Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/839

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MADRAZO MADRAZO. I. Jose Madrazo y Agnda, a Span- ish painter, born in Santander, April 22, 1781, died in Madrid, May 8, 1859. He studied at the academy of Madrid, in Paris under David, and in Kome, where he spent several years, having been sent there by the king of Spain. In 1818, on his return to Madrid, he became director of the academy, and afterward of the museum, presiding over the former institution till his death. His principal works are : " Je- sus in the House of Ananias," "The Sacred Heart of Jesus," " Battle of Cerignola," " Seiz- ure of Breda," " Storming of Montefrio," and an admirable portrait of the empress Eugenie. II. Frederico Madrazo y Runt, a Spanish painter, son of the preceding, born in Rome, Feb. 12, 1815. He received his first instruction from his father, completed his studies in Paris under Winterhalter, and became the most fashion- able portrait painter of Madrid. In 1873 he was elected an associate member of the French academy of fine arts. Among his historical pictures are " Godfrey of Bouillon," and u Godfrey proclaimed King of Jerusalem," the latter at Versailles. His "Holy Women at the Sepulchre " obtained a first medal at the Paris exhibition of 1855. His brother Luis won in 1848, at the school of Madrid, the great prize of Rome. His principal work, at Madrid, is the " Burial of St. Cecilia." MADREPORE. See COEAL. MADRID. I. A central province of Spain, in New Castile, bordering on Segovia, Guada- lajara, Cuenca, Toledo, and Avila; area, 2,997 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 487,482. The general aspect of the province differs little from that of the other portions of the plain of the Cas- tiles, which, with a mean elevation of 3,500 ft. above the sea, is covered with secondary formations, grit stone, gypsum, mineral salt, and the Jurassic calcareous stone, and is almost everywhere devoid of vegetation. The sur- face is generally mountainous, particularly in the north, where rises the granitic summits of the Sierra de Guadarrama, covered with snow several months in the year. The Tagus, forming a portion of the S. boundary, with its branches the Guadarrama, Jarama, Tajuna, Henares, and Manzanares, drains almost the whole of the province. Although the mean annual temperature is about 60 F., the climate is somewhat severe, and the transitions from heat to cold are extremely rapid. In the few fertile districts, especially in the south and west, wheat, rye, barley, oats, and hemp are grown in abundance ; some wine and olive oil are produced ; and there are large numbers of sheep and goats. The chief town, besides the capital, is Alcala de Henares. II. A town, capital of the province and of Spain, on the left bank of the Manzanares, 310 m. E. N". E. of Lisbon, 640 m. S. W. of Paris, and 795 m. S. W. of London ; lat. 40 25' K, Ion. 3 42' W. The population in 1870, according to the official Guia de forasteros, was 332,024, an in- crease of 60,770 since 1857, partly attributable MADRID 833 to the influx of refugees from the wars in Cuba and France. The only merit of the situation of Madrid is that of being the geographical centre of Spain. The town stands in a vast basin forming part of a plateau of sand hills about 2,200 ft. above the sea, and arid even in the cultivated portions, with no indication of the vicinity of a great capital until within a short distance of the walls. Here the scene becomes almost grand ; new plantations are springing up in every direction to replace the dense for- ests which in early times covered the whole plateau ; a sort of boulevard, encircling the town, and well shaded with trees, expands at many points into a network of delightful pub- lic walks; the spires and domes within rise glittering in the sun; and the Somosierra mountains and the snow-capped Guadarrama range, fringing the horizon K E. and N". W., form a picturesque background. Madrid is surrounded by a brick wall 20 ft. high, but comparatively useless for defence, with 15 gates; the finest of these is the Puerta de Alcala, 72 ft. high, with five openings, being a triumphal arch erected by order of Charles III. in commemoration of his entry in Decem- ber, 1759. The town, about If m. long from N. to S., and 1 m. wide from E. to W., is traversed nearly in a straight line N. E. and S. W. by the calles (streets) Alcala, Mayor, Platerias, and Almudena, dividing it into two cuarteles or quarters, each of which is sub- divided into five districts, and these in their turn into larrios or wards, 98 in number; and there are 658 streets, lanes, courts, and al- leys, and 72 plazas or public squares, large and small. The streets in the ancient or S. W. dis- tricts are tortuous, narrow, and ill kept ; but in the modern portions of the centre and east they are spacious, regular, clean, adequately lighted with gas, and lined with rows of lofty houses, palaces, and noble public edifices. The houses are generally large, built of brick, four or five stories high, with balconied windows ; and most of them are let in separate floors, as in Paris. In the streets S. of the Plaza Mayor, windowless shops, open to the street like ori- ental bazaars, and thronged with Manchego mendicants, Andalusian smugglers, or gypsies from Guadalajara, are common. There is an abundant supply of water, the best being from a spring outside the Puerta de Segovia, with excellent hydraulic machinery established by an English company ; the water brought from a distance of 32 m. by the canal of Lozoya, an admirable work, the engineer of which has been created marquis of Lozoya, is copiously distributed through the town by numerous jets and fountains, the chief streets are those of Alcala, m. long, the handsomest in Spain, and one of the widest and finest in the world, Mayor, Montera, Carretas, Ger6nimo, Ancha, and Toledo, all except the last two radiating from the Puerta del Sol, and forming the prin- cipal commercial thoroughfares, with elegant shops, mostly kept by foreigners, and especially