The Arts and Crafts of Older Spain, Volume 2 (of 3)

The Arts and Crafts of Older Spain, Volume 2 (of 3)

BY LEONARD WILLIAMS Corresponding Member of the Royal Spanish Academy, of the Royal Spanish Academy of History, and of the Royal Spanish Academy of Fine Arts; Author Of The Land of the Dons; Toledo and Madrid; Granada, etc. IN THREE VOLUMES, ILLUSTRATED VOLUME II Whether the primitive Iberians ate as well as slept upon their cave or cabin floor, or whetheras some classics call upon us to believethey used a kind of folding-chair (dureta) and (more advanced and comfort-loving than the Andalusian rustics of this day) devoured their simple meal from benches or supports constructed in the wall, is not of paramount importance to the history of Spanish furniture. The statements of those early authors may be granted or rejected as we please; for not a single piece of furniture produced by prehistoric, or, indeed, by Roman or by Visigothic Spain, has been preserved. But if we look for evidence to other crafts, recovered specimens of her early gold and silver work and pottery show us that Roman Spain grew to be eminently Roman in her social and artistic life. This fact, together with the statements of Saint Isidore and certain other writers of his day, would seem to prove that all the usual[2] articles of Roman furniture were commonly adopted by the subjugated tribes, and subsequently by the Visigoths;the Roman eating-couch or lectus triclinaris, the state-bed or lectus genialis, the ordinary sleeping-bed or lectus cubicularis, made, in prosperous households, of luxurious woods inlaid with ivory, or even of gold and silver; lamps or candelabra of silver, copper, glass, and iron[1]; the cathedra or chair for women, the bisellium or seat for honoured guests, the solium or chair for the head of the house, the simpler chairs without a back, known as the scabellum and the sella, and the benches or subsellia for the servants. Further, the walls were hung with tapestries or rendered cheerful by mural painting; while the fireplace[2] and the brasier (foculus) have descended to contemporary Spain. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 44392
Author: Williams, Leonard
Release Date: Dec 10, 2013
Format: eBook
Language: English