Juan de Herrera

Spanish architect

  • Born: c. 1530
  • Birthplace: Mobellán, Spain
  • Died: January 15, 1597
  • Place of death: Madrid, Spain

Herrera was Spain’s most famous architect of the late sixteenth century. As the royal architect, he established classicism in Spanish architecture and was a symbol and defining presence of the Spanish golden age under King Philip II.

Early Life

Juan de Herrera (her-REHR-ah) was born to a gentry family of modest means in northern Spain. As a teenager, he studied Latin and philosophy at the University of Valladolid. In 1548, he left his studies and become a courtier of Prince Philip at the court in Valladolid. Herrera traveled to Italy and Flanders as part of the princely retinue, returning to Spain in 1551. Two years later, he joined the army of Charles V, king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor. In 1556, he accompanied Charles V to the Hieronymite Monastery in Yuste, where the monarch retired. Herrera left Yuste for Madrid in 1558, after Charles V died.

Life’s Work

In the late sixteenth century, Herrera was Spain’s most famous architect, as well as a renowned mathematician and engineer. His career was inextricably linked to the reign of King Philip II, a knowledgeable and astute patron of the arts. Philip had an important influence on Spanish architecture, establishing Renaissance practices in Spain. Working together, Philip and Herrera created a recognizable royal building style that to this day is evocative of Spain’s golden age.

Herrera seems to have had no formal architectural training until Philip appointed him assistant to the royal architect, Juan Bautista de Toledo, in 1563. In this role, Herrera helped with the design of the Escorial, the monumental palace, monastery, and royal tomb complex under construction outside Madrid. Herrera worked with Toledo, who himself had assisted Michelangelo in Rome in the 1540’s, until 1567, when the older master died. By 1570, Herrera was in charge at the Escorial, although Philip II did not officially name him royal architect until 1579.

Herrera is most famous for the Escorial, one of the largest building complexes constructed in the sixteenth century. It was erected from 1563 to 1584. Although Toledo designed the initial ground plans, Herrera presided over most of its construction. Herrera was also responsible for the building’s elevations, the design of the main facade, the imperial staircase, and the basilica. In addition, he directed the decoration of the immense complex, designing altarpieces, reliquaries, and furniture.

As Philip II’s architect, Herrera worked at other Spanish royal palaces, including the Palace at Aranjuez, where he designed extensive gardens; in Granada, where he modified the sixteenth century Palace of Charles V; and in Toledo, where he redesigned the facade of the Alcázar. In the wake of Spain’s annexation of Portugal in 1580, Herrera traveled to Lisbon with Philip II to renovate the Paço de Ribera, the Portuguese royal palace.

Herrera is credited with creating a distinctive form of Spanish classicism, called plain style. Abstract, simplified, and cerebral, Herrera’s form of classicism virtually eliminated sculptural building decoration, relying only on the simplest classical order, the Doric, to enhance his structures. He thus rejected the elaborate late Gothic forms still fashionable in sixteenth century Spain. He combined an imported Italian classical vocabulary with certain Flemish traits, including high slate roofs, towers, and dormers, to create the new Spanish architectural style. In its rejection of ostentation and extravagance, this plain style gave perfect visual expression to Philip II’s reign. Plain, sober, modest, and utilitarian, Herrera’s style seemed to embody the king’s virtues. In this way, Herrera’s architecture, especially as seen at the Escorial, seems the perfect manifestation of the Spanish Counter-Reformation, the fervent Catholic reform movement of the sixteenth century, with which the fanatically religious Philip II is associated.

Scholars have suggested various sources for the genesis of Herrera’s unique classicism. Some posit the influence of the Neoplatonic philosopher Raymond Lull (c. 1235-1316), whose emphasis on geometry and abstraction can be detected in Herrera’s buildings. Another art historian has traced Herrera’s style to the aesthetic ideas of Saint Augustine (354-430 c.e.) order, unity, and consonance a premise first suggested by the Escorial’s official historian, friar José de Sigüenza, in the sixteenth century.

When Herrera employed his plain style, first used in royal commissions and in civic projects, public architecture became a royal symbol. This phenomenon can be seen in Herrera’s urban design projects executed at Philip II’s orders in Toledo, Madrid, Valladolid, Seville, and other Spanish cities.

Herrera’s plans for the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, in 1580, demonstrate the flexibility of his architectural style. Using simple materials, Herrera planned a variable, additive plaza that could be extended to accommodate new construction but was unified by standardized ornament and repeated windows.

