Italy
when they carved the statues which adorn the Cathedral of Seville.

The contact with Italy and the many Italian workmen gradually induced
faithlessness to the earlier Gothic ideals of the founders and builders
of the church. The great Maestro Mayor of Toledo Cathedral, Henrique de
Egas, was among the first to introduce restraint in Spanish building
after the fanaticism of the later flamboyant. In the time of Ferdinand
and Isabella, a well-known Toledan published a Spanish abridgment of
Vitruvius; this in conjunction with the influence of many foreign
artists led the way to classical building. Granada was soon resurrected
as a Greek-Roman "Centralbau" and even the crossing of Gothic Burgos was
unfortunately restored by Borgona after classic models.

The new foreign movement found expression in architecture, in sculpture
and in painting, often with the most extraordinary attempts to employ
the new without discarding the old. Grotesque and fantastic ornaments
crown illogical construction.

The royal chapel, the chapter house, the sagrario and the great sacristy
are examples of the new-born style. The first two are magnificent
specimens of Spanish Renaissance. Each of them is a fine church in
itself, and they can only be classed as chapels because they bear that
relation and are proportioned to the immense mother church of Seville.

The walls of the Capilla Real form the eastern termination to the
Cathedral, and the chapel is very properly planned upon the axe of the
church and entered through a splendidly decorated lofty arch. It is
about 81 by 59 feet in plan, and 113 feet high to the lantern crowning
the really fine dome. A round altar at its eastern extremity is closed
off by a typically impressive reja. The architecture is of the
magnificence of Saint Peter's in Rome, and not unlike it in detail.
Eight Corinthian pilasters support the dome, breaking the wall space
into panels and carrying the richest classical cornice surmounted by
fine statues of the Apostles, Evangelists and kings. The chapel takes
its name from being the burial place of the royal house. Along its walls
are the tombs of Saint Ferdinand's consort, of Alfonso the Learned and
his mother, Beatrice of Suabia, and the beautiful Dona Maria de Padilla,
the mistress of Pedro the Cruel. He himself is buried below in the vault
with many other of the royal princes. In the centre of the chapel Saint
Ferdinand lies in full armor with a crown on his head.