OF DON ALVARO CABRERA - Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Detail of the effigy of Don Alvaro showing the thick surcoat with the gambeson worn beneath seen reaching well below it, the long-cuffed fingered gauntlets, and the sword with its belt the great belt, supported by hooks like the belt of a modern infantry soldier, loops across the hips carrying the heavy sword diagonally over the thighs. Thirteenth-century swords belonging to important figures in history are extremely rare. We may mention the swords of Saint Ferdinand (1199-1252) in the treasury of the cathedral of Seville (with crystal pommel) and in the Royal Armory, Madrid (G 22). Spanish scholars in recent years have turned up a number of important medieval swords in royal tombs; the dry climate has kept them almost intact. We should mention the sword, with its brocaded belt, of Fernando de la Cerda (1225-1275), son of Alfonso the Wise, from the Pante6n Real de la Huelgas de Burgos, and that of Sancho IV, second son of the same ruler, which was found, with his father's crown, in his tomb. Sancho was buried in 1295, wrapped in silk brocades, with a rich cushion under his head. The cushion, incidentally, is often represented in monumental effigies under the knight's head, and it appears in our effigy studded with the Urgel arms. Spurs, which were the essential emblem of knighthood, complete the knight's equipment. The prick spur continued in use for over a hun- 284 dred years after the introduction of the rowel spur early in the thirteenth century. In our effigy only the terminal loops of the sides of the spurs are visible, the spurs being hidden under the greaves. However, in all likelihood they were the Moorish type of prick spur (acicate), for it is this type that has been found in the historical Spanish tonlbs that have been excavated. The spur attachments are clearly shown in the effigy. The sole and instep strap passes through the loops and is fastened by a single loop buckle, with two ornaments and a chape at each strap end. Don Alvar6's pointed shoes of leather are studded with rosaces and heraldic plaques. The military costume, from the military character of the Middle Ages, forms a prominent feature of the study of monumental effigies. Many effigies of knights have come down to us from the province of Catalonia. Fifty-seven of them have been illustrated in Felix Domenech I Roura's unpublished manuscript "Indumentaria Sepulcral a Catalufia, Segles XIII a XVI," in the Archivos Hist6ricos, Barcelona. A detailed comparative study of these would help us in our study of Don Alvar6's effigy, although the period to which it belongs is one of much experiment and change in types of armor and it is
difficult to find monuments which are alike. Furthermore, the dating of arms and armor is often difficult, because changes did not occur everywhere at the same time. There are many sepulchral effigies dating after 1300 that do not show any plate armor. Armor represented in sculpture is not necessarily of the period when the person died. Knights in their old age sometimes requested that the armor to be represented in their effigies should be that in which they achieved renown in youth. And sometimes the effigy was made centuries after the decease of the knight, like that of Armengol VII, Count of Urgel (died 1184), which was ordered by the same Armengol X who ordered the tomb that is the subject of this article. But the normal procedure was to execute the effigy soon after the death of the person to be commemorated. This study of the armor in the effigy of Don Alvar6 de Cabrera indicates that it could have been made in the second decade of the fourteenth century, if not earlier. What I have done here is to gather together contemporary documents which describe and show defenses similar to those on the Urgel effigy. In some cases a date is associated with the document, in others a tentative date is assigned. The contemporary written documents cited, and the painting and sculptures illustrated here indicate that the Urgel knight does not wear any military equipment that was not in use in the second decade of the fourteenth century. I think that further research would show that the three advanced features of the armor-the combined high gorget and collarbone defense, the longcuffed fingered gauntlets, and the close greaveswere in much wider use in the early decades of the century than present information indicates. However, dating our effigy a few years earlier or later does not affect its importance. It is an excellent example of the sculpture that was fostered by the feudal nobility of Catalonia and Languedoc. I wish to acknowledge the courtesy of the Rev. Sebastian Angles of the convent at Bell- puig, who accompanied me to the monastery of Santa Maria de Bellpuig de las Avellanas and who introduced me to Brother Ramon Nonato, the Director of the Hermanos Maristas, who greatly facilitated my studies. I should like also to thank Professor Jose Gudiol, Director of the Instituto Amatller de Arte Hispdnico in Barce- lona, and Seiior Don Luis Vazquez de Parga, Secretary of the Museo Arqlueologico Nacional in Madrid, for photographs. Details from an ivory saddle possibly made for Frederick I, king of Sicily from 1296 to 1337. The tilting knights wear close greaves and long-cuffed gauntlets similar to those of Don Alvaro. Italian workmanship, about t325. In the Louvre 285
Page 1 and 2: THE ARMOR OF DON ALVARO DE CABRERA
Page 3 and 4: ^ y^ ^ l/^- rL ^ 't rWI 5S7 JL-~ .^
Page 5 and 6: Effigy of Ramnn Folch X de Cardona
Page 7 and 8: Detail from the "Manessehandschrift
Page 9: and accessories was due to the wors

OF DON ALVARO CABRERA - Metropolitan Museum of Art

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