Juan Bautista de Toledo (c. 1515 – 19 May 1567) was a Spanish architect. He was educated in Italy, in the Italian High Renaissance. As many Italian renaissance architects, he had experience in both architecture and military and civil

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

. Born, either in Toledo or in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

around 1515. He died on 19 May 1567 in Madrid, and was buried in Madrid in the choir of the primitive “Convento de Santo Tomás, Iglesia de la Santa Cruz”.

Career

Perhaps he started his career in architecture in Rome, between 1534 and 1541, working for

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...

and

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

(Alessandro Farnese), completing the courtyard of

Palazzo Farnese Palazzo Farnese () or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance List of palaces in Italy#Rome, palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and cur ...

. Then, possibly, he continues his training in the construction site of St. Peter's, under the direction of

Antonio da Sangallo the Younger 250px, A model of the Apostolic Palace, which was the main project of Bramante during Sangallo's apprenticeship. 250px, The church of Santa Maria di Loreto near the Rome.html"_;"title="Trajan's_Market_in_Rome">Trajan's_Market_in_Rome. image: ...

. Another hypothesis is that he worked for

in both Fortaleza da Basso,

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

and St. Peter’s Basilica of Rome. Juan Bautista de Toledo, an enigmatic and puzzling personality, was known in Florence and Rome as Giovanni Battista de Alfonsis. However, in Naples and Madrid, he was identified as Juan Bautista de Toledo: both Spanish architects had the same hand writing. Perhaps, his true name was Juan Bautista de Toledo Alfonsis.

El Escorial

El Escorial El Escorial, or the Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial ( es, Monasterio y Sitio de El Escorial en Madrid), or Monasterio del Escorial (), is a historical residence of the King of Spain located in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, u ...

, his most significant job, on 23 April 1563, in the ceremony of the masonry stone (

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

Juan de Herrera Juan de Herrera (1530 – 15 January 1597) was a Spanish architect, mathematician and geometrician. One of the most outstanding Spanish architects in the 16th century, Herrera represents the peak of the Renaissance in Spain. His sober style reac ...

wrote over the visible side of the first stone, "JOANNES BAPTISTA ARCHITECTUS MAJOR. APRILES 23". In the other sides of the first stone, the inscriptions are: in one side, "DEUS OPTIMUS MAXIMUS OPERO ASPICIAT"; and in the other side, "PHILIPUS HISPANIARUM REX A FUNDAMENTIS ERIXIR −1563": "En 23 dias del mes de abril, dia de San Jorge mártir, deste año de 1563 se puso la primera piedra del monasterio en el cimiento del reflectorio, debajo de la silla del prior, que es en la bodega, debajo del dicho reflectorio, la cual piedra es cuadrada y está escrita por todas partes, que da a entender quien es el fundador, y quien es el arquitecto y el día y año en que se pone". On 18 December 1546 Pope

Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

appointed the Spaniard Joannes Baptista, Deputy Coordinator Architect for

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

of Rome: "Similis deputatio pro Joanne Bapta. Hispano". On 26 February 1947 “

(…) informed the Florentine mason master Niccolo that he was to follow the orders of Giovanni Battista de Alfonsis, his personal choice as successor of Labacco(…)”. Before,

, his

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

, died in 1549, on 20 September 1548,Juan Bautista de Toledo y Felipe II: la implantación del clasicismo en España , Rivera Blanco, José Javier , Universidad de Valladolid 1984. summoned by the

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...

Pedro Álvarez de Toledo Pedro is a masculine given name. Pedro is the Spanish, Portuguese, and Galician name for ''Peter''. Its French equivalent is Pierre while its English and Germanic form is Peter. The counterpart patronymic surname of the name Pedro, meaning " ...

Giovanni Battista de Alfonsis went to

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

to work under the name of "Juan Bautista de Toledo" in the position of "Maestro Mayor de Obras Reales en el Reino de Nápoles". In

, he designed and rebuilt many buildings, including: the Strada di Toledo (since 1870 called Strada di Roma), the church of St. Giacomo degli Spagnuoli; the square bastions to the Castello Nuovo; a large palazzo at

Posillipo Posillipo (; nap, Pusilleco ) is an affluent residential quarter of Naples, southern Italy, located along the northern coast of the Gulf of Naples. From the 1st century BC the Bay of Naples witnessed the rise of villas constructed by elite Roma ...

, the fortress of

Sant'Elmo Castel Sant'Elmo is a medieval fortress located on Vomero Hill adjacent to the Certosa di San Martino, overlooking Naples, Italy. The name "Sant'Elmo" derives from a former 10th-century church dedicated to Sant'Erasmo, shortened to "Ermo" and, ...

; and several fountains. In 1559, he was appointed Maestro Mayor de Obras Reales (mainly in

and Toledo) by

Philip II Philip II may refer to: * Philip II of Macedon (382–336 BC) * Philip II (emperor) (238–249), Roman emperor * Philip II, Prince of Taranto (1329–1374) * Philip II, Duke of Burgundy (1342–1404) * Philip II, Duke of Savoy (1438-1497) * Philip ...

and summoned back to

. His yearly salary was at first no more than 220

ducats The ducat () coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wi ...

