Churrigueresque

Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Spain. Churrigueresque Obradoiro façade

Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Merced in Lima built in 1614 by Father Pedro Galeano and foreman Andres Espinoza

Churrigueresque (/tʃʊərrɪɡəˈrɛsk/) 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 century and was used up to about 1750, marked by extreme, expressive and florid decorative detailing, normally found above the entrance on the main facade of a building.

Origins

Named after the architect and sculptor, José Benito de Churriguera (1665–1725), who was born in Madrid of a Catalan family (originally named Xoriguera), and who worked primarily in Madrid and Salamanca, the origins of the style are said to go back to an architect and sculptor named Alonso Cano, who designed the facade of the cathedral at Granada, in 1667.

A distant precursor (early 15th century) of the highly elaborate style can be found in the Lombard Charterhouse of Pavia; yet the sculpture-encrusted facade still has the Italianate appeal to rational narrative. The Churrigueresque style appeals to the proliferative geometry, and has a more likely ancestry in the Moorish architecture or Mudéjar architecture that still remained through south and central Spain. The interior stucco roofs of, for example the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos in Córdoba, Spain, flourish with detail and ornamentation.

Development

The development of the style passed through three phases. Between 1680 and 1720, the Churriguera popularized Guarino Guarini's blend of Solomonic columns and composite order, known as "supreme order". Between 1720 and 1760, the Churrigueresque column, or estipite, in the shape of an inverted cone or obelisk, was established as a central element of ornamental decoration. The years from 1760 to 1780 saw a gradual shift of interest away from twisted movement and excessive ornamentation towards Neoclassical balance and sobriety.

Among the highlights of the style, interiors of the Granada Charterhouse offer some of the most impressive combinations of space and light in 18th-century Europe. Integrating sculpture and architecture even more radically, Narciso Tomé achieved striking chiaroscuro effects in his Transparente for the Toledo Cathedral. Perhaps the most visually intoxicating form of the style was Mexican Churrigueresque, practised in the mid-18th century by Lorenzo Rodriguez, whose masterpiece is the Sagrario Metropolitano (1749–69) in Mexico City, New Spain.

Spain

Plaza Mayor of Salamanca (1729-1755).

The first of the Churriguera was José Benito de Churriguera (1665-1725), who trained as a joiner of altarpieces, drawing some very important for various churches of Salamanca, Madrid, Valladolid and other cities in Spain. Some in Spain have gone and some remain only a sites:

Altarpiece of Convent of San Esteban in Salamanca.
Town of Nuevo Baztán (Church of san Francisco Javier and Goyeneche Palace).
Choir of the New Cathedral of Salamanca.
Plaza Mayor of Salamanca.
Capilla de la Vera Cruz, in Salamanca.
College of Calatrava, in Salamanca.
Palace of San Telmo, in Seville.

Mexico

In Mexico, the Cathedral Basilica of Zacatecas, Zacatecas, capital of Zacatecas state, and the Parish of Santa Prisca, located in Taxco, Guerrero state are considered as masterpieces of Churrigueresque style. The building of Parroquia Antigua in Salamanca, Guanajuato, founded on August 24, 1603, was completed in the year 1690, and the Churrigueresque facade in 1740. The altarpiece of the church of San Francisco Javier (National Museum of Viceroyalty) in Tepotzotlán, State of Mexico is also considered, along with its facade, one of the most important baroque churrigueresque works created by the Jesuits in New Spain. The Altar de los Reyes of the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral and the facades of the Sagrario Metropolitano, which is attached to the same Cathedral, are also representatives of the style.

The Philippines

It was late introduced in the Philippines. The best examples were the San Juan de dios Hospital in Intramuros, Daraga Church in Albay, and Tigbauan Church in Iloilo.