THE CHURRIGUERA FAMILY
...amanca cathedral (1714-1724; dismantled after 1755) and the Colegio de Calatrava (Salamanca, started 1717). Lastly, the third brother, Alberto (1676-1750), was also an architect, designer and woodcarver. Alberto designed the beautiful Plaza Mayor in Salamanca. Jose Benito Churriguera was well known for his design (1689) of the greatest catafalque for Queen Maria Louisa of Orleans, first wife of Charles II. The monument was four-sided with eight ornamented pilasters on projecting consoles loomed outward from the base. He was also famous for his elaborate retables, (large, usually 3-part sculptural altar piece) distinguished by twisted columns and very detailed leaf work. In 1690, Jose Benito was chosen as assistant draftsman to José del Olmo, who was Maestro Mayor of royal construction. He worked off the designs of others. In January 1692, Jose Benito was hired to build the enormous retable of San Esteban in Salamanca. He finished this piece in 1694. In 1700, he lost interest in royal commissions and subsequently he worked exclusively for private clients such as the banker and businessman Don Juan de Goyeneche, for whom he planned and built the town of Nuevo Baztan (1709-1713). The town had three plazas, a palace, and a two-towered church. He also designed Goyeneche’s townhouse in Madrid, which is now the Academy of San Fernando. However the Academy of San Fernando was drastically remodeled by Diego de Villanueva in 1773, Villanueva’s drawings showed how the building was originally with a rusticated ground floor and huge pilasters articulating the two upper stories. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701 – 1714) after the death of Charles II (1700), Jose Benito evidently supported Archduke Charles of Austria (later Emperor Charles VI) and consequently in 1711 his property was confiscated, and afterwards he lived for a short time in exile in Barcelona. Associated with Jose Benito were his brothers Joaquin and Alberto. Joaquin de Churriguera moved with Jose Benito to Salamanca in 1692 and happened to stay there for the rest of his life. Joaquin was hired along with Pedro de Gamboa in 1702 for the retable of Santa Clara as well as for the retable of Santo Tomas in San Esteban in 1705. Both of the retables were similar to Jose Benito’s style but had richer ornamentation. Joaquin covered the crossing of the new cathedral with a cupola, which is a rounded vault that usually sits over a circular base and it forms a roof or ceiling (1705 -1733, destroyed 1755) the stone was given an appearance of ornamental openwork of intricate design, a transformation into the Baroque expression of the sixteenth-century lantern of Burgos Cathedral. His amazing Claustro de los Estudios (started 1707) for the Colegio Real de la Compania de Jesus is considered one of the greatest of Spanish Baroque. In March 1714 Joaquin was designated as the master of the works of the Salamanca cathedral, he probably had already given his design for the crossing lantern. He continued his brother’s architectural design with the baluster columns and surface enrichment of the sixteenth-century Plateresque. Before the year was over, Joaquin began the Hospederia of the Colegio de Anaya in Salamanca. The patio is a replica of the Colegio de Nobles Irlandeses (1529-1534). Joaquin accentuated chiaroscuro and more robust Tuscan order below and Corinthian above, this type of design was considered eighteenth rather than the sixteenth century. In 1717, Joaquin began the Collegio de Calatrava, whose two towered façade with strong emphasis on the center portal identifies the works of Rodrigo Gil de Hontanon, Diego de Silor, and Alonso de Covarrubias. It was not completed, but was continued in 1725, by Pedro de Gamboa and Alberto Churriguera. Joaquin constructional expertise was well recognized: he strengthened the crossing lantern of Leon Cathedral (1714), he resolved some technical issues presented by the cupola of the sanctuary of S Ignacio, Loyola (1720), and also assisted in stabilizing the spire of the church of Santiago in Bilbao. Alberto de Churriguera’s early years were over shadowed by the fame of his brothers. He was trained by his brother Jose Benito and assisted him with building the Nuevo Baztan. While he was in Madrid, Alberto drew some plans for an altarpiece (1710-1715) for San Sebastian and also worked on the façade (which is now completely altered). At Plasencia Cathedral he completed two of Joaquin’s retable of the translation of the Virgin and also made the choir-stalls. In 1725 Alberto was selected as Master of the works in Salamanca to replace his brother Joaquin. It is possible that the enclosure of the choir and the choir stalls themselves had already been designed by Joaquin in 1724 as the choir enclosure shows, evidence of his attraction to the Plateresque. The project was probably finished by 1733 when the church was finally consecrated. Another piece of Joaquin’s work is the altar of the Assumption of the Virgin in the Catherdral of Plasencia. Joaquin worked there in April 1724. He died later that same year. The chapter wrote to Jose Benito in Madrid but he also had died in 1725; so the chapter then contracted with Alberto in April of 1725. Albe...