ed, would it were possible not to say
disfigured, by an immense mass of sculpture called the Transparente. It
is not easy to imagine the reason of this altar-piece having received
its name, for it is not more transparent than any other mountain--never
was witnessed so lamentable a mis-application of riches and labour! Some
of the marble was brought from Carrara; the rest is not of a very good
white, and being thus exposed to an unfavourable contrast, adds to the
displeasing effect of the unwieldy forms which enter into the
composition of this huge blunder of art--this pile of masses on masses
of ugliness. At the sight of a large spherical form rising abruptly from
the surface of some shaft of a pillar, you step back, and discover that
it forms part of the posteriors of a corpulent cherub, as large as the
column itself, which he has thus unmercifully annihilated, in order to
save himself the trouble of passing a few inches to the left or right.
But it is needless to notice the details of this piece of sculpture,
which being the largest, and occupying the most conspicuous position in
the whole church, forcibly attracts the attention which, but for that
circumstance, one would rather bestow in another direction.

It is a relief to take one's station on the shining mahogany benches
adjoining the wall of the opposite chapel of San Ildefonzo; and to
contemplate its chaste style and graceful proportions, and the handsome
tombs which occupy its octagonally divided walls. The piece of sculpture
in marble, placed over the principal altar, is undeserving of its
conspicuous situation. It represents the Vision of San Ildefonzo, to
which we shall shortly have occasion to direct our attention.

The adjoining chapel, as we proceed towards the northernmost nave, that
of Santiago, or more generally called after its founder, Don Alvaro de
Luna, is still finer. It is larger and loftier, and of a more ornamental
design. It presents five sides of an octagon: the three remaining sides
turning inwards to suit the form of the apse. This Alvaro de Luna, the
Lord Essex of Juan the Second, having by the high favour he enjoyed in
the intimacy of the monarch, given umbrage to the courtiers, was put to
death by the King, who gave credit to the charges falsely brought
against him. Don Juan, however, who did not long survive his friend, had
justice done to his remains. Being found innocent by a posthumous trial
at Valladolid, his body was conveyed with