John Herrera
Juan de Herrera de Maliaño (Roiz, Cantabria, 1530 - Madrid, January 15, 1597) was a Spanish architect, mathematician, geometer and soldier, considered one of the greatest exponents of architecture Hispanic Renaissance.
Its sober and severe architectural style, called Herreriano in his honor, was representative of the reign of Philip II (r. 1556-1598) and had a notable influence on later Spanish architecture, mainly throughout the 17th century.
His most important architectural work is the monastery of El Escorial, in the Madrid municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, which Herrera finished in 1584 after reorganizing the original project of Juan Bautista de Toledo. Subsequently, Felipe II, embodying the postulates of the Counter-Reformation, would commission the Cathedral of Valladolid. It should have been the largest cathedral in Europe, although it is 40-45% built, due to the lack of resources for a project of this magnitude and the expenses caused by the difficult foundation of the temple, located in an area with a great unevenness in the terrain.
As a figure of the Renaissance, he was interested in different branches of knowledge and manifested an adventurous spirit and a desire for novelty. His Discourse on the Cubic Figure reveals his knowledge of geometry and mathematics and his participation in some of Carlos I's military campaigns (in Germany, Flanders and Italy) speaks of his restless mood.
Biography
Juan de Herrera was born in the Movellán neighborhood —in the town of Roiz, belonging to the Cantabrian municipality of Valdáliga—, into a family of hidalgos. Grandson of Ruy Gutiérrez de Maliaño y Herrera, lord of the Maliaño manor house, his family enjoyed a comfortable social position. However, having been born out of wedlock to his father, the family looked down on him even when his father had married his mother after his wife passed away. His father died when Juan was three or four years old.
Juan de Herrera has never attended any university. In 1547 he left his paternal home and, the following year, he joined the entourage of knights of Felipe II, then still a prince, and traveled through Flanders, Germany and Italy, where he came into contact with the Renaissance currents of the moment. He returns to Spain together with the prince in 1551 and has to start over, since he cannot continue at Court.
In this situation, in 1552, he enlisted in the army and joined the company of Captain Francisco de Medinilla, a professional soldier. From 1553 he participated in the campaigns in Piedmont under the command of Ferrante I Gonzaga, he was arquebusier on horseback and participated together with Ferrante's tercio in the Flanders campaign with the armies of Carlos I. Once Ferrante was dismissed, he became part of the emperor's personal guard and stayed with him in Brussels. In 1556, he accompanies the emperor on the trip to Spain and is fired from him on the occasion of the latter's retirement in the monastery of Yuste.
After the death of Carlos I, in 1558, he passed into the service of Felipe II, under whose patronage he developed practically his entire career. He deals with the teaching of Prince Charles and, in the exercise of this activity, he copies the astronomical figures from the Book of Astronomy Knowledge , a task that he concludes in 1562.
In 1562 he was considered a good draftsman and knowledgeable about the operation of different machines.
On February 18, 1563, he placed himself under the orders of Juan Bautista de Toledo, author of the initial project for the El Escorial monastery. In 1572 he officially assumed the direction of the works, which ended in 1584.
In 1579 he was appointed Inspector of Monuments of the Crown, which contributed to a rapid expansion throughout Spain of his architectural style, defined in the layout of El Escorial.
In 1583 he founded the Academy of Mathematics and Delineation (the predecessor of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences) and became its first director.
In 1594 he fell seriously ill and abandoned active work. He died in Madrid on January 15, 1597, being buried in the church of San Nicolás de los Servitas.
Following the will reflected in his will, written in 1584, his mortal remains are currently deposited in the church of San Juan Bautista, in Maliaño (Cantabria).
Architectural work
Herrera began in architecture in 1561 with the works of the Royal Palace of Aranjuez in the Madrid town of Aranjuez.
In 1563 he began to collaborate with Juan Bautista de Toledo in the construction of the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. When Bautista de Toledo died in 1567, he succeeded him in directing the works. Herrera modifies the plans, enlarging them and changing the ornamentation of the interior of the church and the layout of the façade, making a unique building that draws attention for its austerity. He bases his design on horizontality, compositional uniformity and a sober decoration.
