The Hospital de Tavera, also known as the Hospital de San Juan Bautista, Hospital de afuera, or simply as Hospital Tavera, is an important building of

Renaissance architecture Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

located is in the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

city of Toledo. It was built between 1541 and 1603 by order of the Cardinal Tavera. This hospital is dedicated to

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

and also served as pantheon for its patron, Cardinal Tavera. Initially it began to be constructed under the supervision of

Alonso de Covarrubias Alonso de Covarrubias ( Torrijos, Toledo 1488–1570) was a Spanish architect and sculptor of the Renaissance, active mainly in Toledo. Works Covarrubias' works include: His first work was associated with Antón Egas and Juan Guas, in a style t ...

, being succeeded by other architects, with Bartolomé Bustamante finishing the work. The remoteness with the old part of the city made it known as ''el hospital de afuera'', since within the walls there already existed the Hospital de Santa Cruz. Currently the building remains the property of the

House of Medinaceli Duke of Medinaceli () is an hereditary title in the Spanish nobility, peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee. The Catholic Monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, created the title and awarded it on 31 Octo ...

and inside it is the Museo Fundación Lerma, which houses part of the artistic collections of this lineage, as well as the Section of the Nobility of the National Historic Archive.

The building

The set is composed by two

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

ed courtyards, a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

(where is the crypt of the Ducal House of Medinaceli) and the palace-museum, that includes part of the old hospital. The appearance of the building is that of a Florentine Renaissance palace, except for the portal, that was constructed between the years 1760 and 1762. It is a regular building with an Italianate façade, with equidistant and rectangular windows on the lower floor and semicircular on the upper, being the opposite of the extreme. The ensemble is joined by two columned twinned courtyards, separated and joined together by a double

arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

that crosses them towards the church. The portal of the church is of Genoese

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

. The interior presents a single nave and the crossing covered by a cupola with lantern, on

pendentive In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points ...

s and drum, like the basilica of the Monastery of El Escorial. Beneath it stands the tomb of Cardinal Tavera, a work made in white marble by

Alonso Berruguete Alonso González de Berruguete (Alonso Berruguete) (c. 1488 – 1561) was a Spanish painter, sculptor and architect. He is considered to be the most important sculptor of the Spanish Renaissance, and is known for his emotive sculptures depict ...

and accompanied by other funeral sculptures. The reredos of the church was designed by

El Greco Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El G ...

and carried out by his son Jorge Manuel. The goldwork of the tabernacle is the work of

Julio Pascual Julio is the Spanish equivalent of the month July and may refer to: *Julio (given name) *Julio (surname) *Júlio de Castilhos, a municipality of the western part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil * ''Julio'' (album), a 1983 compilation albu ...

The museum

In the museum there is a large archive of documents and numerous works of art of great value are preserved: paintings by

, Ribera,

Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed with ...

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Ear ...

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

, Snyders and

Jacopo Bassano Jacopo Bassano (c. 1510 – 14 February 1592), known also as Jacopo dal Ponte, was an Italian painter who was born and died in Bassano del Grappa near Venice, and took the village as his surname. Trained in the workshop of his father, Francesco t ...

, among others. One of the few portraits painted by Zurbarán, and a copy of

Tiziano Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, nea ...

Equestrian Portrait of Charles V ''Equestrian Portrait of Charles V'' (also ''Emperor Charles V on Horseback'' or ''Charles V at Mühlberg'') is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Italian Renaissance artist Titian. Created between April and September 1548 while Titian was at the i ...

(

Museo del Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. It is widely considered to house one of the world's finest collections of European art, dating from the ...

), painted by Sánchez Coello. Equally exceptional is the sculpture of the ''Resurrected Christ'', by El Greco. In addition, it lodges in its dependencies the building of the old pharmacy of the hospital and the Section of the Nobility of the National Historic Archive.

Other institutions that houses the building

The file: In 1988 the State signed an agreement with the Ducal House of Medinaceli, owner of the building, which ceded a part of it to house the Section of the Nobility of the National Historical Archive, which moved to Toledo and began to operate in 1993 in its new dependencies. The school: In 1887 the Daughters of Charity arrived to the hospital to take care of the sick, attending the sacristy of the iglesia de San Juan Bautista and teaching poor children. Thus were born the schools of San Juan Bautista, an educational institution that still exists in the same building where it was founded in the 19th century, adapted to the current Education Law.

Cinema scene

The Hospital of Tavera has been employed as a filming location for films from ''

Viridiana ''Viridiana'' () is a 1961 Spanish-Mexican film directed by Luis Buñuel and produced by Gustavo Alatriste. It is loosely based on the 1895 novel ''Halma'' by Benito Pérez Galdós. The film was the co-winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1961 Canne ...

'' (1961) and ''

Tristana Tristana may refer to: * ''Tristana'' (novel), a novel published in 1892 by Benito Pérez Galdós ** ''Tristana'' (film), a 1970 Spanish film directed by Luis Buñuel based on the eponymous novel * ''Tristana'' (song), a 1987 song recorded by the ...

'' (1970) of

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and m ...

, until '' La conjura de El Escorial'' (2008), happening through the superproduction ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

(1973), of

Richard Lester Richard Lester Liebman (born January 19, 1932) is an American retired film director based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for directing the Beatles' films '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) and ''Help!'' (1965), and the superhero films ''S ...

. Also several scenes of series of TVE were filmed, like ''

Fortunata y Jacinta ''Fortunata y Jacinta'' (Fortunata and Jacinta), was written by Benito Pérez Galdós in 1887 and published in the same year. It is, together with Leopoldo Alas y Ureña's '' La Regenta'' (The Judge's Wife), one of the most popular and represe ...

'', shot in 1980 and based on the homonymous novel of Benito Perez Galdós, ''

Águila Roja ''Águila Roja'' ( en, Red Eagle) is a Spanish adventure television series set in Spain during the 17th century. It was produced by Globomedia for Televisión Española and was broadcast on La 1 of Televisión Española from 2009 to 2016. It is ...

'' or ''

Carlos, rey emperador ''Carlos, rey emperador'' () is a Spanish historical fiction television series, directed by Oriol Ferrer and produced by Diagonal TV for Televisión Española. The series is a sequel to the successful ''Isabel'' and is based upon the reign of Charl ...

''.

References

Web of tourism of Toledo

External links

Ducal House of Medinaceli Foundation - San Juan Bautista Hospital
*
Colegio de San Juan Bautista, or Colegio Tavera

{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1603 Renaissance architecture in Castilla–La Mancha Hospitals in Spain Museums in Toledo, Spain