinand the ,catholic1 and partly as a result of his characteristic greed4 ,the husband of ,isabel of ,castile safeguarded his country by stripping the nobles of many of their privileges and powers1 and readjusting their sources of income4 ,he prohibited them from erecting new castles and coining money1 and as the masterships of the vast estates of the military orders fell vacant1 he retained the masterships and the estates in the royal family and paid the knights by fixed pensions4 ,aranjuez sprang into existence in the fourteenth century as the summer residence of ,lorenzo ,suarez de ,figueroa1 the master of the illustrious and wealthy ,order of ,santiago1 who planted the land with trees and vines and olives1 and erected a building that answered the double purpose of castle and convent4 ,when ,ferdinand incorporated the mastership of the ,order of ,santiago with the ,crown1 ,aranjuez became the summer palace of the ,catholic king and his consort4 ,in #aecf ,charles ,v4 made it a shooting villa1 and ,philip ,,ii4 introduced ,english elms into the grounds1 and employed ,herrera1 of ,escorial fame1 to construct additional buildings to better accommodate his growing family4 ,the palace was partially destroyed by fire in #afej1 and five years later a second fire reduced it to a ruin4 ,in this condition it remained until #agbg1 when ,philip ,v41 who had tasted the pleasures of palace-building at ,la ,granja1 rebuilt the present edifice1 which was successively improved by ,charles ,,iii4 and ,ferdinand ,,vii4 ,philip ,v4 was better advised when he decided to erect a palace on the site of the master of the ,order of ,santiago's summer residence than when he wrested a foothold for ,la ,granja from the side of the mountains of ,segovia4 ,the royal home at ,aranjuez is charmingly situated in the midst of avenues of stately elms and sycamores at the confluence of the ,tagus and ,jarama--a verdurous oasis in the midst of treeless1 waterless ,castile4 ,he constructed the palace and the public chapel from stone taken from a quarry in the district of ,colmenar1 which he bought for the purpose4 ,the timber he procured from the mountains of ,cuenca1 and the lead for the roofing from some mines that existed near ,consuegra4 ,philip ,,iii4 enriched the gardens with many of the fine bronzes and marbles that are to be seen there1 and some of the splendid fountains were also added by his orders2 but the ,parterre department which ,philip ,,ii4 laid out was completed by the art-loving ,philip ,,iv41 who furnished the busts of the ,roman emperors1 the statues1 and the beautiful medallions4 ,in #agdh the palace was again on fire1 and the principal faade was restored by ,ferdinand ,,vi4 in its present more elegant form4 ,that weak and fatuous monarch ,charles ,,iv41 who added the ,casas del ,principe to the ,escorial1 and ,el ,pardo1 and the auxiliary ,casa del ,labrador to the palace of ,aranjuez1 had a particular affection for the #8,spanish ,fontainebleau4' ,here the king and queen and their favourite1 ,godoy1 passed much of their time in the anxious days that preceded the fall of the monarchy2 and here1 in ,march #ahjh1 the determination was arrived at by which the detested ,prince of the ,peace was torn from office and power1 literally by the hands of the incensed mob4 ,what a curious spectacle of a family group they present to our eyes6 ,charles ,,iv4 and ,maria ,luisa1 ,ferdinand and ,godoy1 with mutual hatred in their hearts and the sound of the tumult of ,madrid ringing in their ears4 ,king1 prince1 and minister each believed the advancing ,french to be his friends2 each felt confident that ,spain was being trampled under foot by foreign soldiers to advance their several conflicting interests4 ,but suddenly from the rapidly approaching host came messengers with an ultimatum from ,napoleon1 containing impossible conditions that would have dismembered ,spain and deprived her of her independence4 ,it was evident now that ,napoleon was coming not as a saviour but as a conqueror1 and now it was too late to resist him by force of arms4 ,in the palace of ,aranjuez it was resolved that the ,court should retire to ,seville1 and from there1 if the worst happened1 sail for ,america4 ,although this secret resolution was carefully guarded1 a rumour of the projected flight got about1 and the mob vented their anger upon ,godoy1 whom they believed was prepared to sell the country to the ,corsican4 ,in vain ,charles addressed proclamations to #8my dear vassals1' and assured them that his dear ally1 the ,emperor of the ,french1 was only making use of ,spanish soil to reach points threatened by the ,english enemy2 in vain he denied the story of his intended flight4 ,the greater part of the garrison in ,madrid was ordered to ,aranjuez1 but with the soldiers went an army of country people who surrounded the king's palace and the palace of the favourite1 and closely guarded every avenue of escape4 ,at midnight of the #agth ,march a bugle-call rang out1 a shot responded to the summons1 and in a moment the revolution was in full swing4 ,around the royal residence1 in which ,charles was lying ill with gout1 the mob contented itself by howling threats and imprecations1 but ,godoy's palace was carried by assault4 ,the work of destruction was stayed for a few moments while the ,princess of the ,peace1 a member of the royal family1 and her daughter were respectfully conveyed to the royal palace4 ,then the ruffians got to work in terrible earnest4 ,with murderous thoroughness they searched every room and corridor for the despised author of the national trouble1 wrecking everything in their path4 ,but ,godoy had slipped from his bed1 and found a refuge under a roll of matting in a neighbouring lumber-room4 ,for thirty-six hours he remained in hiding until hunger and thirst drove him from his retreat1 and he was led from his ruined house to the barrack guardroom through a populace that thirsted for his life4 ,the wretched fugitive1 ill with fear and fatigue1 was placed between two mounted guards1 and the journey was made at a sharp trot1 but he could not out-distance the vengeance of the crowd1 and his guards could not protect him4 ,fierce blows were rained upon him by the infuriated multitude1 and the man who had been master of ,spain1 bleeding from a score of wounds and gasping for breath1 was only rescued from instant death by a miracle4 ,the mob still overran the streets of ,aranjuez1 and swarmed around the royal palace in which ,charles ,,iv4 signed the decree handing the crown of ,spain to ,ferdinand4 ,a few days later he withdrew his abdication privately at the instigation of ,general ,monthion1 ,murat's chief of the staff1 and shortly afterwards left ,aranjuez for the ,escorial1 from whence1 on the #beth ,april following1 he set out for ,bayonne1 to lay the crown at the feet of the ,emperor of the ,french4 ,the king died at ,rome in #ahai2 ,ferdinand1 having spent six years at ,valenay1 where he was virtually a prisoner of the ,french1 was restored to the throne of ,spain4 ,during the nineteen years of his reign ,ferdinand ,,vii4 and the coarse1 ignorant vulgarians who composed the camarilla by which he surrounded himself1 spent much of their time at ,aranjuez4 ,here the vast conspiracy was hatched against the ,constitution1 which led to the battle between the militia and the citizens in #ahbb2 and here the worthless monarch intrigued until his death to re-establish absolutism1 and restore the old rotten order of things which the nation had shed its best blood to wipe out4 ,the nearness of ,aranjuez to ,madrid and the beauty of its situation has always made it a favourite residence of the ,spanish royal family4 ,the town itself1 which has a population of some ten thousand inhabitants1 is composed of wide streets and large squares1 and many noble families possess villas in the neighbourhood4 ,the interior of the palace1 which reveals an incongruous jumble of modern innovations adapted to the architecture and decoration of bygone generations1 is filled with a large assortment of works of art1 some possessing a very high order of merit1 and others very little4 ,the celebrated staircase which faces the principal entrance is magnificent4 ,it leads to the ,saleta1 a room embellished with a granite chimney-piece and chandeliers of rock crystal and bronze1 and containing several paintings by the famous ,italian artist ,luca ,giordano1 who is known in ,spain by the name of ,juan ,jordn4 ,other pictures by ,giordano1 painted on white silk damask1 are to be seen in an adjoining apartment4 ,in the ,oratory is a superb altar1 with an agate inlaid table1 and ,titian's #8,annunciation of the ,virgin4' ,next to the ,oratory is the ,hall of ,ambassadors1 a modern apartment1 with a ceiling painted in #ahej by ,vicente and ,maximino ,camarn4 ,the walls of the queen's study in the same suite are covered with white damask1 and the room is furnished with twelve chairs and a carved mahogany table of the time of ,charles ,,iv4 ,the ball-room and the dining-room1 even the ,moorish room1 in which ,rafael ,contreras has revived the beauties of the ,alhambra1 are surpassed by the music-room1 which is the finest saloon in the palace4 ,here all the decorations are ,chinese in character1 worked out and enamelled with great skill2 and the chandelier1 which is in one piece1 is an exquisite specimen of workmanship4 ,the walls of this room are entirely covered with large porcelain plaques1 representing in high relief groups of beautifully modelled ,oriental figures4 ,the looking-glasses1 made at ,la ,granja1 with their frames composed of fruits and flowers1 enhance the effect4 ,joseph ,gricci1 who modelled and painted the music-saloon1 was one of the artists brought over from ,naples by ,charles ,,iii4 in #agei1 when he established in ,madrid the factory of ,buen ,retiro4 ,in addition to this superb porcelain1 the palace boasts a bedstead of splendidly carved lignum-vitae1 and some pictures by ,bosch 7,jerome van ,aeken71 a painter of the sixteenth century1 who is almost unknown outside ,spain4 ,these canvases represent fantastic subjects and allegories in the style of ,breughel1 and were highly praised by the critics of his time4 ,the ,convent of ,san ,pascual was founded by ,charles ,,iii41 and the theatre in the town owed its inception to the same monarch4 ,the convent church contains only a few valuable pictures1 but it is rich in marble and beautifully carved wood4 ,the convent library possesses many ancient manuscripts1 and the convent grounds are famous for their beauty1 but the gardens of the royal palace are the crowning glory of ,aranjuez4 ,that most entertaining author and indefatigable dispenser of ,testaments1 ,george ,borrow1 travelled in ,spain at a time when royalty was battling for its very existence4 ,he found the country dangerous and desolated1 and the country homes of its kings fallen into a state of neglect4 ,when he was in ,la ,granja1 the palace of ,san ,ildefonso was shut up1 and the town which surrounds the patrimony of the ,crown of ,spain was practically deserted4 ,he had no better luck in ,aranjuez4 ,he admits the beauty of the district1 but he describes the place as in a state of desolation2 he recalls the fact that ,ferdinand ,,vii4 spent his latter days in its palace surrounded by lovely seoras and ,andalusian bull-fighters1 and quotes--perhaps with more sentiment than sympathy--the words of ,schiller3 #8,the happy days in fair ,aranjuez ,are past and gone4' #8,intriguing courtiers no longer crowd its halls1' he reflects2 #8its spacious circus1 where ,manchegan bulls once roared in rage and agony1 is now closed1 and the light tinkling of guitars is no longer heard amidst its groves and gardens4' ,one feels as one reads these passages that ,borrow was not at his best as a moralist4 ,one prefers him when he is describing in his lively1 absorbing manner his personal experiences1 and is glad to learn that he disposed of eighty ,testaments in desolate ,aranjuez1 and that he #8might have sold many more of these ,divine books' if he had remained there a longer period4 ,but we are sorry that ,borrow did not see the ,palace ,gardens in ,april or ,may1 when the view from the ,parterre is one of almost unsurpassed loveliness4 ,the ,reina1 ,isla1 and ,principe ,gardens are furnished with a multitude of bridges1 grottoes1 fountains1 and cascades1 bordered and surrounded by an exuberance of plants and flowers from ,england1 ,france1 and the ,east1 all bathed by the waters of the ,tagus1 and made musical with the notes of myriad birds4 #8,the ,nightingale that in the ,branches sang' returns in his thousands every spring1 and we hear #8,the melodious noise of birds among the spreading branches1 and the pleasing fall of water running violently4' ,here are ,oriental trees1 palms1 and the cedars of ,lebanon1 and interspersed with them are the first elms introduced by ,philip ,,ii4 into ,spain from ,england1 which grow magnificently under the combined influence of heat and moisture4 ,the impressionable and responsive ,edmondo de ,amicis writes of ,aranjuez3 #8,the interior of the royal building is superb1 but all the riches of the palace do not compare with the view of the gardens1 which seem to have been laid out for the family of a ,titanic king1 to whom the parks and gardens of our kings must appear like terrace flower-beds or stable-yards4 ,there are avenues as far as the eye can reach1 flanked by immensely high trees1 whose branches interlace as if bent by two contrary winds1 which traverse in every direction a forest whose boundaries one cannot see2 and through this forest the broad and rapid ,tagus describes a majestic curve1 forming here and there cascades and basins4 ,a luxurious and flourishing vegetation abounds between a labyrinth of small avenues1 cross roads1 and openings2 and on every side gleam statues1 fountains1 columns1 and sprays of water1 which fall in splashes1 bows1 and drops1 in the midst of every kind of flower of ,europe and ,america4 ,to the majestic roar of the cascade of the ,tagus is joined the song of innumerable nightingales1 who utter their plaintive vibratory notes in the mysterious shade of the solitary paths4 ,beyond the palace1 and all around the shrubberies1 extend vineyards1 olive-groves1 plantations of fruit trees1 and smiling meadows4 ,it is a genuine oasis1 surrounded by a desert1 which ,philip ,,ii4 chose in a day of good humour1 almost as if to temper with the gay picture the gloomy melancholy of the ,escorial1 and in which one still breathes the atmosphere1 so to speak1 of the private life of the kings of ,spain4' ,the ,jardines de la ,reina are of minor importance1 but the ,jardines de la ,isla1 comprising the four divisions which are known as ,parterre1 ,la ,estatuas1 ,isla1 and ,emparrado1 are filled with natural and created beauties4 ,in the ,isabel ,,ii4 ,garden is a bronze statue of the queen1 erected to commemorate the political events of #ahcd4 ,it is surrounded by a handsome iron railing1 and completed by eight stone seats and as many marble vases mounted on pedestals4 ,the ,jardines de ,principe1 a much more modern preserve1 are divided into four departments1 and bisected by avenues that lead to the various small squares and to the ,princesa1 ,apollo1 ,blanco1 and ,embajadores ,avenues1 the last of which terminates in the little ,pabellones ,garden of the time of ,ferdinand ,,vi4 ,in addition to these princely gardens there are the ,english ,garden1 remarkable for its carved rock supporting a well-modelled swan2 the ,chinese ,garden with its banana plantations2 and the ,garden of the ,princess1 acquired in #aece1 and adorned in #afaf with a mechanical clock1 decorated with twelve bronze figures that play on bronze trumpets4 ,on the banks of the swiftly flowing river are the paddocks of the ,crown1 where camels and llamas roam1 and a stud farm1 where are bred ,english and ,spanish blood horses and the beautiful cream-coloured animals of the ,aranjuez stock4 ,the auxiliary palace called the ,casa del ,labrador1 or ,labourer's ,cottage1 built by ,charles ,,iv41 is a remarkable structure1 being a series of boudoirs1 petit ,trianon1 worthy of a ,pompadour4 ,the ceilings are painted by ,zacarias ,velazquez1 ,lopez1 ,maella1 and other artists1 and the walls of the back staircase are decorated with scenes and figures of the time of ,charles ,i4 ,at the top of the staircase is figured a balcony1 on which are leaning the handsome wife and children of the painter1 ,z4 ,velazquez4 ,the gilded bronze balustrade of the main staircase contains gold to the value of #cjjj1 and the marbles over the doors are very fine4 ,on the ground-floor of the building1 which is composed of three stories1 are thirteen statues by ,spanish sculptors4 ,in the centre of the hall is a marble figure representing ,envy1 and around the apartment are twenty busts of ,carrara marble4 ,among the treasures of the palace are many ,japanese vases and bronzes of great artistic value1 marble busts of ,minerva and ,mars1 a group representing a sacrifice in honour of ,venus1 and an enormous1 beautifully carved mahogany fountain4 ,the decorations consist of platinum1 artistically worked pavements of ,buen ,retiro porcelain1 and the most gorgeous silk embroideries and tapestries bordered with gold2 while the furniture includes priceless chandeliers1 ,svres vases1 candelabra1 and clocks4 ,a chair and table in malachite1 a present from ,prince ,demidoff to the ex-,queen ,isabella of ,spain1 is valued at about #aejj4 ,the apartment known as ,retrete is adorned with a composition resembling marble in the ,moorish style and ,etruscan low relief1 and furnished with crimson coverings bordered with gold1 while all the appointments of the hall1 the capricious clocks and floral stands of bronze and glass1 the table of rock crystal1 and the wealth of marbles1 all contribute to the magnificence of this so-called ,casa del ,labrador4 ,v ,,miramar ,the most modern of the many royal residences in ,spain is the palace which the queen-mother built for herself and her young family in the most easterly province on the northern coast of the ,peninsula4 ,queen ,maria ,cristina had been ,regent for three years when in #ahhi she determined to make a home between the mountains and the sea in a spot far removed from the etiquette and stress of the capital and from the sad memories which were associated with the ancient palaces of ,castile4 ,her ,majesty spent her first summer holiday at ,miramar1 the capital of ,guipuzcoa in #ahid1 and here1 overlooking the ,bay of ,biscay1 ,alfonso ,,xiii4 was brought up among and in the heart of his own people4 ,here he was prepared by a rigorous course of study to assume the duties of the high destiny to which he was born1 and here also he learnt to ride and shoot1 to swim and handle a boat1 and to excel in every form of manly sport4 ,at ,san ,sebastian the dignity and restraint of royalty is largely relaxed1 and the ,english visitor realises more clearly than in any other part of the country how intensely democratic is the ,spaniard at heart4 ,the ,king of ,spain is more in touch with the masses of his people than the ruler of any other ,european nation4 ,he is an anointed sovereign and the most august personage in the land2 but he is a ,spaniard1 he belongs to his people1 he is one of themselves4 ,in ,madrid court etiquette keeps the sovereign at a different altitude from his subjects1 but here he rides and drives abroad1 generally unattended1 and sets an example of princely amiability and unaffected kindliness which distinguishes all ranks of the ,spanish nobility4 ,the line of demarkation between the nobles and the people is so clearly defined that it never has to be emphasised4 ,in their relations there is no unbending on the one side1 there is no servility on the other4 ,a grandee of ,spain does not imperil his dignity by joining the cotillon at the ,casino2 a duchess can drink tea at the crowded tables of a public caf without taking thought of appearances4 ,in ,san ,sebastian the sovereign is not the ,high and ,mighty ,seor ,don ,alfonso ,,xiii4 of ,bourbon and ,austria1 ,catholic ,king of ,spain1 but rather is he #8le chevalier ,printemps1' and the respect with which he is everywhere greeted is based as much in affection for his person as in deference to his exalted station4 ,in all the festivities and social functions of the fashionable watering-place1 ,his ,majesty takes a prominent part2 and although roulette is forbidden at the ,casino while ,royalty is at ,miramar1 no other restriction is imposed upon the gaiety of the town by the king's presence4 ,don ,alfonso is president of the ,yacht ,club and of the ,horse ,show2 he distributes the athletic championship prizes1 and is among the guns at every important shoot2 the homely1 merry festival of the ,urumea would be incomplete without him2 his attendance in the ,avenida de la ,libertad is as necessary as the sunshine to the ,carnival of ,flowers4 ,the queen-mother's handsome team of four ,spanish mules is to be met with every day in the neighbouring country1 and the king's motor car is a familiar object of the landscape between ,san ,sebastian and ,biarritz4 ,it was from ,san ,sebastian that he motored to the bright little ,french town to make his formal request for the hand of ,victoria ,eugnie of ,battenberg1 and it was to ,miramar that he brought his affianced bride to present her to the queen-mother and the ,spanish people4 ,if the ,spanish coast had been searched from one end to the other1 it would have been impossible to have found a more picturesque spot