In El Escorial, he built the monumental western façade, the great basilica with a centralized plan and the pavilion in the Patio de los Evangelistas. In addition to this he changes the construction techniques and modifies the roofs. He highlights the mastery with which he makes the flat vaults of the structure. He laid the last stone of the building in 1584. The General Archive of Simancas (Valladolid) is from the same period.
As he directs the works of El Escorial, he carries out different projects throughout Spain such as the southern façade of the Alcázar de Toledo (1571-1585), the Lonja de Sevilla (1583) or the Casa de la Moneda de Segovia (1583).
His appointment by Felipe II as inspector of monuments for the Crown opens the doors to new architectural projects, among which the Cathedral of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in Valladolid (1589) stands out, a large-scale work, with a structure of enormous complexity, which remained unfinished, but which served as an example for the cathedrals of Mexico and Lima.
From the important positions he held, it is presumable that Herrera was at least one of the editors of the Ordinances of Felipe II, published on May 3, 1576 in San Lorenzo de El Escorial, which governed the immense task of creation of new cities in the West Indies.
Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.
Valladolid Cathedral.
Royal Palace of Aranjuez.
General Archive of Indias (Sevilla)
Gardening work
Among others, he also designed the extension of the King's Garden of the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, designed during the reign of Philip II (second half of the 16th century). Initially it was an enclosed garden attached to the south side of the palace, next to the clock tower, which follows the Italian Renaissance model of the secret and private garden. The initial project was by Juan Bautista de Toledo, executed and enriched by Juan de Herrera from 1577. It was a garden to be seen from the balconies of the palace, made up of a regular layout of streets bordering boxes of boxwood, flowers and vegetation. low. In the center is a green jasper fountain, the work of Roque Solario.
He is also the author of the project and planting in the garden of the Royal Palace of Aranjuez of a large boulevard parallel to the river, located in the Jardín de la Isla. Also, within this ambitious program of prestige and economic development of Aranjuez, decided to organize the area known as Picotajo, so called because it was located on a peninsula formed by the Tagus and Jarama rivers before their union. Since the 16th century, the course of the Tagus River has remained similar, with slight corrections of dikes and embankments, but the Jarama River has significantly modified its course, moving more than three kilometers in an easterly direction. When Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera made the plan of the Huertas de Picotajo, existing in the General Archive of the Palace, the Jarama river flowed closest to the palace.
Later influence
Juan de Herrera had a decisive influence on Spanish Renaissance architecture by changing the hitherto dominant Plateresque. The rigid mathematical proportions and the slate spiers together with the geometric decorative elements (spheres and pyramids) define the new Renaissance style of the empire of Felipe II.
Herrera dissolves figurative ornamentation resulting in the culmination of architectural volumes typical of classicism. The influence of his style, initially called desornamentado and later Herreriano, would extend for almost a century and would have such relevant followers as Francisco de Mora, Fray Alberto de la Madre de Dios, Juan Gómez de Mora or Juan Gómez de Trasmonte.
Main works
- Royal Palace of Aranjuez (1561).
- Monastery of El Escorial (1563).
- Palacio de El Quexigal (1563), missing building, built in Robledo de Chavela (Madrid).
- South Facade of the Alcazar of Toledo (1571-1585).
- Building of the Consistorial House of Toledo (1575).
- Segovia Bridge of Madrid (1582-1584).
- Reconstruction and reconversion to the palace of the Castle of Villaviciosa de Odón (1583).
- Design of the Lonja of Seville, present Archive of Indias (1583).
- Reconstruction of the Castle of Simancas (1588).
- Cathedral of Valladolid (1589).
- Real Aposento de Torrelodones (1589), missing building, built in the municipality of Madrid homonymous.
Tribute to Roiz
Since 2008, Roiz, the town in Cantabria where Juan de Herrera was born, enjoys a completely new square in his honor. It is worth noting the new promenade that connects the central square with the fountain —from which it is a tradition to drink its water. The square itself is a new small square —made with granite slabs—, and a monument similar to the one he erected in El Escorial which, popularly, is called "Monolith".
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