ading the Scriptures.
The workmanship on mitre and robe is as fine as the similar remarkable
work in Burgos, while the enclosing rail is a splendid example of the
blending of Gothic and Renaissance.

The glass in the apse windows is exceptionally rich and magnificently
brilliant in its coloring. It was executed by Alberto Holando, one of
the great Dutch glaziers of Burgos, who was given the entire contract in
1520 by Bishop Francisco Ruiz, a nephew of the great Cardinal Cisneros.

Such, in short, are the characteristics of the chevet of the Cathedral
of Avila, constructed in an age when its builders must have worked in a
spirit of hardy vigor with the trowel in one hand and the sword in the
other. As we see it to-day, it imparts a feeling of mystery, and its
oriental splendor is enhanced by the dim, religious light.

In entering the crossing, we step into the fullness of the Gothic
triumph. The vaults have been thrown into the sky to the height of 130
feet. It is early Gothic work, with its many errors and consequent
retracing of steps made in ignorance. The great arches that span the
crossing north and south had taken too bold a leap and subsequently
required the support of cross arches. The western windows and the great
roses at the end of the transepts, with early heavy traceries, proved
too daring and stone had to be substituted for glass in their apertures;
the long row of nave windows have likewise been filled with masonry.
Despite these and many similar penalties for rashness, the work is as
dignified as it is admirable. Of course the proportions are all small in
comparison with such later great Gothic churches as Leon and Burgos, the
nave and transepts here being merely 28 to 30 feet wide, the aisles only
24 feet wide. Avila is but an awkward young peasant girl if compared
with the queenly presence of her younger sisters. Nevertheless Avila is
in true Spanish peasant costume, while Leon and Burgos are tricked out
in borrowed finery. The nave is short and narrow, but that gives an
impression of greater height, and the obscurity left by the forced
substitution of stone for glass in the window spaces adds to the
solemnity. The nave consists of five bays, the aisle on each side of it
rising to about half its height. The golden groining is quadripartite,
the ribs meeting in great colored bosses and pendents, added at periods
of less simple taste. In the crossing alone, intermediary ribs have been
added in the vault