than the bay of ,san ,sebastian1 where the blue billows from the ,north ,atlantic bring their long journey to an end on a stretch of the most golden sands in ,europe4 ,during the summer months the crested rollers1 following one another with the regularity and precision of ,highland regiments at the quickstep1 sweep through the narrow channel between ,santa ,clara and ,mount ,orgullo1 and1 making the semicircle of the ,concha1 break their formation at the private landing-stage beneath the royal palace of ,miramar1 and fall out about the rocky base of ,mount ,igueldo4 ,seen from the royal yacht1 the ,giralda1 which always lies in the bay when the royal family are in residence at ,miramar1 the town of ,san ,sebastian lies in the base of a crescent1 the horns of which are tipped with the old light tower at one extremity and the castle of ,la ,mota at the other4 ,behind the town ,mount ,ulia raises its wooded height in the middle distance1 and beyond it1 as far as the eye can see1 the white-capped sentinels of the ,pyrenees complete the view4 ,one can sip one's chocolate on the terrace of the restaurant which crowns ,mount ,ulia1 and gaze on ,san ,sebastian spread out like a panorama in the valley1 or watch the sunlight reflected from the white cliffs of ,france1 or try to make out the sword-cut in the coast-line by which the tide flows1 as through the neck of a bottle1 into the inland sea1 which laps the very door-steps of ,pasajes and divides it into the two sections of ,san ,juan and ,san ,pedro4 ,there are seasons when the ,bay of ,biscay is the incarnation of elemental fury1 when the inviting natural harbour of ,san ,sebastian is a death trap for any vessel that flies to it for shelter4 ,when the south and south-west winds are blowing at the end of ,september1 and the hurricane is driving the raging billows of the ,atlantic before it2 when even whales are caught by the stampeding waters and tossed like weeds on the sandy bosom of the ,concha2 when the roof of the ,royal ,nautical ,club is swept by the waves1 and the breakwater at the mouth of the ,urumea crumbles before the ferocity of the gale2 then is this north-east coast of ,spain anathema maranatha to those that go down to the sea in ships4 ,but by the end of ,september1 the holiday season in ,san ,sebastian is over1 and the holiday-makers are distributed over every country in ,europe4 ,the ,court is removed to ,madrid1 the ,palace of ,miramar and the ,casino are closed1 the ,giralda seeks a surer anchorage1 and the fishing-fleet is safely berthed in the land-locked harbours of ,pasajes4 ,the construction of the ,royal ,palaces of ,madrid absorbed over a quarter of a century1 and a whole army of labourers were twenty years on the ,escorial before it was ready for occupation by ,philip ,,ii4 ,five hundred men built the royal residence of ,miramar in four years4 ,two architects collaborated in its construction--,mr4 ,selden ,wornum1 who laid down the general plan1 and ,seor ,goicoa1 who was in charge of the building operations and revised the plans as the work proceeded4 ,the materials used1 with the exception of some special tiles1 which had to be brought from ,england1 are ,spanish1 the marble and stone having been brought from the provinces of ,guipuzcoa1 ,valladolid1 and ,burgos2 the iron for the different stages from the #8,altos ,hornos' and #8,vizcaya' factories of ,bilbao1 and the metal work from ,eibar4 ,the real ,casa de ,campo de ,miramar is composed of three departments3 the palace1 the offices1 and the stables and coach-houses4 ,the palace is a three-storied building1 in the style of an ,english country house4 ,on the ground-floor1 at the entrance1 is a spacious central gallery1 which extends nearly the whole length of the palace1 dividing it into two parts4 ,on the right are the king's study1 the library1 the oratory1 the reading-room and the dining-room1 which is rectangular1 and boasts a magnificent balcony4 ,on the left are the hall1 the official reception rooms1 and the billiard-room4 ,between the study and the library is a large drawing-room4 ,on the first floor are the apartments of the king and queen and the old playroom of his ,majesty1 all communicating with each other by a terrace which overlooks the sea and the garden4 ,from the king's room a tower is reached1 which is surmounted by a flag-staff4 ,the rooms occupied by the royal servants are on the upper floor4 ,a long gallery connects the main building with the house in which are lodged the chief officials of the palace1 and the stables1 which are fashioned on the most modern ,english pattern1 form a separate building4 ,over the principal entrance are three beautifully carved shields3 one with the arms of ,spain1 another with those of the king1 and the third with those of the queen4 ,in the construction of the palace1 the chief considerations have been comfort and convenience4 ,every most modern improvements1 both scientific and sthetic1 have been employed to attain this end4 ,the furniture is elegant1 and harmonises perfectly with the decoration of the rooms2 the tapestries1 paintings1 porcelains1 all the objects of art1 in fact1 which are found there in great profusion1 are in the most exquisite taste2 while the park by which ,miramar is surrounded is probably the best cultivated domain in the possession of the ,crown4 ,the telegraph links up the palace with the whole world2 and the telephone connects it with the royal palace and the ,government ,offices at ,madrid4 ,at the extremity of the grounds of the ,royal residence1 which have been built over the road1 and continued to the water's edge1 is the private landing-stage which his ,majesty always uses in going to and from the ,giralda4 ,on most days during the ,san ,sebastian season1 the king is to be seen in the ,bay1 and he is always one of the most interested spectators of the races during the regatta week4 ,in a little volume of this kind1 which is intended as an album and pictorial souvenir of the palaces of which it treats rather than an illustrated handbook1 little attention has been given to the cities in which these royal residences are situated1 or the country by which they are surrounded4 ,but a few lines may be added here about ,san ,sebastian1 which in most respects is different from other ,spanish cities1 even from the capitals of the other ,basque provinces4 ,san ,sebastian is kept spotlessly clean1 its municipal management is perfect1 and its beggars are conspicuous by their absence4 ,the modernity of the town is due to the firing of the place after the siege of #ahac1 when the only part that escaped was the bit of old town1 situated near the little ,port des ,pcheurs1 under the shadow of ,mount ,urgull4 ,the broad1 even1 regular streets of the new town1 which is bisected by the handsome ,avenida de la ,libertad1 are flanked by splendid shops and hotels that would do credit to any ,european city4 ,the whole place wears an aspect of smiling prosperity1 and its life during the holiday season is one continuous round of hearty1 innocent gaiety4 ,cricket1 it must be admitted1 has not yet been naturalised in ,spain1 and the golfer must cross the border to ,biarritz to indulge in his favourite game1 but every other sport that the average ,englishman affects can be enjoyed here4 ,the bathing from the beach is the best and safest in the world1 and the lover of picturesque scenery has a paradise of varied landscapes and sea pieces within walking distance of the town4 ,there is lawn tennis in the new recreation grounds1 and pelota matches1 at one or other of the courts1 are played daily2 while1 for those who care for bull fighting1 there is a corrida every ,sunday afternoon during the season4 ,,vi ,,el ,,alcazar ,,seville ,the beautiful ,moorish palace of the ,alcazar at ,seville1 unlike the more famous ,alhambra of ,granada1 is still a royal palace1 though only occasionally the residence of their ,catholic ,majesties4 ,the upper floor1 containing the royal apartments1 is always kept ready for these illustrious tenants1 and in consequence is rarely accessible by the tourist and sight-seer4 ,the palace proper is one of a group of buildings known as the ,alcazares1 which is surrounded by an embattled wall1 and includes several open spaces and numerous private dwellings4 ,immediately inside the wall are two squares called the ,patio de las ,banderas and ,patio de la ,monteria4 ,at the far end of the former is the office of the governor of the palace1 and to the right of this is an entrance whence a colonnaded passage called the ,apeadero leads straight through to the gardens1 or1 by turning to the right1 to the ,patio del ,leon4 ,on one side this latter square communicates with the ,patio de la ,monteria2 on the other side is the palace of the ,alcazar itself4 ,i hope this will make the rather puzzling topography of the place a little more intelligible4 ,whether or not the ,roman #8,arx' stood on this spot1 as tradition avers1 ,i cannot pretend to say4 ,but there is no room for doubt that a palace stood here in the days of the ,abbadite amirs1 and that this building was restored and remodelled by the ,almohades4 ,to outward seeming the ,alcazar is as ,moorish a monument as the ,alhambra4 ,in reality1 few traces remain of the palace raised by the ,moslem rulers of either dynasty1 and the present building was mainly the work of the ,castilian kings--especially of ,pedro the ,cruel4 ,but though built under and for a ,christian monarch1 it is practically certain that the architects were ,moors and good ,moslems1 and that their instructions and intentions were to build a ,moorish palace4 ,historically1 you may say1 the ,alcazar is a ,christian work2 artistically1 ,mohammedan4 ,the actual palace occupies only a small part of the site of the older structures1 and incorporates but a few fragments of their fabrics4 ,since ,pedro the ,cruel's day1 so many sovereigns have restored1 remodelled1 and added to the building1 that it is far from being homogeneous1 though we can hardly agree with ,contreras that it is #8far from being a monument of ,oriental art4' ,pedro built more than one palace1 or1 more correctly1 two or three wings of the same palace1 in this enclosure4 ,traces of his ,stucco ,palace 7,palacio del ,yeso7 remain4 ,pedro looms very large in the history of ,seville4 ,he plays the same part here as ,harn-al-,rashid in the story of ,bagdad4 ,he was fond of the ,moors1 and affected their costumes and customs4 ,he also favoured the ,jews1 and was alleged by his enemies to be the changeling child of a ,jewess4 ,his treasurer and trusted adviser was an ,israelite named ,simuel ,ben ,levi4 ,he served the king long and faithfully1 till one day it was whispered that half the wealth that should fill the royal coffers had been diverted into his own4 ,ben ,levi was