Juan de Herrera
By Sophia Sargent
Brief Biography Of Juan de Herrera
Juan de Herrera was born in c. 1530 in Maliano, Spain. In 1582, he married his niece Ines de Herrera. Most of the time, Juan worked as an intern architect for Juan Bautista de Toledo. Together, the two worked for King Philip II. When Juan Bautista de Toledo died, Juan took his place as the supervisor of the king's architecture designs. Juan also took charge of the palace of furnishing as another job. Juan studied at the University of Valladolid and also in Brussels where he studied Geometry and other math. Another job he had was directing the Academy of Math in Madrid. Juan's life mainly revolved around architecture and three examples of his work included his first El Escorial, Valladolid, and Lonja Of Seville. A trusty patron and big supporter of his work was King Philip II. With his support and help, Juan de Herrera would build great creations.
El Escorial. Juan de Herrera. 1576-August 30, 1584. ARTstor [online]. [cited 3 December 20015]. Available from ARTstor, Inc., New York, New York.
This El Escorial, and it is a palace filled with extravagant rooms and details. For example there is a church, royal apartments, domes, mausoleum, galleries, staircases, and a library. The palace was started in the year 1576 and was finished by August 30th, 1584. Today, it is located in the center of Spain, or Madrid.
El Escorial. Juan de Herrera. 1576-August 30, 1584. ARTstor [online]. [cited 3 December 20015]. Available from ARTstor, Inc., New York, New York.
The El Escorial is significant because of the Herrera style. The Herrera style is fine details that Juan de Herrera created for this building. The details can be described as "impersonal Renaissance style". This style is now used on many more Spanish buildings today. This palace is interesting to me because of its magnificent staircases. When Juan de Herrera built this palace he put imperial staircases in it. Looking back on documents, there is no document or idea found that anyone else used the staircase in the 17th and 18th century. Does this mean that he created the staircase?
El Escorial. Juan de Herrera. 1576-August 30, 1584. ARTstor [online]. [cited 3 December 20015]. Available from ARTstor, Inc., New York, New York.
When Juan de Herrera designed the castle, there was a lot of details put into it such as his style, domes, and even a new idea staircases. Because of the amount of detail on the outside and inside, this palace could be considered Classicism. Rome used domes to build their churches and other important buildings. Juan de Herrera turned to the idea of domes from Rome which make the design more of Classicism.
Works Cited
"Juan de Herrera." International Dictionary of Architects and Architecture. Gale, 1993. Biography in Context. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.