In Toledo, Herrera designed two new projects, a city hall in 1574 and the Plaza Zocodover in 1590. This plaza typifies Herrera’s approach, combining classical orders in its four porticoes, Flemish roofing solutions, and indigenous Spanish medieval characteristics. In keeping with Hispanic tradition, Herrera’s porticoes used columns and lintels, reserving the arch form for the major entrance. Similarly, he preserved the plaza’s function as a commercial center.

Seville’s Merchant’s Exchange, planned by Herrera in 1582, exhibits the architect’s inclination to classical order. The plan is strictly geometric, organized around an interior courtyard, and the building overall is very Italianate. In addition to these major projects of urban renewal, Herrera consulted on other more utilitarian structures, including a fountain in Ocaña and bridges in Madrid. He was also involved in drafting Philip II’s Royal Ordinances for New Towns (1573), which provided guidelines for builders in the Americas.

Although Herrera built relatively few churches the basilica at the Escorial, Valladolid Cathedral, plus others in Toledo, Granada, and Lisbon his classical style had a profound impact on ecclesiastical architecture in Spain and the New World. Valladolid Cathedral, designed around 1580, encapsulates his unique approach. On first glance, the geometric double square plan is typical of Spanish Gothic cathedrals. Herrera, however, used the geometric plan to classical ends in this monumental structure. His other churches demonstrate a similar focus on geometry and are unified by the repetition of simple orders, windows, and towers. In the end, despite the Gothic genealogy of the plan, Herrera’s churches leave an impression of majesty and classical abstraction.

While best known for his architecture, in his lifetime Herrera was also celebrated as a famous intellectual, mathematician, and engineer. One of his contemporaries described him as a “second Archimedes,” and as a mathematician, Herrera served as the main consultant to Philip II’s Academy of Mathematics in Madrid. His knowledge of engineering, science, and technology is demonstrated by the many machines he invented, most notably hoists and cranes to aid in building construction. He owned a significant library of scientific texts and a large collection of scientific instruments.

Significance

Perhaps Herrera’s most important legacy was his establishment of classicism as the dominant architectural language in Spain. In addition, Herrera’s unique brand of classical architecture came to symbolize the Golden Age of Philip II. By skillfully combining Italian, Flemish, and indigenous Spanish traits, his buildings created an impression of order and authority. Herrera was also innovative in that he employed classical style in utilitarian structures. The numerous buildings at the Escorial, for example, from the main palace-monastery complex to the simplest outbuildings, are unified by the same sober classicism. Herrera’s style can thus be appreciated not only in his major architectural monuments but also in his gardens, fountains, bridges, and commercial buildings. Conversely, he incorporated certain traits of functional architecture in his urban design, employing simple materials in an effort to make buildings economical and adaptable.

Herrera’s influence was long lasting. His sober classicism remained the preferred style in Spanish architecture until the eighteenth century, enjoying revivals into the twentieth. Whether employed by Philip II, the Bourbons in the eighteenth century, or by the dictator Francisco Franco after the Spanish Civil War, Herrera’s classicism came to represent what one architectural historian has described as “beneficent authority,” demonstrating the power of architecture to create and uphold myths of political authority.

Finally, Herrera must be considered the first true Renaissance architect in Spain. In contrast to the Spanish medieval concept of the architect as a master of the works, directly supervising construction at the building site, Herrera dedicated himself solely to architectural design, leaving the day-to-day supervision to others. His innovative use of architectural drawings enabled him to do this. By creating very exact drawings of his buildings for others to follow, he was able to free himself from the manual labor involved in the actual building. Thus, he exemplified the architect as gentleman-scholar, as described by the Italian Renaissance theorist and architect Leon Battista Alberti.

Bibliography

Kubler, George. Building the Escorial. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1982. Detailed account of the actual building of Herrera’s most important commission, including analysis of period documents. Includes important discussions of Herrera’s distinctive architectural style and its possible sources, including the aesthetics of Saint Augustine.

Taylor, René. “Architecture and Magic: Considerations on the Idea of the Escorial.” In Essays in the History of Architecture Presented to Rudolf Wittkower, edited by Douglas Fraser, Howard Hibbard, and Milton J. Lewine. London: Phaidon, 1967. Important early study of the iconography and meaning of the building. Introduces the notion that the Escorial was intended to represent a second Temple in Jerusalem (with Philip II then cast as Solomon). Also posits the influence of Raymond Lull on Herrera.

Trevor-Roper, Hugh. Princes and Artists: Patronage and Ideology at Four Habsburg Courts, 1517-1633. New York: Harper and Row, 1976. A more general, contextual study of Philip II as patron of architecture and the arts.

Wilkinson-Zerner, Catherine. Juan de Herrera: Architect to Philip II of Spain. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993. The definitive study of the architect and his work. Includes illustrations, bibliographical references, and index.