seized without warning and placed on the rack1 whereupon he expired1 not of pain1 but of sheer indignation4 ,under his house--so the story goes--was found a cavern in which were three piles of gold and silver1 twice as high as a man4 ,pedro on beholding these was much affected4 #8,had ,simuel surrendered a third of the least of these piles1' he exclaimed1 #8he should have gone free4 ,why would he rather die than speak8' ,stories innumerable are told of this king1 a good many1 no doubt1 being pure inventions4 ,there is no reason to question the account of his treatment of ,abu ,sad1 the ,moorish ,sultan of ,granada4 ,this prince had usurped his throne1 and being solicitous of ,pedro's alliance1 came to visit him at the ,alcazar with a magnificent retinue4 ,the costliest presents were offered to the ,castilian king1 whose heart1 however1 was bent on possessing the superb ruby in the regalia of his guest4 ,before many hours had passed1 the ,moors were seized in their apartments and stripped of their raiment and valuables4 ,abu ,sad1 ridiculously tricked out1 was mounted on a donkey1 and with thirty-six of his courtiers1 hurried to a field outside the town1 where they were bound to posts4 ,a train of horsemen appeared1 ,don ,pedro at their head1 and transfixed the helpless men with darts1 the king shouting1 as he hurled his missiles at his luckless guest3 #8,this for the treaty you made me conclude with ,aragon6 ,this for the castle you took from me6' ,the ruby which had been the cause of the ,moor's death was presented by his murderer to the ,black ,prince1 and now adorns the crown of ,england4 ,nor did ,pedro confine his fury to the sterner sex4 ,doa ,urraca ,osorio1 because her son was concerned in ,don ,enrique's uprising1 was burned at the stake on the ,alameda4 ,her faithful servant1 ,leonor ,dvalos1 seeing that the flames had consumed her mistress's clothing1 threw herself into the pyre to cover her nakedness1 and was likewise burnt to ashes4 ,having conceived a passion for ,doa ,maria ,coronel1 the king caused the husband to be executed in the ,torre del ,oro4 ,the widow1 far from yielding to his entreaties and threats1 took the veil and destroyed her beauty by means of vitriol4 ,pedro at once transferred his attentions to her sister1 ,doa ,aldonza1 and met with more success4 ,if a chronicler is to be believed1 he threw his brother ,enrique's young daughter naked to the lions1 like some ,christian virgin martyr4 ,the generous 7or possibly overfed7 brutes refused the proffered prey1 and the whimsical tyrant ever afterwards treated the maiden kindly4 ,in memory of her experience1 she was known as #8,leonor de los ,leones4' ,crossing the ,plaza del ,triunfo1 which lies between the ,cathedral and the old ,moorish walls1 we enter the ,patio de las ,banderas1 so called either because a flag was hoisted here when the royal family was in residence1 or on account of the trophy1 composed of the arms of ,spain with crossed flags1 displayed over one of the arches4 ,pedro was accustomed to administer justice1 tempered with ferocity1 after the ,oriental fashion1 seated on a stone bench in a corner of this square4 ,the surrounding private houses occupy the site of the old ,palace of the ,almohades1 and one of the halls--the ,sala de ,justicia--is still visible4 ,it is entered from the ,patio de la ,monteria4 ,contreras assigns an earlier date to this room even than the advent of ,almohades4 ,it is square1 and measures nine metres across4 ,the stucco ceiling is adorned with stars and wreaths1 and bordered by a painted frieze4 ,the decorations consist chiefly of inscriptions in ,cufic characters4 ,the right-angled apertures in the walls were closed either by screens of translucent stucco or by tapestries1 #8which must1' says ,gestoso y ,perez1 #8have made the hall appear a miracle of wealth and splendour4' ,it was in this hall1 often overlooked by visitors1 that ,don ,pedro overheard four judges discussing the division of a bribe they had received4 ,the question was abruptly solved by the division of the disputants' heads and bodies4 ,thanks to its isolation1 the ,sala de ,justicia escaped the dreadful #8restoration' effected in the middle of the nineteenth century by the ,duc de ,montpensier4 ,the house ,no4 #c1 ,patio de las ,banderas1 formed part1 in the opinion of ,gestoso y ,perez1 of the ,palacio del ,yeso1 or ,stucco ,palace1 of ,don ,pedro4 ,passing through the colonnaded ,apeadero1 built by ,philip ,,iii4 in #afjg1 and once used as an armoury1 we reach the ,patio del ,leon1 where tournaments used to be held1 and stand in front of the ,palace of the ,alcazar4 ,the faade is gorgeous yet elegant1 of a gaudiness that in this brilliant city of golden sunshine and white walls is not obtrusive4 ,yet1 despite the ,moorish character of the decoration1 the ,arabic capitals and pilasters1 and the square entrance #8in the ,persian style1' the front is not that of an eastern palace2 and it is without surprise that we read over the portal1 in quaint ,gothic characters1 the legend3 #8,the most high1 the most noble1 the most powerful1 and the most victorious ,don ,pedro1 commanded these ,palaces1 these ,alcazares1 and these entrances to be made in the year 7of ,csar7 #adjb' 7#acfd74 ,elsewhere on the faade are the oft-repeated ,cufic inscriptions3 #8,there is no conqueror but ,allah1' #8,glory to our lord the ,sultan' 7,don ,pedro71 #8,eternal glory to ,allah1' etc41 etc4 ,this is a very different entrance from that of the ,alhambra1 the building on the model of which the ,alcazar was undoubtedly planned4 ,from the entrance a passage leads from your left to one extremity of the ,patio de las ,doncellas1 the central and principal court of the palace4 ,how this patio came to be so named ,i have never been able to ascertain4 ,there is an absurd story to the effect that here were collected the girls fabled to have been sent by way of annual tribute by ,mauregato to the ,khalifa4 ,had such a transaction taken place1 the tribute would have been payable1 of course1 at ,cordova1 not at ,seville4 ,moreover this court was among the works executed in the fourteenth century4 ,the ,alcazar strikes us 7if we have come from ,granada7 as being on a much smaller scale than the ,alhambra4 ,it is very much better preserved1 as it should be1 seeing that it is a century younger2 and if it vaguely strikes one as being fitter for the abode of a court favourite than of a monarch1 it impresses one as being fresher1 more elegant--in a word1 more artistic--than the older building4 ,the ,patio de las ,doncellas is an oblong1 and surrounded by an arcade of pointed and dentated arches which spring from the capitals of white marble columns placed in pairs4 ,the middle arch on each side is higher than the others1 and springs from oblong imposts resting on the twin columns and flanked by the miniature pillars characteristic of the ,grenadine architecture4 ,the spandrels are beautifully adorned with stucco work of the trellis pattern4 ,on the frieze above runs a flowing scroll with ,arabic inscriptions1 among them being #8,glory to our lord1 the ,sultan ,don ,pedro1' and this very remarkable text3 #8,there is but one ,god2 ,he is eternal2 ,he was not begotten and has never begotten1 and ,he has no equal4' ,this inscription1 opposed to the tenets of ,christianity1 was evidently designed by a ,moslem artificer1 who relied 7and safely relied7 on the ignorance of his employers4 ,the frieze is decorated also1 at intervals1 by the escutcheons of ,don ,pedro and of ,ferdinand and ,isabella1 and by the well-known devices of ,charles ,v41 the ,pillars of ,hercules with the motto #8,plus ,oultre4' ,the inside of the arcade is ornamented with a high dado of glazed tile mosaic 7azulejo71 brilliantly coloured1 and with the highly prized metallic glint4 ,the combinations and variations of the designs are very ingenious and interesting4 ,this decoration probably dates from ,don ,pedro's time4 ,behind each central arch is a round-arched doorway1 flanked by twin windows4 ,these are framed in rich conventional ornamental work4 ,through little oblong windows above the doors light falls and illumines the ceilings of the apartments opening into the court4 ,the ceiling of the arcade dates from the reign of ,ferdinand and ,isabella1 but was restored in #ahef4 ,a deep cornice marks the division of the lower part of the court from the upper story1 the front of which1 with its white marble arches1 columns and balustrades1 was the work of ,don ,luis de ,vega1 a sixteenth-century architect4 ,three recesses in the wall to the left of the entrance are pointed out as the audience closets of ,king ,pedro2 but they are much more likely to be walled-up entrances to formerly existing corridors and chambers behind4 ,the door facing this wall gives access to the ,hall of the ,ambassadors 7,salon de los ,embajadores71 the finest apartment in this fairy palace4 ,the doors are magnificent examples of inlay work1 and were1 according to the inscription on them1 made by ,moorish carpenters from ,toledo in the year #acfd4 ,the hall is about thirty-three feet square1 and exhibits a splendid combination of the various styles with the ,gothic and ,renaissance4 ,the ornamentation is rich and elaborate almost beyond the possibility of description4 ,the magnificent #8half-orange' ceiling of carved wood rests on a frieze decorated with the ,tower and ,lion4 ,then come ,cufic inscriptions on a blue ground and ugly female heads of the sixteenth century4 ,then1 below another band of decoration1 is a row of fifty-six busts of the ,kings of ,spain1 from ,receswinto the ,goth to ,philip ,,iii4 ,these date1 at earliest1 from the sixteenth century4 ,the wrought-iron balconies were made by ,francisco ,lopez in #aeib4 ,the decoration of this splendid chamber is completed by a high dado of blue1 white1 and green #8azulejos4' ,it was in this hall that ,abu ,sad is said to have been received by his treacherous host4 ,the ,hall of the ,ambassadors communicates on each side with the patio and adjoining halls by entrances composed of three horseshoe arches1 supported by graceful pillars and enclosed in a circular arch4 ,through the arch facing the entrance from the patio we pass into a long narrow apartment1 known as the ,comedor1 where the late ,comtesse de ,paris was born in #ahdh4 ,to the north of the salon is a small square chamber1 called the #8,cuarto del ,techo de ,felipe ,segundo1' with a coffered ceiling dating from the time of that king4 ,north of this room is the exquisite little ,patio de las ,muecas 7,court of the ,dolls7 purely ,grenadine in treatment4 ,the rounded arches are separated by cylindrical pillars--,i call them so for want of a better word--which rest on slender columns of different colours1 reminding one of the early or ,cordovan