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176 Friday, July 25th [[strikethrough]] Sunday, June 24, 1928 [[strikethrough]] Toledo! It does rise like a maelstrom from the plains — it does swirl up into a simple point — the spine of the Cathedral, reaching to God. It is somber, unmoving, and gray. Around it flows the Tagus, green and unanswerable — answering. Within its old Roman walls, still strong, it holds the life of a hundred ages — the death of a hundred ages — the cruelty and striving of a hundred thousand thousand men. It has twisted streets of worn down cobble stones. It has a Synagoge, whose beauty and depth and richness have not been spoiled by the Christian changes — only saddened. It has a Cathedral which stands highest — beautiful and tall. It has El Greco — the mystic... and his paintings — silent and full of meaning as Toledo itself. It has gates of many different men — entering the city — placing their marks, but never erasing the foundations of Toledo built by the Jews — and the Arabs — with their lives and deaths. It has bridges joining its sombreness to tan colorless fields and verdant green ones. Above it is the white sky of Spain. Saturday, July 26th The Escorial is the "Tomb of Spain" It stands cool and gray and miitary and solemn —. Only formal green hedges relieve the grey color, but they too add to the somberness. The room where Philip II died faces the cathedral, so that he could see mass, and is truly the room in which he should have died after building 177 [[strikethrough]] 27 [[strikethrough]] 28 29 30 31 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Bu St. J. St J. St. J. St. J. E.B. [[?con con]] Monday, June 25, 1928 the Tomb. Unfortunately the actual vaults have been spoiled so that the final effect of white marble in Baroque pattern, red and blue shields, and lavishly spread gilt is rather like a wedding cake. All the solemnity of Death is lost. ..... Sunday July 27 The Prado! El Greco, mystic and abstract and sincere in its exagerations. The [[space]] and the Holy Family [[strikethrough]] which [[/strikethrough]] serve to express all the tragedy and all the faith of religion. The portraits are wonderful, the garish angular, meaningful men. El Greco — the presenting of "Spain looking toward Africa" rich / Velasquez, master of the technique in his pictures of the royal family and of Philip II, and portrayer of the tragedy of the court life in his four dwarf pictures. Velasquez, painter of "Spain looking toward Europe" - the hollow and artificial life. Goyas - weird etchings. Charming tapesty designs - cruel portraits... Bosh and Brugel in the best of their types... the Durer "Adam and Eve". The funny-Spanish people in Madrid... Being stared at in evening clothes.... A movie place on a roof... The sound effects by the audience when Garbo kissed Gilbert in "Love".....
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