, because Philip's policy, with his Spanish artists at least, was to give them moderate allowances until he had tested their abilities. He restored the Alcazar de Madrid, Alcazar de Toledo and Convento de los Jerónimos de Madrid. He designed the frontage of the church de las Descalzas Reales He also performed architectural and public works in

Casa de Campo The Casa de Campo (, for Spanish: ''Country House'') is the largest public park in Madrid. It is situated west of central Madrid, Spain. It gets its name 'Country House' because it was once a royal hunting estate, located just west of the Ro ...

de Madrid, Casa Real de Aceca and Palacio de Aranjuez. In 1561, he was appointed "Arquitecto Real" responsible for the town planning of El Escorial: Monastery, El Escorial village and La Granjilla. In other words, “El Escurial (the name of

(village) in the 16th century) Monastery and Site: the inscription of El Escorial in the World Heritage List of UNESCO. He supervised architectural and public works in

(village), the surroundings of

(monastery) and La Granjilla de La Fresneda until his death in 1567. The

Monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

was finished by

in 1584. The main public works in the town planning of

were the Aqueduct and Ponds of La Granjilla, the Aqueduct to the Monastery and the two streets joining El Escorial (village) to the Monastery and La Granjilla. El Escorial of Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera is an example of territorial development based on exclusive aesthetic values of global significance. Furthermore, he designed the overall outline of La Granjilla de La Fresneda. The project was finished with the collaboration of architects, Gaspar de Vega and

; gardener fray Marcos de Cardona; Furthermore, Dutch dams experts Petre Janson and Spond. Still to be investigated the participation of

Juanelo Turriano Gianello della Torre or to Spaniards Juanelo Turriano or Giovanni Torriani, c. 1500 — 1585) was an Italo-Spanish clockmaker, engineer and mathematician. He was born in Cremona. Biography Called to Spain in 1529 by Charles V, Holy Roman Empero ...

, Hydraulic Engineer of

External links

Michelangelo at St. Peter’s: The Arberino Correspondence (article)Michelangelo at St. Peter’s: The Arberino Correspondence (comments)
* ttps://books.google.com/books?id=Qijgk6YdxgMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=privilegio+witcombe&ei=4qkhSdXWOpTElQSi-6XLCg COPYRIGHT IN THE RENAISSANCEbr>HISTORIA DEL REAL MONASTERIO DE SAN LORENZO

Bibliography

* Los verdaderos artífices de El Escorial y el estilo indebidamente llamado Herreriano , Portabales Pichel, Amancio , Madrid 1945. * Maestros mayores, arquitectos y aparejadores de El Escorial , Portabales Pichel, Amancio , Madrid 1945. * Juan Bautista de Toledo, arquitecto segundo de la fábrica de San Pedro de Roma , Carlos Vicuña OSA, Monasterio del Escorial , 1966. * Juan Bautista de Toledo y Miguel Ángel en el Vaticano , Severino Giner Guerri , Goya, nº 126. * Juan Bautista de Toledo y Felipe II: la implantación del clasicismo en España , Rivera Blanco, José Javier , Universidad de Valladolid 1984. * Juan de Herrera, arquitecto de Felipe II , Ruiz de Arcaute, Agustín , Madrid 1997. * Juan de Herrera: arquitecto de Felipe II , Wilkinson-Zerner, Catherine , 1996. * Copyright in the Renaissance: Prints and the Privilegio in Sixteenth-Century Venice and Rome , Christopher L.C.E. Witcombe , 2004. * Michelangelo at St. Peter's: The Arberino Correspondence , Howard Saalman. * Architectural Drawings of Antonio Da Sangallo the Younger and His Circle: Fortifications, Machines and Festival Architecture , Vol 1 , Christoph L. Frommel, Nicholas Adams (Eds.) , February 1994 , The MIT Press. * Architectural Drawings of Antonio Da Sangallo the Younger and His Circle: Churches, Villas, the Pantheon, Tombs, and Ancient Inscriptions , Vol 2 , Christoph L. Frommel, Adams Nicholas (Eds.) , September 2000 , The MIT Press. * Unpublished paper of Agustin Bustamante Garcia (UAM: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid) on Juan Bautista de Toledo (Giovanni Battista de Alfonsis) at Florence. * Las tres primeras piedras del Monasterio de San Lorenzo el Real de El Escorial , Pedro Martín Gómez , Homenaje a Juan de Herrera , Fundación Obra Pía "Juan de Herrera , Santander , 1988. * Meorias , Fray Juan de San Gerónimo , Colección de Documentos Inéditos para la Historia de España, tomo VII , Madrid , 1845. * Historia de la Orden de San Jerónimo , Fray José de Sigüenza , Madrid , 1605. * Los orígenes arquitectónicos del Real Monasterio de El Escorial , Secundino Zuazo Ugalde, , Discurso de ingreso en la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando , Madrid, 1948. * La obra de El Escorial , George Kubler , Madrid, 1982. References ditar

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toledo, Juan Bautista de Renaissance architects 16th-century Spanish architects Spanish sculptors Spanish male sculptors Spanish Renaissance people 1510s births 1567 deaths Italian Renaissance architects

Career

El Escorial

See also

External links

Bibliography

References