style4 ,the capitals are rich1 the pillars they uphold decorated with vertical lines of ,cufic inscriptions1 many of which1 says ,contreras1 are placed upside down4 ,the walls and spandrels are tastefully adorned with stucco work of the trellis pattern1 tiling and mosaic4 ,this court1 though still harmonious and beautiful1 suffered rather than benefited by its restoration in #ahdc2 but the architecture has been not unsuccessfully reproduced in the upper story4 ,this charming spot is by no means suggestive of deeds of blood and violence2 yet1 just as they point out the ,salon de los ,embajadores as the scene of the arrest of the ,red ,sultan by ,don ,pedro1 so here do the guides place the scene of the murder of ,don ,fadrique by the truculent monarch--a fratricide to be avenged by another fratricide at ,montiel4 ,the ,master of ,santiago1 to give the ,don his usual title1 after a successful campaign in ,murcia1 had been graciously received by his brother the king1 and presently went to pay his respects in another part of the palace to the royal favourite1 ,maria de ,padilla4 ,it is said that she warned him of his impending fate2 perhaps by her manner1 if not by words1 she tried to arouse in him a sense of danger1 but the soldier prince returned to the king's presence4 ,with a shout1 ,pedro gave the fatal signal4 #8,kill the ,master of ,santiago6' he cried4 ,guards fell upon the prince4 ,his sword was entangled in his scarf1 and he was butchered without mercy4 ,his retainers fled in all directions1 pursued by ,pedro's guards4 ,one took refuge in ,maria de ,padilla's own apartment1 and tried to screen himself by holding her little daughter1 ,doa ,beatriz1 before him4 ,pedro tore the child away1 and dispatched the unfortunate man with his own hand4 ,the murder took place on ,may #ai1 #aceh4 ,to the west of the court is a little room1 elegantly decorated1 and named after the ,catholic ,sovereigns1 by whom it was restored4 ,their well-known devices appear1 together with the ,towers and ,lions1 among the decorations1 which reveal the influence of the plateresque style4 ,the north side of the patio is occupied by the ,cuarto de los ,principes1 not to be confounded with a similarly named apartment on the floor above4 ,at either end of this room is an arch1 adorned with stucco work1 admitting to a cabinet or alcove4 ,that to the right has a fine artesonado ceiling1 and that to the left is decorated in a species of ,moorish plateresque style4 ,an inscription states that the frieze was made in the year #aedc by ,juan de ,simancas1 master carpenter4 ,east of the ,patio de las ,muecas1 and occupying the north side of the ,patio de las ,doncellas1 is the long room called the ,dormitorio de los ,reyes ,moros4 ,all the apartments in the ,alcazar are fancifully named1 but the designation of none is quite so stupid and misleading as this4 ,the columns of the twin windows on either side of the door appear to date from the time of the ,khalifate4 ,the doors themselves are richly inlaid and painted with geometrical patterns4 ,the three horseshoe arches leading to the al hami1 or alcove1 also seem to belong to the early period of ,spanish-,arabic art4 ,the room is so richly decorated that scarce a handbreadth of the surface is free from ornament4 ,on the opposite side of the central court is the sumptuous ,salon de ,carlos ,v41 the ceiling of which was constructed by order of the emperor1 and is adorned with classical heads4 ,the tile and stucco work is the finest in the palace4 ,there is a legend to the effect that ,st4 ,ferdinand died in this room--on his knees1 with a cord round his neck and a taper in his hand--but it is unlikely that this part of the palace existed in his time4 ,the guide pointed out the room to the west of this salon as the chamber of ,maria de ,padilla1 but this again is1 to put it mildly1 doubtful4 ,the upper chambers of the ,alcazar1 which are not accessible to the general public1 are very handsome4 ,the floor overlooking the ,patio del ,leon is occupied by the ,sala del ,principe1 with its beautiful spring windows1 polychrome tiling1 and columns brought from the old ,moorish ,palace at ,valencia4 ,adjacent is the ,oratory1 built by order of ,ferdinand and ,isabella in #aejd4 ,the tile work is of extraordinary beauty1 and shows that the ,moors had not a monopoly of talent in this kind of decoration4 ,the fine ,visitation over the altar is signed by ,francesco ,nicoloso the ,italian4 ,on the same floor is the reputed bed-chamber of ,don ,pedro4 ,over the door may be seen four death's-heads1 and over another entrance the curious figure of a man who looks back over his shoulder at a grinning skull4 ,these gruesome designs commemorate the summary execution by the king of four judges whom he overheard discussing the division of a bribe4 ,the royal apartments on this floor contain some precious works of art2 but ,i abstain from mentioning the most remarkable of these1 as pictures are so often transferred in ,spain from one royal residence to another that such indications are often out of date before they are printed4 ,the gardens are really the most pleasing spot within the ,alcazares4 ,they form a delicious pleasaunce1 where the orange and citron diffuse their fragrance1 and magic fountains spring up suddenly beneath the passenger's feet1 sprinkling him with a cooling dew4 ,i noticed some flower beds shaped like curiously formed crosses1 which the gardener told me were the crosses of the orders of ,calatrava1 ,santiago1 ,alcantara1 and ,montesa4 ,you are also shown the baths of ,maria de ,padilla1 which are approached through a gloomy arched entrance4 ,in the favourite's time they had no other roof than the sky1 and no further protection from prying eyes than that afforded by a screen of orange and lemon trees4 ,in ,mohammedan times the baths were probably used by the ladies of the harem4 ,the ,alcazar1 ,i think1 disappoints most foreigners4 ,the architectural and decorative work of the ,spanish ,moors and their descendants pleases people quite inexperienced in the arts by its mere prettiness1 its brilliance1 its originality1 and its colour2 and it delights still more those who are able to appreciate its marvellous combinations of geometrical forms1 its exquisite epigraphy1 and all its subtle details4 ,but the average traveller stands between these two classes of observers4 ,he looks for grandeur where he should expect only beauty1 and his eye is wearied by the wealth of conventional ornamentation4 ,what ,i think is conspicuously lacking in the ,alcazar1 and to a much less extent in the ,alhambra1 is atmosphere4 ,memories do not haunt you in these gilded halls4 ,there is nothing about them to suggest that anything ever happened here4 ,the legends tell us the contrary2 but assuredly no one was ever less successful in impressing his personality on his abode than were the founders and inhabitants of the ,alcazar4 ,,vii ,,royal ,,palace ,,madrid ,the ,palacio ,real1 which towers high above the #8most noble1 loyal1 imperial1 crowned and heroic city' of ,madrid1 dominating the bleak table-land1 and reflecting in the rays of southern sunshine the gleaming whiteness of the distant1 snow-capped ,guadarramas1 occupies a site which has been royal since the eleventh century4 ,in #adff an earthquake partially destroyed the ,moorish ,alcazar1 and on the ruins ,henry ,,iv4 constructed a palace of medival splendour1 which was enlarged by ,charles ,v41 embellished by ,philip ,,ii4 and completed by ,philip ,,iii41 who added a faade--the joint work of ,toledos1 ,herrera1 ,moras1 ,luis and ,gaspar de ,vega--which was acclaimed as a masterpiece of architecture4 ,in the time of ,philip ,,ii41 the palace is described as having five hundred rooms4 ,on the ground-floor was the grand reception-room1 an apartment #agj feet long1 in which the ten state councillors held their meetings4 ,behind the tapestry hangings the walls were lined with marble1 and guards were stationed at the outer and inner portals4 ,there was a theatre in the building1 in which some of the great comedies of ,philip's reign were first produced1 and in an adjoining saloon was held1 in #afbb1 the famous ,poetic ,tournament of which ,lope de ,vega has left us such a sprightly account4 ,the rooms were hung with the richest ,flemish tapestries1 the picture gallery was filled with priceless works of art1 and the treasury of the king's1 the ,guarda ,joyas--that store of untold gold and silver1 of jewels and precious stones--was contained in a carefully guarded suite of apartments4 ,gil ,gonzalez ,davila in his ,teatro de las ,grandezas de ,madrid tells us that included in the royal treasure were a diamond valued at #bjj1jjj ducats1 a pearl as large as a nut--which is impressive but indefinite--called ,la ,huerfana 7the ,orphan71 because of its unique size1 and a golden lily1 which was recovered from the ,french by ,charles ,v41 who made its return a condition in the agreement by which they obtained the deliverance of ,francis ,i4 ,a maze of subterranean passages was constructed beneath the old palace1 some of which exist beneath the present building4 ,on ,christmas night1 #agcd1 the ,royal ,palace of the ,alcazar was on fire1 and the building and all its treasures were utterly destroyed4 ,this disaster afforded ,philip ,v4 the opportunity to display his powers as a master builder4 ,he had already created the ,palace of ,san ,ildefonso at ,la ,granja1 he had rebuilt the palace at ,aranjuez1 he had tinkered at the ,alcazar at ,seville4 ,now he would create a marble monument that should surpass the magnitude and magnificence of ,philip the ,second's ,escorial and outstrip in splendour the ,versailles palace of ,louis ,,xiv4 ,such a work was beyond the art of the followers of ,churriguera3 he sent to the ,court of ,turin for the ,abb ,felipe de ,juvara1 the ,sicilian1 and confided to him the scheme of the palace that he would raise on the heights of ,san ,bernardino4 ,it was to be a square edifice of the composite order1 having four faades1 each #agjj feet long1 it was to contain twenty-three courts1 approached by thirty-four entrances from the exterior1 and be completed with gardens1 churches1 public offices1 and a theatre4 ,it was to be a collection of palaces under one roof1 and the colossal model of the building1 which is preserved in the ,galeria ,topografica of the ,madrid ,museum1 conveys some idea of the marvel of architecture which the king and his designer had conceived between them4 ,but the palace on the ,san ,bernardino hill was never begun4 ,the ruling ambition of the masterful ,elizabeth ,farnese was to advance the interests of her children1 and she begrudged the expense which the colossal building would entail4 ,she raised so many difficulties and delayed so long the adoption of the plans that ,juvara died of hope deferred1 and ,giovanoni ,battista ,saccheti came from ,turin to carry on the work4 ,the queen by this time had exhausted ,philip's resistance to her will1 and ,sacchetti's less pretentious design1 traced among the still smouldering ruins of the ancient ,alcazar1 was adopted on #gth ,april #agcg4 ,a year later the first stone of the present palace was laid4 ,the foundation-stone bore a commemorative description and enclosed a leaden casket1 containing gold1 silver1 and copper coins from the mints of ,madrid1 ,seville1 ,mexico1 and ,peru4 ,the work of ensuring the solidity of the foundations by moulding them into the western slope of the hill cost an enormous sum of money1 entailed an immense amount of labour1 and occupied a proportionately extensive period of time4 ,in #ahjh the palace had cost #ge1jjj1jjj pesetas1 and the subsequent alterations1 which included the enclosing of the ,campo del ,moro with a wall and gilded railing1 brought up the sum total to the enormous sum of over #ajj1jjj1jjj pesetas4 ,philip died in #agdf1 long before the palace he had projected was near completion4 ,the work went on through the thirteen years' reign of ,philip ,,vi41 and when ,charles ,,iii4 came to ,madrid in #agei he recognised that unless the rate of progress was accelerated he would have to occupy the building at the ,buen ,retiro for the rest of his life4 ,under his resolute authority the work was pushed on with more vigour1 and it was ready for his occupation on #ast ,december #agfd4 ,it had taken over a quarter of a century to build1 it had cost ,spain three millions sterling1 but it gained the place that ,philip ,v4 anticipated for it among the palaces of the world4 ,it has been said1 and the statement is but slightly exaggerated1 that our own ,buckingham ,palace looks shabby and insignificant beside this vast pile of shimmering1 white masonry1 this truly royal residence1 this unique museum1 which contains every variety of art treasures4 ,the architecture selected is the unpoetical but imposing style of the late ,renaissance1 and the regularity of the exterior is redeemed from monotony by ,ionic columns1 pilasters1 and balconies4 ,the massive building1 #ejj feet square and #ajj feet in height1 forms a huge quadrangle1 enclosing a court1 while two projecting wings form the ,plaza de ,armas4 ,the base of the building1 which is composed of three stories above the ground-floor1 is of granite1 and the upper portion is of the beautiful white stone of ,colmenar1 which gleams like marble4 ,the lower portion is plain1 massive1 and severe1 and the appearance of the third story is marred by the square port-holes of the entre-selos4 ,a wide cornice runs round the top1 and above it a stone balustrade1 on the pedestals of which stand rococo vases4 ,in accordance with the first plans of the palace1 the whole of this balustrade was surmounted by statues1 but these were removed on account of their great weight1 and are now scattered all over ,madrid4 ,the principal entrance is in the south faade1 but the palace is approached by five other grand entrances4 ,the east side1 which faces on to the ,plaza de ,oriente1 is called #8del ,principe1' from the fact that at one time it was always used by the royal family4 ,on the eastern and southern sides the height of the edifice is more than doubled by reason of the uneven ground where it falls away to the river4 ,the northern side faces the ,guadarrama mountains1 from which the icy winter blasts have frozen to death many unfortunate sentries on guard at the ,puerta del ,diamante4 ,the main southern entrance leads into a huge patio1 some #bdj feet square1 surrounded by an open portico1 composed of thirty-six arches1 surmounted by another row of arches1 forming a gallery with glass windows4 ,in this court are four large statues of ,trajan1 ,hadrian1 ,honorius1 and ,theodosius1 the four ,roman emperors who were natives of ,spain4 ,the upper vaulting is decorated with allegorical frescoes1 the work of ,corrado ,giaquinto1 representing the ,spanish monarchy offering homage to religion4 ,the famous ,grand ,staircase1 with its three flights of black and white marble steps1--each step a single slab of marble--and its celebrated lions1 lead out of this court4 ,napoleon ,bonaparte is reported to have said to his brother ,joseph as the intrusive king made his first ascent of this superb staircase1 #8,vous serez mieux log que moi4' ,during the same historic tour of the palace the emperor laid his hand on one of the silver lions in the throne-room1 and remarked to his brother1 #8,je la tiens enfin1 cette ,espagne si dsire4' ,the ground area of the palace is divided into thirty salons1 magnificently furnished and adorned with a profusion of precious marbles and fresco paintings by ,ribera1 ,gonzalez1 ,velazquez1 ,maella1 ,mengs1 ,bayeu1 and ,lopez4 ,it would be going outside the province of this sketch to describe each apartment in detail1 but special reference must be made to the ,hall of ,ambassadors4 ,this magnificent apartment1 the largest and richest in the ,palace1 occupies the centre of the principal faade1 in which it has five balconies4 ,the whole apartment glows with rich colouring1 and scintillates with a lavish display of precious metals4 ,the rock-crystal chandeliers1 colossal looking-glasses cast at ,san ,ildefonso1 the marble tables1 the crimson1 and the gilding compose a spectacle of royal magnificence4 ,here is the splendid throne of silver1 made for the husband of ,mary of ,england1 and mounting guard on either side are the huge lions of the same metal4 ,the ceiling1 painted by ,juan ,bautista ,tipolo1 represents the ,spanish ,monarchy1 exalted by poetic beings1 accompanied by the ,virtues1 and surrounded by its dominions in both hemispheres4 ,on a throne1 at the sides of which are ,apollo and ,minerva1 the ,monarchy is majestically seated1 supported by the allegorical figures representing the science of ,government1 ,peace and ,justice and ,virtue4 ,another group1 on clouds1 is formed by ,abundance1 ,mercy1 and other figures4 ,a rainbow crosses the whole ceiling1 and between this and the great circle of clouds circled by angels covering is the ,monarchy4 ,in the same salon is an allegory in praise of ,charles ,,iii41 which is formed by ,magnanimity and ,glory1 ,affability and ,counsel4 ,faith1 enthroned on clouds1 has an altar of fire1 and is accompanied by ,hope1 ,charity1 ,prudence1 ,strength1 and ,victory2 and an angel carries a chain with a medal to reward the ,noble ,arts4 ,between the cornice ,tipolo displayed his masterly hand by delineating the provinces of the ,spanish ,monarchy4 ,roberto ,michel executed in the angles four gilded medallions1 representing ,water and ,spring1 ,air and ,summer1 ,fire and ,autumn1 and ,earth and ,winter4 ,over the doors are two ovals1 one representing ,abundance1 and the other ,merit and ,virtue4 ,all the walls of this regal hall are covered with crimson velvet bordered with gold4 ,on the right is the statue of ,prudence1 on the left that of ,justice1 and in the two angles traced by the steps are four gilded bronze lions4 ,before the superb mirrors in this apartment are costly tables1 and on these marble busts and other no less beautiful objects1 the whole constituting the most beautiful room in the palace1 and one of the first in ,europe4 ,in these salons is the wonderful collection of ,french clocks which amused the unproductive leisure of ,ferdinand ,,vii41 who spent his time in a profitless endeavour to make them chime simultaneously4 ,the glorious pictures1 now in the ,prado1 that once adorned these walls were removed by ,ferdinand ,,vii4 to make room for his beloved silk hangings4 ,at his death vaults and store-rooms were emptied of a forgotten accumulation of fine old furniture1 and much portable treasure was removed from the palace4 ,much of this has vanished beyond recovery1 but during the redecoration of the building for the reception of the king's bride1 ,alfonso ,,xiii4 was successful in recovering a number of splendid bronzes1 clocks1 and porcelain vases1 which now adorn the principal apartments4 ,the ,guard ,room1 occupied by the ,royal ,halberdiers1 is at the head of the ,royal ,staircase1 and opens into the enormous ,hall of ,columns4 ,the columns which support the corner medallions are similar to those on the staircase1 and the ceiling is painted by ,conrado ,giaquinto4 ,the paving is of variegated marbles2 the only decorations of the apartments are its medallions1 its cornices of trophies1 and its four great allegorical figures4 ,for its impressiveness the room depends solely on its architectural merits and its simplicity1 and forms a striking contrast to the other salons of the palace with their superb tapestries1 upholstered furniture1 brocades1 and ornaments4 ,the ,banqueting ,hall is of magnificent proportions1 and the ,ball ,room1 to the splendour of which all the arts and manufactures appear to have contributed1 is the largest in ,europe4 ,the ,chinese ,room1 the ,charles ,,iii4 ,room1 hung with blue brocade starred with silver1 and the ,giardini ,room1 which is upholstered in ivory satin1 embroidered in gold and coloured flowers1 and roofed with porcelain from the ,buen ,retiro factory1 are among the many marvels of this marvellous palace4 ,the ,royal ,chapel1 which was depleted in #ahjh by ,general ,belliard1 who carried off the pictures painted for ,philip ,,ii4 by ,michael ,coxis1 is still splendid in its profusion of rich marbles1 gilt1 and stucco1 and its beautiful ceiling painted by ,giaquinto4 ,many of the exquisite altar-cloths and vestments were embroidered by ,queen ,cristina4 ,here also is an immensely valuable collection of fine ecclesiastical objects2 and here at ,epiphany1 ,easter1 and ,corpus ,christi the galleries leading from the royal chapel are hung with the magnificent and unique tapestries which belong to the crown of ,spain4 ,the private library of his ,majesty is on the ground-floor of the palace4 ,it was formed by ,philip ,v4 about #agad1 and has since been increased by the acquisition of several notable collections1 including those of the dean of ,teruel1 ,counts ,mansilla and ,gondomar1 and ,judge ,bruna of ,seville4 ,the manuscripts are for the most part from the extinct colleges4 ,the king's library1 which occupies ten rooms and two passages1 is composed of eighty thousand volumes in magnificent mahogany cases with beautiful glass from ,la ,granja4 ,books issued prior to the sixteenth century1 beautiful copies on vellum1 very rare editions by ,spanish printers1 and rich bindings1 make this library one of the most important in ,europe4 ,among the illustrated missals is a prayer-book said to have belonged to ,ferdinand and ,isabella or their daughter1 ,juana la ,loca1 whose portrait it contains4 ,the