Estipite
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The estipite column is a type of
pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...
typical of the
Churrigueresque Churrigueresque (; Spanish: ''Churrigueresco''), also but less commonly "Ultra Baroque", refers to a Spanish Baroque style of elaborate sculptural architectural ornament which emerged as a manner of stucco decoration in Spain in the late 17th c ...
Baroque style of Spain and Spanish America used in the 18th century. In the late Baroque period, many classical architectural elements lost their simple shapes and became increasingly complex, offering variety of forms and exuberant decoration. Therefore, the column has the shape of an inverted cone or obelisk. The shaft is always wider in its middle part than the base and capital. The column combines features of both late
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
and
Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...
. It was widely used between 1720 and 1780.


Characteristics


Form

The shape of the estipite has a narrow base and the shaft is in the shape of an inverted obelisk. Kornegay, Paula B. “The Altar Screens of an Anonymous Artist in Northern New Spain: The Laguna Santero.” ''Journal of the Southwest'' 38, no. 1 (1996): 63–79. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40169967. This is a variation to previous uses of the pilaster which deviates from classical architecture with its form. In classical architecture, pilasters give the impression that they have a load bearing function. However, due to the obelisk shape of the estipite, this tradition is disrupted.The estipite is not supposed to look solid, instead be dynamic and create movement. Creating an apparent lightness to the structure. Manuel Toussaint defines estipites as: “A supporting member, square or rectangular in section, and formed of multiple elements: pyramids and truncated prisms, parallelepipeds, superimposed foliage, medallions, garlands, bouquets, festoons. The ornament is all vegetable, applied to geometric forms”.


Capitals

The capitals usually highlight the line of a broken cornice and are unabridged. Or may be connected to another estipite by a horizontal entablature. The capital for esiplite pilasters are typically Corinthian .There are deviations to this. For example, decorations of vegetation and cherub heads take the place of the Corinthian capital in Capilla del Sagrario for the Cathedral of Segovia by Jeronimo de Balbas.


Double Columns

Similar to Baroque styling with the use of double columns, the double estipites is a feature in some Churrigueresque buildings.


Alongside other styles

Estipies were utilized between Ultra-Baroque and the rise of Neo-Classical styles. Therefore, even though estipites are distinct in style, they are sometimes used alongside Solomonic and classical columns. A good example of this is San Francisco Acatepec in Puebla.


History


Origin

In Richard W. Amero's thesis, ''The California Building: A Case Of The Misunderstood Baroque'', he claims that Michelangelo is the first one to use an estipite pilaster in the
Laurentian Library The Laurentian Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana or BML) is a historic library in Florence, Italy, containing more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. Built in a cloister of the Medicean Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze ...
(1526). Meanwhile, John F Moffitt states in his thesis ''El Sagrario Metropolitano, Wendel Dietterlin, and The Estipite'' that Juan de Arfe y Villafane could have been the first known person to mention the estipite. This is seen in Arfe’s, ''Description de la traza de la custodia de la Iglesia de Sevilla'' (1587). Therefore the origins of the estipite are debated among scholars.


Spain and New Spain

The architect known for making estipites popular is Jose Benito de Churriguera, who has the Churrigueresque style named after him. His first works with estipites were Capilla del Sagrario for the
Segovia Cathedral Segovia Cathedral is the Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral located in the main square ( Plaza Mayor) of the city of Segovia, in the community of Castile-Leon, Spain. The church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was built in the Flamboyant Goth ...
(1690) and
Convento de San Esteban, Salamanca The Convento de San Esteban is a Dominican monastery situated in the Plaza del Concilio de Trento (Council of Trent) in the Spanish city of Salamanca. History The Dominicans settled in Salamanca in about 1255, but their original monastery wa ...
(1693). Jeronimo de Balbas was a spanish architect who moved to Mexico (New Spain) in 1717, and introduced the new world to estipites. His work Retablo de los Reyes in the
Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven ( es, Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de la Bienaventurada Virgen María a los cielos) is the cathedral church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mex ...
(1718-37)  was the first building to showcase estipites in the New World. The era of estipites only lasted till 1783 with the establishment of
Academia de San Carlos The Academy of San Carlos ( es, Academia de San Carlos) is located at 22 Academia Street in just northeast of the main plaza of Mexico City. It was the first major art academy and the first art museum in the Americas. It was founded in 1781 as th ...
, an architecture school in New Spain. However in this short period of time 1736, the completion of Retablo de los Reyes, till 1783, many buildings in New Spain (Mexico) had facades or alters with estipites. Due to the decline in popularity for the estipite pilasters, Solomonic and Classical columns were revived throughout Spain and New Spain. This lead to many estipite-style monuments to be destroyed or replaced with classical columns in the last decades of the 1800s.Kornegay, Paula B. “The Altar Screens of an Anonymous Artist in Northern New Spain: The Laguna Santero.” ''Journal of the Southwest'' 38, no. 1 (1996): 63–79. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40169967.


Buildings

Small list of buildings that estipites are a design feature for.


References

Baroque architectural features Churrigueresque architecture Orders of columns Columns and entablature {{architecturalelement-stub