Yes But It's Still A Tomb

We're still indoors, in that shadowy vaulted room, enthusing over the tomb of King Juan II of Castile and his wife.

"It is impossible to conceive a work more elaborate than the details of the costumes of the King and Queen. The imitation of lace and embroidery, the exquisite delicacy of the hands and features, the infinitely minute carving of the pillows,"

"the architectural railing by which the two statues are separated, the groups of sporting lions and dogs placed against the foot-boards, and the statues of the four Evangelists, seated at the four points of the star which face the cardinal points of the compass,—all these attract first the attention as they occupy the surface; but they are nothing to the profusion of ornament lavished on the sides. The chisel of the artist has followed each retreating and advancing angle of the star, filling the innermost recesses with life and movement. It would be endless to enter into a detailed enumeration of all this. It is composed of lions and lionesses, panthers, dogs,—crouching, lying, sitting, rampant, and standing; of saints, male and female, and personifications of the cardinal virtues... Were there no other object of interest at Burgos, this tomb would well repay the traveller for a halt of a few days, and a country walk."

Yes, well I'm trying to like it. But it’s still a tomb. Here is a photo held by Cornell University Library, which was taken about twenty years after Nathaniel's visit.

Wonderful workmanship I grant you, but still - it's a fancy box for two dead bodies.

The close-up image above, by the way, is by Ecelan and is taken, with permission, from Wikimedia.