Juan Bautista Villalpando also ''Villalpandus'', or ''Villalpanda'' (1552 – 22 May 1608) was a Spanish priest of Sephardic ancestry, a member of the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

, a

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

, and

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Life

Villalpando was born in

Córdoba, Spain Córdoba (; ),, Arabic: قُرطبة DIN: . or Cordova () in English, is a city in Andalusia, Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. It is the third most populated municipality in Andalusia and the 11th overall in the country. The ...

, in 1552. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1575 and for the Society he designed several buildings including the Cathedral in Baeza and San Hermenegildo Church in

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 ...

. He studied

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...

and

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

with

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 re ...

, the architect of Philip II of Spain. After ordination, he specialised in the

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretation ...

of the Old Testament. He published his ''Ezechielem Explanationes'', or ''Commentary on Ezekiel'', with Jerónimo del Prado in 1596. He was accused of heresy, but a review of his beliefs and writings by the

Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...

found him innocent. That same year he travelled to Rome where he published additional volumes in 1604. He died there on 22 May 1608.

Work

Villalpando's major work as a scholar was a commentary on the prophet Ezekiel, published with the support of King Philip II. This text included imaginative reconstructions of

Solomon's Temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by th ...

and depictions of Jerusalem, which were renowned and influential. He based them on the vision of the prophet Ezekiel and published them in his ''Ezechielem Explanationes''. They inspired many European illustrators and were circulated among the master builders of the 17th century. His drawings were based on the assumption that the buildings of Jerusalem were designed using the laws of geometry, and they were drawn in parallel or orthographic projection, which is a form of image Villalpando likened to God's vision. Contradicting the theory developed by

Vitruvius Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled '' De architectura''. He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attribut ...

in '' De architectura'', which sought to establish that the origins of the orders lay in the

Architecture of ancient Greece Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greek-speaking people (''Hellenic'' people) whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC unti ...

, Villalpando argued that there was an original link between the

classical orders An order in architecture is a certain assemblage of parts subject to uniform established proportions, regulated by the office that each part has to perform. Coming down to the present from Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman civilization, the arch ...

and Solomon's Temple and that the classical orders had their origin in specifications detailed by God. The Inquisition's interest in Villalpando centered on his illustrations as possible misinterpretations of scripture. In the opinion of some art historians, Villalpando's illustrations of Solomon's temple influenced numerous

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 whi ...

constructions of the baroque era, as well as on the grids schemes of

urban planners An urban planner (also known as town planner) is a professional who practices in the field of town planning, urban planning or city planning. An urban planner may focus on a specific area of practice and have a title such as city planner, town ...

. Villalpando's imagery was used in the design of Protestant churches and synagogues in the 17th century. Villalpando was a disciple of

, architect of

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 ...

, whose designs for that complex included quadratic inner courtyards and

risalit An ''avant-corps'' ( it, avancorpo or , plural , german: Risalit, pl, ryzalit), a French term literally meaning "fore-body", is a part of a building, such as a porch or pavilion, that juts out from the ''corps de logis'', often taller than othe ...

s. Some criticisms of Villalpando's work on Solomon's Temple bring up points with relevance to both architecture and philosophy. Criticisms of Villalpando reconstruction of the Temple include: that the sub-structure of the Temple in his designs is exaggerated, that his work lacks any archaeological basis or grounding in realism, that he failed to use Jewish sources apart from the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

, the

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...

, and the writings of

Maimonides Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Tora ...

. Villalpando also wrote theoretical tracts on

gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

and

, occupying himself above all with conveying the geometrical principles of constructions.

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

made use of Villalpando's works in his studies of architecture. Villalpando 09

Notes

References

External links

*Ancient Maps of Jerusalem
''Villalpando, Juan Bautista, 1552-1608''
Jewish National & University Library. * Jerusalem 3000: Three Millennia of History

University of Southern Maine. *Joseph MacDonnell, S.J

Fairfield University. *Museum of the History of Science
''The Temple: Catalogue Number 51''
University of Oxford. {{DEFAULTSORT:Villalpando, Juan Bautista 1552 births 1608 deaths 16th-century Spanish Jesuits 17th-century Spanish architects 16th-century Spanish mathematicians 17th-century Spanish Jesuits Jesuit scientists 16th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians 17th-century Spanish Roman Catholic theologians

Life

Work

Notes

References

Further reading

External links