That of Toledo, it could be said that it is something more than a cathedral: it is a monumental stone encyclopedia, where Art and Architecture complement and define each other as chapters of a universal history, where refinement and detail commune with extraordinary fidelity.
Such would be the case, for example, of one of the most distinguished and valuable chapels, which is precisely the one I want to share with you in this post: the Chapel of San Blas.
Commissioned to build in 1397 by Archbishop D. Pedro Tenorio, as a dwelling place of eternity to house his mortal remains, as well as the mortal remains of his inseparable adviser, the Bishop of Plasencia, D. Vicente Arias, the Chapel of San Blas, located in the cloister of the cathedral, a work attributed to the sculptor Ferrán González, seems to be a continuation of the artistic influence of the so-called Italian Trecento, a period in which works are detected in the Iberian Peninsula, by masters of Florentine origin, such as Gerardo Starnina and Nicolás de Antonio.
In fact, the marvelous paintings that in their day profusely decorated the place - unfortunately, poor conservation and human neglect left a good part of them to be lost - denote the influence, as practically all the experts who at the time seem to agree on them. they studied, with the superb creations of the Italian Renaissance master, Giotto.
Its sovereign impact, in the sense of the theme of some of its episodes, such as the Last Judgment or the most relevant events of the life and passion of Jesus Christ, carries an emotional charge that directly affects the viewer's feelings with more realism than other previous works, such as, to cite an example, the Romanesque chapel of San Martín, attached to the church of the old cathedral of Salamanca.
The tombs of Bishop Tenorio and his counselor occupy the central place of the room, just below a vault shaped like an eight-pointed star -remember the importance of this number within Sacred Geometry, which also, inverted, forms the symbol of the infinity- in whose center, spectacular, we meet again with a disturbing and mysterious presence: dragons.
Dragons, also in number of eight, whose heads, emerging from the central key, indicated by the solar figure of a rampant lion, extend through each and every one of the starry ribs, which, resting on their corresponding corbels, support the vault and which, far from constituting a simple decorative motif, contain a rich and varied symbolism, not only as an allegory of Evil or of the San Juan Apocalypse, but also as metaphorical beacons to mark a place that is characterized by its tellurism or even as a reference to the guard and custody of treasures, as pointed out by different traditions -especially those of Celtic origin- on which authors such as Tolkien undoubtedly relied on his famous character of the dragon Smaug.
Of course, the treasures are not always what they seem and in this case, far from indicating material riches, such as, by the way, those that the former guarded, possibly the authors wanted to highlight a treasure of a spiritual or knowledge nature, many of them whose keys, unfortunately, have been lost.
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NOTICE: Both the text and the photographs that accompany it, as well as the video that illustrates it, are my exclusive intellectual property and therefore are subject to my Copyright.