building is adorned with exquisite ornaments and the arms of ,leon and ,castile in enamel4 ,the correspondence of ,gondomar1 the ,spanish ambassador in ,london during the reign of ,james ,i41 is also to be seen here4 ,the general ,archive of the crown of ,spain was created in virtue of a royal decree of ,ferdinand ,,vii41 dated ,may #bb1 #ahad4 ,the organisation and classification of all the documents since the reign of ,charles ,i4 until that of ,isabella ,,ii4 were based on chronology2 but ,alfonso ,,xii4 thought the classification of subjects more scientific1 and the ,keeper of the ,archives has1 since #ahgf1 had the whole of the documents divided into four large sections1 namely1 administrative1 juridical1 historical1 and according to their sources4 ,this ,archive also has a reference library composed of seven hundred volumes4 ,at present the ,archive of the ,crown consists of thirty rooms1 containing nearly ten thousand bundles of papers and two thousand volumes4 ,the administrative documents date from #adgi2 the juridical ones from #aeih2 the historical from #aeeh2 there being also some property deeds dating from the eleventh century relating to the celebrated monastery of ,el ,escorial1 founded by ,philip ,,ii41 which from the paleographic point of view1 and even from the historical1 are of great interest4 ,the ,royal ,pharmacy1 situated in the part of the palace known as ,los ,arcos ,nuevos 7the ,new ,arches71 has an origin which is closely bound up with the history of national pharmacy4 ,in the beginning of the pharmaceutical profession1 when it became a faculty1 the ,royal ,pharmacy was the centre of the profession in all its phases4 ,it contains a rich collection of utensils of all periods1 curious examples of pharmaceutical materials used in olden times1 and a well-filled library1 consisting of more than two thousand five hundred volumes4 ,the stables of the ancient ,alcazar were situated in the space now occupied by the large ,armoury ,court2 those of the present palace were built in the reign of ,charles ,,iii41 in accordance with the plans and under the direction of the notable architect1 ,francisco ,sabatini4 ,the plan of the edifice is an irregular polygon1 the longest side of which1 at the ,cuesta de ,san ,vicente1 is nearly #gjj feet in length4 ,the principal faade is in the ,calle ,bailen1 and is adorned by a simple granite portal1 over which are the royal arms4 ,this door leads to a fine court surrounded by arches1 and on the west side is a small chapel1 dedicated to ,st4 ,anthony1 ,abbot4 ,the principal part of these buildings consists in the large and magnificent galleries1 sustained by double rows of pillars1 which constitute the stables4 ,these consist of a spacious stable for the horses used by royalty4 ,there is another stable for ,spanish horses1 another for foreign horses and mares1 and yet another for mules4 ,more than three hundred animals can be accommodated in the stables4 ,there are at present one hundred saddle-horses1 all of which1 with the exception of sixty foreign animals1 come from the royal stud at ,aranjuez4 ,the general harness-room is a large nave1 consisting of three halls4 ,preserved in many cases are the magnificent sets of harness and saddles1 the liveries of footmen and coachmen1 crests1 fly-traps1 whips and ancient horse-cloths1 bridles1 and other curiosities4 ,the ,royal ,riding ,school is built on one of the esplanades facing the ,campo del ,moro4 ,in order to form some idea of the size of the edifice1 it may be mentioned that1 besides the coach-houses1 stables1 harness-rooms1 etc41 there are apartments for the accommodation of the six hundred and thirty-seven people and their families who are employed in this department of the palace4 ,the ,royal ,coach-house is situated in the ,campo del ,moro4 ,its plan is a rectangular parallelogram1 the longest sides of which are #bgh feet in length1 and the shortest #aja feet4 ,this great coach-house was built in the time of ,ferdinand ,,vii41 after the design and under the direction of the architect ,custodio ,moreno1 who gave to the exterior a simple and severe appearance4 ,in this department are twenty splendid ,state carriages1 which are only used on special occasions1 among them being that of ,juana the ,mad1 restored a few years since1 and one hundred and twenty-one carriages of all kinds and shapes for daily use4 ,kings of three dynasties have made their homes in the ,royal ,palace of ,madrid since the nineteenth century brought in with it so much havoc and disruption to ,spain4 ,the ,bourbons1 ,joseph ,buonaparte1 and ,amadeo of ,savoy1 each #8abode his hour or two and went his way1' and in #ahgc and #ahgd the palace windows looked out upon a city which for the first time since its foundation was the capital of a republic4 ,nearly all the culminating incidents in the stormy history which has been enacted in ,spain since the abdication of ,charles ,,iv4 occurred in the ,royal ,palace4 ,from this not too secure eminence ,ferdinand the ,desired saw his guards slaughtered by the frenzied mob4 #8,serve the fools right1' he exclaimed2 #8at all events ,i am inviolable4' ,but the king had a fit of terror when he found his palace was left without guards to protect it from the crowd1 and ,riego1 the man he hated1 was taken into favour1 in order that he might appease the populace4 ,through the terrible night of #gth ,october #ahda1 when ,generals ,concha and ,leon made their determined attempt to kidnap ,queen ,isabella and her little sister1 the ,infanta ,maria ,luisa1 the valiant eighteen halberdiers of the guard1 commanded by ,colonel ,dalee1 held the grand staircase of the palace against an army of revolutionists until the ,national ,militia arrived to relieve them4 ,truly that night the halberdiers wrote a magnificent page of fidelity in the records of the guards4 ,after a hopeless struggle to reduce ,spanish affairs into something like order1 ,amadeo of ,savoy issued from the ,royal ,palace his valedictory address to his people1 and on the following day1 #abth ,february #ahgc1 he left ,madrid1 as he had entered it1 a chevalier sans peur et sans reproche4 ,in the same palace ,alfonso ,,xiii4 was born and baptized1 from the palace he set out to the church of ,san ,jeronimo to be married to ,victoria ,eugnie of ,battenberg1 and here was born and baptized the ,prince of the ,asturias1 the heir to the throne of ,spain4 ,illustration3 ,,plate #a ,,escorial4 ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #b ,,escorial4 ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #c ,,escorial4 ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,palace 7,,east ,,side7 ,illustration3 ,,plate #d ,,escorial4 ,,north-,,west ,,angle ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #e ,,escorial4 ,,principal ,,fa,,ade ,,and ,,angle ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #f ,,escorial4 ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,principal ,,staircase ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #g ,,escorial4 ,,hall ,,of ,,ambassadors ,illustration3 ,,plate #h ,,escorial4 ,,reception ,,hall ,illustration3 ,,plate #i ,,escorial4 ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,dining ,,hall ,illustration3 ,,plate #aj ,,escorial4 ,,pompeian ,,hall ,illustration3 ,,plate #aa ,,escorial4 ,,library ,illustration3 ,,plate #ab ,,escorial4 ,,chapter ,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #ac ,,escorial4 8,,the ,,holy ,,family10 ,,by ,,raphael ,illustration3 ,,plate #ad ,,escorial4 8,,the ,,last ,,supper10 ,,by ,,titian ,illustration3 ,,plate #ae ,,escorial4 8,a ,,smoker10 ,,by ,,teniers ,illustration3 ,,plate #af ,,escorial4 8,,country ,,dance10 ,,by ,,goya ,illustration3 ,,plate #ag ,,escorial4 8,,children ,,picking ,,fruit10 ,,by ,,goya4 ,,tapestry ,illustration3 ,,plate #ah ,,escorial4 8,,the ,,grape-,,sellers10 ,,by ,,goya4 ,,tapestry ,illustration3 ,,plate #ai ,,escorial4 8,,the ,,china ,,merchant10 ,,by ,,goya4 ,,tapestry ,illustration3 ,,plate #bj 8,,the ,,story ,,of ,,the ,,passion40 ,,diptych1 ,,in ,,ivory1 ,,of ,,the ,,thirteenth ,,century 7,,from ,,the ,,camarin ,,of ,,st4 ,,theresa1 ,,escorial7 ,illustration3 ,,plate #ba ,,san ,,ildefonso1 ,,la ,,granja4 ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #bb ,,san ,,ildefonso1 ,,la ,,granja4 ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,,and ,,the ,,cascade ,illustration3 ,,plate #bc ,,san ,,ildefonso1 ,,la ,,granja4 ,,general ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #bd ,,san ,,ildefonso1 ,,la ,,granja4 ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,,and ,,fountain ,,of ,,fama ,illustration3 ,,plate #be ,,la ,,granja4 ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,,from ,,the ,,fountain ,,of ,,fama ,illustration3 ,,plate #bf ,,san ,,ildefonso1 ,,la ,,granja4 ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #bg ,,san ,,ildefonso4 ,,the ,,palace ,,in ,,perspective ,illustration3 ,,plate #bh ,,san ,,ildefonso1 ,,la ,,granja4 ,,entrance ,,to ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #bi ,,san ,,ildefonso1 ,,la ,,granja4 ,,general ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,collegiate ,,church ,,and ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #cj ,,environs ,,of ,,la ,,granja4 ,,palace ,,of ,,rio ,,frio ,illustration3 ,,plate #ca ,,san ,,ildefonso1 ,,la ,,granja4 ,,the ,,cascade ,illustration3 ,,plate #cb ,,la ,,granja4 ,,the ,,palace1 ,,and ,,fountain ,,of ,,fama ,illustration3 ,,plate #cc ,,la ,,granja4 ,,the ,,fountain ,,of ,,fama ,illustration3 ,,plate #cd ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,fama ,illustration3 ,,plate #ce ,,san ,,ildefonso1 ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,the ,,horse-,,race ,illustration3 ,,plate #cf ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,the ,,three ,,graces ,illustration3 ,,plate #cg ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,the ,,three ,,graces ,illustration3 ,,plate #ch ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,neptune ,illustration3 ,,plate #ci ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,neptune ,illustration3 ,,plate #dj ,,la ,,granja4 ,,part ,,of ,,the ,,fountain ,,of ,,neptune ,illustration3 ,,plate #da ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,neptune ,illustration3 ,,plate #db ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,the ,,baths ,,of ,,diana ,illustration3 ,,plate #dc ,,la ,,granja4 ,,the ,,fountain ,,of ,,dragons ,illustration3 ,,plate #dd ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,latona ,illustration3 ,,plate #de ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,eslo1 ,,or ,,of ,,the ,,winds ,illustration3 ,,plate #df ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,andromeda ,illustration3 ,,plate #dg ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,the ,,canastillo ,illustration3 ,,plate #dh ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,the ,,cup ,illustration3 ,,plate #di ,,la ,,granja4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,the ,,cup ,illustration3 ,,plate #ej ,,la ,,granja4 ,,mouth ,,of ,,the ,,asno1 ,,underground ,,river ,illustration3 ,,plate #ea ,,san ,,ildefonso4 ,,the ,,river ,illustration3 ,,plate #eb ,,la ,,granja4 ,,the ,,reservoir ,illustration3 ,,plate #ec ,,la ,,granja4 ,,the ,,reservoir ,illustration3 ,,plate #ed ,,la ,,granja4 ,,cascade ,,of ,,the ,,reservoir ,illustration3 ,,plate #ee ,,san ,,ildefonso4 ,,the ,,lake ,illustration3 ,,plate #ef ,,san ,,ildefonso4 ,,group ,,of ,,vases ,,in ,,the ,,parterre ,,of ,,andromeda ,illustration3 ,,plate #eg ,,san ,,ildefonso4 ,,three ,,vases ,,in ,,the ,,parterre ,,of ,,andromeda ,illustration3 ,,plate #eh ,,san ,,ildefonso4 ,,vase ,,in ,,the ,,parterre ,,de ,,la ,,fama ,illustration3 ,,plate #ei ,,san ,,ildefonso4 ,,vase ,,in ,,the ,,parterre ,,de ,,la ,,fama ,illustration3 ,,plate #fj ,,san ,,ildefonso4 ,,vase ,,in ,,the ,,parterre ,,de ,,la ,,fama ,illustration3 ,,plate #fa ,,san ,,ildefonso4 ,,vase ,,of ,,the ,,baths ,,of ,,diana ,illustration3 ,,plate #fb ,,san ,,ildefonso4 ,,vase ,,in ,,the ,,parterre ,,of ,,andromeda ,illustration3 ,,plate #fc ,,san ,,ildefonso4 ,,vase ,,in ,,the ,,parterre ,,of ,,andromeda ,illustration3 ,,plate #fd ,,san ,,ildefonso4 ,,vase ,,in ,,the ,,parterre ,,of ,,andromeda ,illustration3 ,,plate #fe ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,,from ,,the ,,grounds ,illustration3 ,,plate #ff ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #fg ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #fh ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #fi ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #gj ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,hall ,,of ,,ambassadors ,illustration3 ,,plate #ga ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,hall ,,of ,,ambassadors ,illustration3 ,,plate #gb ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,dining-,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #gc ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,an ,,ante-,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #gd ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,ante-,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #ge ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,private ,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #gf ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,private ,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #gg ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,proscenium ,,and ,,set-,,scene ,,of ,,the ,,royal ,,theatre ,illustration3 ,,plate #gh ,,el ,,pardo4 ,,royal ,,box ,,in ,,the ,,theatre ,illustration3 ,,plate #gi ,,el ,,pardo4 8,,caseta ,,del ,,principe0 ,illustration3 ,,plate #hj ,,aranjuez4 ,,principal ,,fa,,ade ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #ha ,,aranjuez4 ,,southern ,,fa,,ade ,,of ,,the ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #hb ,,aranjuez4 ,,the ,,royal ,,palace ,,from ,,the ,,parterre ,illustration3 ,,plate #hc ,,aranjuez4 ,,the ,,royal ,,palace ,,from ,,the ,,gardens ,illustration3 ,,plate #hd ,,aranjuez4 ,,the ,,royal ,,palace ,,and ,,the ,,suspension ,,bridge ,,over ,,the ,,tajo ,illustration3 ,,plate #he ,,aranjuez4 ,,the ,,grand ,,staircase ,illustration3 ,,plate #hf ,,aranjuez4 ,,porcelain ,,room1 ,,japanese ,,style ,illustration3 ,,plate #hg ,,aranjuez4 ,,detail ,,of ,,the ,,porcelain ,,room1 ,,japanese ,,style ,illustration3 ,,plate #hh ,,aranjuez4 ,,detail ,,of ,,the ,,porcelain ,,room1 ,,japanese ,,style ,illustration3 ,,plate #hi ,,aranjuez4 ,,detail ,,of ,,the ,,porcelain ,,room1 ,,japanese ,,style ,illustration3 ,,plate #ij ,,aranjuez4 ,,detail ,,of ,,the ,,porcelain ,,room1 ,,japanese ,,style ,illustration3 ,,plate #ia ,,aranjuez4 ,,la ,,casa ,,del ,,labrador ,illustration3 ,,plate #ib ,,aranjuez4 ,,convent ,,of ,,san ,,antonio ,illustration3 ,,plate #ic ,,aranjuez4 ,,entrance ,,to ,,the ,,gardens ,,of ,,the ,,island ,illustration3 ,,plate #id ,,aranjuez4 ,,fountain ,,in ,,the ,,plaza ,,de ,,san ,,antonio ,illustration3 ,,plate #ie ,,aranjuez4 ,,avenue ,,of ,,the ,,catholic ,,sovereigns1 ,,in ,,the ,,gardens ,,of ,,the ,,island ,illustration3 ,,plate #if ,,aranjuez4 ,,jupiter1 ,,bronze ,,group ,,in ,,the ,,gardens ,,of ,,the ,,island ,illustration3 ,,plate #ig ,,aranjuez4 ,,the ,,goddess ,,ceres1 ,,bronze ,,group ,,in ,,the ,,gardens ,,of ,,the ,,island ,illustration3 ,,plate #ih ,,aranjuez4 ,,the ,,goddess ,,juno1 ,,bronze ,,group ,,in ,,the ,,gardens ,,of ,,the ,,island ,illustration3 ,,plate #ii ,,aranjuez4 ,,pavilions ,,of ,,the ,,river1 ,,in ,,the ,,garden ,,of ,,the ,,prince ,illustration3 ,,plate #ajj ,,aranjuez4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,apollo1 ,,in ,,the ,,garden ,,of ,,the ,,prince ,illustration3 ,,plate #aja ,,aranjuez4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,ceres1 ,,in ,,the ,,garden ,,of ,,the ,,prince ,illustration3 ,,plate #ajb ,,aranjuez4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,narcissus1 ,,in ,,the ,,garden ,,of ,,the ,,prince ,illustration3 ,,plate #ajc ,,aranjuez4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,the ,,swan1 ,,in ,,the ,,garden ,,of ,,the ,,prince ,illustration3 ,,plate #ajd ,,aranjuez4 ,,general ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,tago ,,and ,,the ,,parterre ,illustration3 ,,plate #aje ,,aranjuez4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,hercules1 ,,in ,,the ,,gardens ,,of ,,the ,,island ,illustration3 ,,plate #ajf ,,aranjuez4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,hercules1 ,,in ,,the ,,gardens ,,of ,,the ,,island ,illustration3 ,,plate #ajg ,,aranjuez4 ,,fountain ,,of ,,apollo1 ,,in ,,the ,,gardens ,,of ,,the ,,island ,illustration3 ,,plate #ajh ,,miramar4 ,,side ,,view ,,of ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #aji ,,miramar4 ,,reception ,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #aaj ,,miramar4 ,,billiard ,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #aaa ,,seville4 ,,fa,,ade ,,of ,,the ,,alcazar ,illustration3 ,,plate #aab ,,seville4 ,,alcazar--,,gates ,,of ,,the ,,principal ,,entrance ,illustration3 ,,plate #aac ,,seville4 ,,interior ,,of ,,the ,,hall ,,of ,,ambassadors ,illustration3 ,,plate #aad ,,seville4 ,,interior ,,of ,,the ,,hall ,,of ,,ambassadors ,illustration3 ,,plate #aae ,,seville4 ,,interior ,,of ,,the ,,hall ,,of ,,ambassadors ,illustration3 ,,plate #aaf ,,seville4 ,,hall ,,of ,,ambassadors ,illustration3 ,,plate #aag ,,seville4 ,,hall ,,of ,,ambassadors ,illustration3 ,,plate #aah ,,seville4 ,,court ,,of ,,the ,,hundred ,,virgins ,illustration3 ,,plate #aai ,,seville4 ,,court ,,of ,,the ,,dolls ,illustration3 ,,plate #abj ,,seville4 ,,court ,,of ,,the ,,dolls1 ,,from ,,the ,,room ,,of ,,the ,,prince ,illustration3 ,,plate #aba ,,seville4 ,,court ,,of ,,the ,,dolls ,illustration3 ,,plate #abb ,,seville4 ,,court ,,of ,,the ,,dolls ,illustration3 ,,plate #abc ,,seville4 ,,court ,,of ,,the ,,dolls ,illustration3 ,,plate #abd ,,seville4 ,,upper ,,part ,,of ,,the ,,court ,,of ,,the ,,dolls ,illustration3 ,,plate #abe ,,seville4 ,,dormitory ,,of ,,the ,,moorish ,,kings ,illustration3 ,,plate #abf ,,seville4 ,,sleeping ,,saloon ,,of ,,the ,,moorish ,,kings ,illustration3 ,,plate #abg ,,seville4 ,,entrance ,,to ,,the ,,dormitory ,,of ,,the ,,moorish ,,kings ,illustration3 ,,plate #abh ,,seville4 ,,alcazar--,,view ,,of ,,the ,,gallery ,,from ,,the ,,second ,,floor ,illustration3 ,,plate #abi ,,seville4 ,,alcazar--,,hall ,,in ,,which ,,king ,,st4 ,,ferdinand ,,died ,illustration3 ,,plate #acj ,,seville4 ,,interior ,,of ,,the ,,hall ,,of ,,st4 ,,ferdinand ,illustration3 ,,plate #aca ,,seville4 ,,front ,,of ,,the ,,hall ,,of ,,st4 ,,ferdinand ,illustration3 ,,plate #acb ,,madrid4 ,,the ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #acc ,,madrid4 ,,the ,,royal ,,palace ,,from ,,the ,,plaza ,,de ,,oriente ,illustration3 ,,plate #acd ,,madrid4 ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #ace ,,madrid4 ,,principal ,,fa,,ade ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #acf ,,madrid4 ,,the ,,royal ,,palace ,,from ,,the ,,plaza ,,de ,,oriente ,illustration3 ,,plate #acg ,,madrid4 ,,the ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #ach ,,madrid4 ,,the ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #aci ,,madrid4 ,,palace ,,from ,,the ,,plaza ,,de ,,la ,,armeria ,illustration3 ,,plate #adj ,,madrid4 ,,the ,,grand ,,staircase ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #ada ,,madrid4 ,,principal ,,staircase ,,of ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #adb ,,madrid4 ,,grand ,,staircase ,,in ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #adc ,,madrid4 ,,the ,,grand ,,staircase ,illustration3 ,,plate #add ,,madrid4 ,,hall ,,of ,,columns ,illustration3 ,,plate #ade ,,madrid4 ,,general ,,view ,,of ,,the ,,throne ,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #adf ,,madrid4 ,,the ,,throne1 ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #adg ,,madrid4 ,,the ,,throne1 ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #adh ,,madrid4 ,,detail ,,of ,,throne ,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #adi ,,madrid4 ,,ceiling ,,of ,,the ,,throne ,,room1 ,,by ,,tiepolo ,illustration3 ,,plate #aej ,,madrid4 ,,ceiling ,,in ,,the ,,throne ,,room1 ,,by ,,tiepolo ,illustration3 ,,plate #aea ,,madrid4 ,,ceiling ,,of ,,the ,,throne ,,room1 ,,by ,,tiepolo ,illustration3 ,,plate #aeb ,,madrid4 ,,royal ,,palace4 ,,the ,,king',s ,,privy ,,council ,,chamber ,illustration3 ,,plate #aec ,,madrid4 ,,royal ,,palace4 ,,the ,,queen',s ,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #aed ,,madrid4 ,,the ,,music ,,room1 ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #aee ,,madrid4 ,,the ,,room ,,of ,,mirrors1 ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #aef ,,madrid4 ,,reception ,,room1 ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #aeg ,,madrid4 ,,bronze ,,urn ,,in ,,the ,,reception ,,room1 ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #aeh ,,madrid4 ,,room ,,of ,,charles ,,iii4 ,illustration3 ,,plate #aei ,,madrid4 ,,chinese ,,room ,,by ,,gasparini1 ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #afj ,,madrid4 ,,chinese ,,room ,,by ,,gasparini1 ,,royal ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #afa ,,madrid4 ,,porcelain ,,room ,,in ,,the ,,palace ,illustration3 ,,plate #afb ,,madrid4 ,,corner ,,of ,,the ,,porcelain ,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #afc ,,madrid4 ,,the ,,porcelain ,,room ,illustration3 ,,plate #afd ,,madrid1 ,,porcelain ,,group ,,in ,,the ,,buen ,,retiro