Juan de Arfe y Villafañe (1535–1603) was a Spanish engraver,

goldsmith A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and servicea ...

, artist,

anatomist Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

and author. He was of German descent.William Stirling Maxwell ''The Cloister Life of the Emperor Charles the Fifth''. C. S. Francis & co., 1853. Born in

Leon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

, Arphe y Villafañe was instructed by his father, Antonio, in goldsmithing and engraving, and also studied

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

in Toledo and

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...

. Following his father's death, Villafañe moved to

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...

, where he worked as a goldsmith, mostly for churches and cathedrals, making monstrances and other pieces for cities including Ávila,

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

and

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of ...

. At the same time, he was an architect and a sculptor, and worked as an engraver and creator of

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...

s, as well as being the assayer of a mint in

Segovia Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia. Segovia is in the Inner Plateau ('' Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of t ...

. Arphe-Villafañe wrote several books of which the best known was his ''Varia comesuracion para la escultura y arquitectura''. Each of the four books which comprised the work focused on one of Arphe-Villafañe's subjects of expertise: *The first book discussed geometry in brief, and gnomonics at great length. *The second book focused on the anatomy of the human body. *The third book contained many illustrations of animals, and the text described

quadrupeds Quadrupedalism is a form of locomotion where four limbs are used to bear weight and move around. An animal or machine that usually maintains a four-legged posture and moves using all four limbs is said to be a quadruped (from Latin ''quattuor' ...

and birds. *The fourth book talks solely on architecture and closely related subject matters. All of the books contained many

s, some full page, with others mixed with the text.Ludwig Choulant, Edward Clark Streeter, Fielding Hudson Garrison, Mortimer Frank ''History and Bibliography of Anatomic Illustration''. The University of Chicago press, 1852. pp. 218–20. He moved to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

some years before his death, and he spent the final years of his life there, before he died of undocumented causes early into the 17th century.

Notes and references

;Specific ;General *Richard Ford ''A Handbook for Travellers in Spain''. 1855 *Donald Frederick Lach ''Asia in the Making of Europe''. University of Chicago Press, 1977 {{DEFAULTSORT:Arphe y Villafane, Juan de Spanish goldsmiths Spanish artists 1535 births 1603 deaths Spanish printmakers