sal heads of Adam and Eve carved by Cano and
kneeling figures of Ferdinand and Isabella.

There are endless chapels outside the outer aisles, but, in spite of
some good bits of sculpture and painting here and there, one longs to
sweep them out of the way and free the edifice from their encumbrance.

The interior of the great sagrario is an expressionless jumble of the
later Renaissance decadence,--and it is a shame that no more fitting
architecture surrounds the tomb of the good Talavera, here laid to rest
by his friend Tendilla, the first Alcaide of the Alhambra, with the
inscription over his tomb, "Amicus Amico."

The general color scheme in the interior of the Cathedral is white and
gold. One feels that it is handsome, even harmonious and magnificent,
but that all the mystery and religious awe that pervaded the great
churches of the previous centuries have vanished forever.

The Royal Chapel, although the oldest part of the building, should be
considered last of all, as it is by far the most interesting portion and
leaves an impression so vivid as to overshadow all other parts of the
great edifice. It is situated between the sagrario and the Sacristia and
is entered through the southern arm of the transept. The chapel itself
is the very last Gothic efflorescence from which the spirit has fled,
leaving only empty form. It consists of a single big nave flanked by
lower chapels. The ornamentally ribbed vaulting with gilt bosses and
keystones is carried by clustered shafts engaged in its side walls. The
shafts are too thin and the capitals too meagre. A broader and more
generous string course runs, at the height of the capitals, across the
wall surfaces between the upper clerestory and the lower arcades.
Portions of this reveal a strong Moorish influence, as the manner in
which the great Gothic lettering is employed to decorate the band.
Similarly to the invocations to Allah running round the walls of the
Alhambra, we read here that "This chapel was founded by the most
Catholic Don Fernando and Dona Isabel, King and Queen of the Espanos[d],
of Naples, of Sicily, and Jerusalem, who conquered this kingdom and
brought it back to the faith, who acquired the Canary Isles and Indies,
as well as the cities of Ican, Tripoli, and Bugia; who crushed heresy,
expelled Moors and Jews from these realms, and reformed religion. The
Queen died Tuesday, November 26, 1504. The King died January 25, 1516.
The building was completed 1517.