VIDRIERAS. CATEDRAL PRIMADA DE TOLEDO

This souvenir sheet is devoted to the stained glass windows of the primate cathedral of Toledo Amongst the most relevant examples of gothic architecture with stained glass windows are the cathedrals of Chartres, Sens, Poitiers, Le Mans, Tours, Canterbury, Lincoln, York, Leon, Burgos and Toledo. It is to this latter to which Correos devotes this souvenir sheet included in the Vidrieras (stained glass windows) series. Five years after laying down the first stone of the Burgos cathedral in 1226, the Toledo cathedral begins to be built in the plot where the old church of Recadero, later on a mosque, stood. Although the cathedral plans are thought to be the work of a French master called Petrus Petri. The works of the Primate Cathedral, known as such for being the oldest archiepiscopal site in Spain, ended in the XV century though the altarpieces and the restoration works continued in following centuries. In fact in this cathedral can be seen an important presence of renaissance elements . Besides the magnificent porticos of the Perdón, the Leones and the Reloj and the chapels and altarpieces of the Capilla Mayor, Sacristia, Santiago and Transparente we find a magnificent set of windows which go from the rose of the north which dates back to the XIV century to those of the XV and XVI century to those replaced later on in the XVIII century.The windows are the work of masters such as Jacobo Dolfin, Luys Coutin, Juan de la Cuesta, Pedro Bonifacio, Vasco de Troya, Alejo Jimenez, Pedro el Aleman, Nicolas Vergara, Cristobal el Maestre and Francisco Sánchez Martínez. There are also works belonging to anonymous artists of the XIV century. The souvenir sheet issued by Correos features a fragment of a window depicting the image of Santiago el Mayor, a piece of work from the XV century located in the part of the Epistola, in the central nave of the Primate Cathedral of Toledo. De esta hoja bloque se realizó una Prueba de Artista con el sello en negro.