Abbey of Escorial

1. Construction time: 1563 - 1584
2. Location: Northwest Madrid, Spain

The St. St. Lawrence monastery in the King's Escorial area is mentioned by the metaphysical poet John Donne in his "Funeral Elegie" poem written in 1611 as an embodiment of immense size, always attractive enough to create impressions. statues for visitors by their own size. At first glance, one must be amazed when this massive mansion was planned, carried out and completed in the life of the founder, King Philip II of Spain.

We are fortunate after having a very comprehensive contemporary description of the monastery Escorial was published in 1605 by the profound teacher Jose Siguenza, who later became abbot of the monastery.

Escorial knit diagram drawing (Photo: unav)

Concept

King Philip II's original intention was to build a worthy tomb for his father, Emperor Charles V and for himself and his descendants . The tomb should be placed in a large monastery so that the successive prayers can pray for the soul of the late king to be transcended. The intention was to worship St Lawrence, a Spanish martyr revered by Philip from childhood, intended as a thanksgiving for Spain's victory over the French mandarin in St Quentin in 1557 St. Lawrence's Day, August 10. But often repeated stories suggest that the plan of the monastery of Escorial, inspired by the martyrdom of St Lawrence, is a myth.

Marble casket (Photo: lunapark)

First, the monastery of Escorial is a monastery that is also monastic, but inside the monastic rectangular diagram is designed to combine a variety of other functions. About a quarter of the plan of the site (east and northeast) is for the palace. Usually in Madrid, the court of court frequented Escorial had cooler weather, because at 1125m in the summer, a routine probably predicted when the chosen location was near the tiny village of El Escorial. Escurial at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama range.

Another purpose to choose this space is to have educational and medical facilities available. The Trent Council (1545 - 1563) suggested that each major religious establishment should establish a university, teach civilians and train Christian missionaries. These facilities are located in the Northwest part of the building, while the Southwest corner is the rooms for visitors, clinics and rest, along with a laboratory that can provide very significant drugs.

Design and construction

The architect who was chosen by King Philip II was Juan Bautista Alfonsis de Toledo , for having spent 11 years as an architect and engineer in the palace serving the city of Naples, and before that the second architect after Michelangelo joined the saint St Peter Street in Rome. The final diagram approved by the king in 1562, determined to be constructed according to the Vitruvius geometry system consists of inscribed equilateral triangles in a circle. A detailed study of the plan of the premises seems to indicate the formation of many internal divisions, Juan Bautista uses a 1/6 module of 100, about 5m.

The schematic diagram consists of a main rectangular building next to North Nam with a length of 204m doubling with the East-West edge of 160m long, with an eastward projection (the king's interior) and the Southwest (corridors purify ). Surrounding the masonry and attached to the design is the strip of land created by the steps to make the passage or park about 30m wide. The original design of Juan Bautista envisioned 10 towers around the perimeter of the block, but this figure decreased to the remaining 6, 1 tower placed at each corner and 2 towers placed in the middle when there was a change in design in 1563 and 1564 .

Escorial looked from above through a woodcut showing a multi-function complex looking from the West.

The diagram of Juan Bautista's premises in 1562 remained the same, but he had to change the course twice. For the first time, in 1563, shortly after construction began, the church design had to be modified to meet the radical proposal of an Italian consultant architect - Francesco Paciotto of Urbino. For the second time in 1564, the height of half of the western building had to be raised by one more floor to create additional accommodation conditions when needed when Philip II agreed the number of clergy increased from 50 to 100.

Actual data:

1. Main building block: 204 x 160m
2. Plain strip of land: 30m wide (60m west)
3. Number of towers: 6

Juan Bautista's untimely death in 1567 shocked everyone. But the foundation was done, many walls were unfinished . The architect also left a wooden model and full drawings agreed by the king. Juan de Herrera (1530 - 1597) continued some other stages. He was a regular soldier, during his 1564 military service with Jaun Bautista as a blueprint designer. After Juan Bautista died, Herrera retained control of the design department, so there may be some influence on construction .

The panoramic view of Escorial monastery from the southwest, far away from the square lake is the wall-enclosed arches designed in contrast to the wall above it, the wall has up to 259 windows (Photo: umwelt-verkehr ) Recently, he recognized that he was able to redesign important details of the monastery of Escorial, including the church and the extensive communion staircase in the monastery, but these estimates contradict the expression of the main José de Sigtilenza who must surely know what happened. He made it clear that the church, after construction, had to follow the design known by Francesco Paciotto of Bergamo, through other evidence that he was an experienced stair designer. However, Herrera certainly redesigned the roof, actually the only design contribution he himself confirmed.

At different points in the 21 years of construction, many artisans and laborers were hired directly by the monastery, under the presidential regime, while at other times, bidding was organized for specific stages, Any way, there is a consensus and criticism.

All exterior walls have been built, clad in cut stone faces - local gray Guadarrama marble makes the work in harmony with the composition. Transporting stones from mines to construction sites by cart is very effective, each vehicle measures a pair of bulls - a total of 200 new transports are needed, a senior clergyman is assigned to take care of them.

The style of Escorial, decided by the king himself, is the style of the Renaissance in the later period, combined with many Italian architects like Giorgio Vasari and Giacamo Barozzi da Vignola. The contemporaries like Siguenza see the Vitruvius style and certainly in the works there are countless points related to principles in ancient Roman architects. The competition built in the classical style is the main ambition of the sponsors and architects during the Renaissance, in early 1578, the monastery of Escorial is mentioned octavo molagro or the 8th Wonders of the world , more than 7 other wonders.

The façade outside of the main building was criticized for being ugly but this did not acknowledge the architect's intention to create a contrast between the normal wall and the adjacent space - a hanging garden with an edible tree. fruit and park below, located in the south and east, in the west and north, the strips of land by large stone steps extend the connection of the wall pressure on the facade into a third dimension with sliced ​​pattern background. Similarly, the normal elevation of the yard contrasts and thus highlights the rich interior decoration of the building.

The sanctuary and the main altar of Escorial are seen from the junction. (Photo: lunapark)

Interior

Philip II was very interested in decorating drawings and sculptures of the interior of the monastery Escorial as well as interested in architecture. The painting has extensive themes drawn by Luca Cambiaso and Pelliegrino Pellegrini (Tibaldi) in the church, monastery and main library. Many of the details on the altar were ordered by Italian and Spanish painters, including Titian and St Maurice's St. Lawrence's prince, and El Greco's work was removed by the king because unlike The Spanish Nararrete, detailing El Greco's altar, does not inspire devotion. Philip II's successors continued the custom of depicting his drawing on monasteries, embodied in monastic meeting rooms, including works by Tintoretto, Rubens and Velázquez.

Every detail of Escorial's design and decoration must be consulted and awaited Philip II's decision. Even he himself took part in discussions to plant any kind of tree in the hanging garden before the time so that the number of trees he chose would grow well when the project was completed. Construction is one of his main concerns since he was 14 when he first started reading architecture textbooks. He even described that he should be the new architect. Among the titles given to him was the title of Jerusalem king, so he himself was considered the successor of the six Jewish builders, with giant statues looking down on the yard with the front entrance, okay called Patio de los Reyes.

Panorama of Escorial monastery (Photo: faculty-staff)