, but virile, impressive and logical. Segovia Cathedral may be
said to be the last great monument in Spain, not only of Gothic, but of
ecclesiastical art. Thereafter came the deluge of decadence or
petrification. What must not the power of the Church, as well as the
religious enthusiasm of the populace, have been during this
extraordinary sixteenth century! It is almost incredible that this tiny
city, in a weak little kingdom, and so few miles from Salamanca, had the
spirit for an undertaking of the size of this Cathedral church, so soon
after Salamanca had entered on her architectural enterprise. Either of
the two seems beyond the united power of the kingdom.

Even more remarkable than the starting of Segovia in the Gothic style at
so late a date, was the fact that the architects succeeding Juan Gil,
who were naturally tempted to embody their own ideas and to employ the
new style then in vogue, should nevertheless have faithfully adhered to
the original conception and completed in Gothic style all constructive
and ornamental details everywhere except in the final closing of the
dome and a few minor exterior features. Naturally the Gothic of the
sixteenth century was not that of the thirteenth,--not that of Leon or
Toledo, nor even of Burgos,--it had been modified and lost in spirit,
but still its origin was undeniable.

[Illustration: Photo by J. Lacoste, Madrid

CATHEDRAL OF SEGOVIA.

From the Plaza.]

In 1525 Segovia was fairly started. House after house that impeded the
progress of the work was destroyed, until up to a hundred of them had
been razed. Santa Clara was kept for the services until the very last
moment, when a sufficient portion of the new building was ready for
their proper celebration.

It was unusual to start with the western end, the apse and its
surrounding arches being the portion necessary for services. In Segovia,
however, as well as in the new Salamancan Cathedral, the great western
front was the earliest to rise. Gil did not live to finish it, but it is
evident that, as long as he directed, the work drew the attention of the
entire artistic fraternity of the Peninsula. We find constant mention in
old documents of the visits and the praise of illustrious architects,
among them Alfonso de Covarrubias, Juan de Alava, Enrique de Egas, and
Felipe de Borgona. Gil's clerk-of-the-works, Cubillas, succeeded him as
"maestro," and under him the western front with its tower, the
cloisters, and the n