o Saint Ildefonso; but which, in
honour of his ever famous labour, the compilation of the Complutensian
Polyglot,[19] bears the distinguished name in Spain of the "Universidad
Complutense."

The building, of which the main block of the facade shown in my sketch,
is about one hundred feet long, by about sixty-five feet high, contains
no less than three Patios of different styles. It was designed by Pedro
Gumiel, and, as originally planned, finished in 1533, by Rodrigo Gil.
The whole facade which is of marble, with the exception of the basement
of grey granite, was no doubt entirely the work of the last named
architect. The structure has been well illustrated, architecturally, in
the great government publication--the "Monumentos Arquitectonicos de
Espana"--to which the student may be referred for the details of this
immense establishment. About it, in the days of its full prosperity,
there were grouped no less than eleven thousand students, and nineteen
colleges. Nothing shows, perhaps, more clearly the "high estate" from
which the poor Spain of the present day has fallen, than a contrast
between the muster rolls of the University of Madrid of late years, and
those of Salamanca, and Alcala, in the sixteenth century.

The visitor to the "Colegio" of Alcala should on no account omit to see
the chapel built by Gil de Ontanon, since within it rests the Wolsey of
Spain. Upon a monument of white marble, by the skilful hand of Domenico
of Florence, reposes an effigy of Cardinal Cisneros. A lithograph of
this and of the quasi-Mudejar style of the chapel is given in the work
of Villa Amil,[20] and we may well take to heart the concluding sentence
of the description of it by Patricio Escosura:--"Una pregunta, y
concluimos; ?Cuantos monumentos como el que acabamos de ejaminar
dejaremos nosotros en herencia a nuestros nietos?"[*]

[Illustration: PLATE 33

ALCALA DE HENARES

ARZOBISPADO

MDW 1869]

PLATE XXXIII.

_ALCALA-DE-HENARES._

WINDOW OF THE ARZOBISPADO.

THE Archi-episcopal Palace of Alcala de Henares is a building of many
periods and many styles. Founded upon the Old Alcazar, of which vestiges
remain, it contains several pretty mediaeval windows, one of which Mr.
Street thought not unworthy of his pencil. The late Plateresque details
of its double Patios arrested my attention, and I was pleased to observe
in them a more than usual elegance of moulding, and originality, with
propriety of style. On account