Tile work
In the Monastery there are interesting pieces of Valencian tile work that date back to the 14th to 18th Centuries.
In the Monastery of Sant Jeroni de Cotalba, there are interesting pieces of Valencian tile work that date back to the 14th to 18th Centuries and that have an outstanding artistic value, not only because of their age and good preservation, but also because of their quality and stylistic variety.
The tiles are located in different rooms, but they can be mainly observed with the naked eye coating the hall or the bottom part of the refectory, on the floor of the ancient library and the archive or the upper part of the chimney of the monks’ kitchen.
After the confiscation of Mendizábal, the original pavement of some rooms disappeared, as in the case of the archive of the monastery. This was solved by flooring this room with tiles of more recent times from other rooms, thus preserving the flooring of different times of the monastery.
The history of the monastery is in line with the evolution of the production of Valencian ceramics.
At the Muslim parts of the monastery, manual “rajolas” (tiles or flat bricks) are used.
At the archaeological excavations of the crypts, rustic low-temperature ceramic remains have been found, in addition to stoneware, china or raku; earthenware and pottery; and at the arcade, canal pieces from dikes and drains, such as pipelines or pipes, or downspout pieces.
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With regard to the floors and wall coverings, “socarrats” of the 14th Century are found, such as the small pieces of 10 x 10 cm of original church flooring or rhomboid pieces of the noble rooms; these “socarrats” are of a single color, which may be green, black or blue.
In the monastery we can find Mudejar ceramics of the 15th Century on the floorings of the curia (current administration) made of biscuit clay, of small size (15 x 15 cm) and reduced color spectrum (black, green and red), and medieval tile work in the riser of the staircase and the baseboards of the cloister. This tiling is flat, with light colors and lackluster. This 15th Century ceramic can also be observed on the chimney of the current kitchen, which was previously the infirmary, adjacent to the old hospital.
Ceramic of the 16th and 17th Centuries can be found on the floor of the library, and on the mural of St. Jerome, which is almost single colored, as the grisailles.
We can also find ceramic of the 18th Century in the baseboards of the refectory; this is made of traditional vitrified ceramic in Manises or Alcora, with vivid colors. This ceramic is also found in the risers of the great imperial staircase, which is used to access the hall of arms from the refectory.
