José Benito de Churriguera (21 March 1665, in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
– 2 March 1725, in Madrid) was a Spanish architect, sculptor and
urbanist
Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built environment. It is a direct component of disciplines such as urban planning, a profession focusing on the design and management of urban a ...
of the late-
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
or
Rococo
Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
style. He was born in Madrid to a
Catalan cabinetmaker
A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood (solid ...
,
gilder and
altarpiece
An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...
joiner
Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, ...
, Josep Simó Xoriguera i Elies and to doña Maria de Ocaña, and studied under his father along with two of his brothers.
His excessively decorated style, which can be described as an obsessively over-wrought ''
horror vacui'' on any surface or facade, led to the adjective
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 ...
. He and his two brothers Joaquin de Churriguera (1674–1724) and Alberto (1676–1750) were recognized as the leading
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 ...
s of their time.
Works
His works include or are found in the following:
* The altarpiece in the church for Convent of San Esteban in
Salamanca
Salamanca () is a Municipality of Spain, municipality and city in Spain, capital of the Province of Salamanca, province of the same name, located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is located in the Campo Charro comarca, in the ...
* In the
New Cathedral of Salamanca
The Catedral de la Asunción de la Virgen (Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary), popularly known as New Cathedral () is, together with the Old Cathedral, Salamanca, Old Cathedral, one of the two cathedrals of Salamanca, Castile and Le ...
.
* The church of
Saint Sebastian
Sebastian (; ) was an early Christianity, Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this d ...
in
Madrid
Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
* The church of
San Cayetano in Madrid.
* The church of
Saint Thomas in Madrid.
* The
Goyeneche Palace in Madrid.
* The
Goyeneche Palace, church and garden in the factory town of
Nuevo Baztán
Nuevo Baztán is a municipality southeast of Madrid, near Alcalá de Henares, Spain. It consists of a small historic centre and modern housing estates.
The historic centre was designed as an industrial and housing complex laid out on a grid pla ...
, near
Alcalá de Henares
Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish municipality of the Community of Madrid. Housing is primarily located on the right (north) bank of the Henares River, Henares. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municip ...
.
* The chapel of the Sacristy (Sagrario) in the
Cathedral of Segovia.
* The altarpiece of the ''Transit of the Virgin'' in the cathedral in
Palencia
Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia.
Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half of ...
.
External links
Scholarly articlesin English about José Benito de Churriguera to both in web an
PDF@ th
Spanish Old Masters Gallery
References
* ''Bernard Bevan'', Historia de la Arquitectura Española, Ed. Juventud S.A., 1970,
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Rococo architects