Huguet (builder)

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The facade of the Mosteiro da Batalha designed by Huguet
Representation of the builder Huguet in the chapter house of the Mosteiro da Batalha

Huguet or Ouguete (d. 1438 ) was a Gothic builder who worked in Portugal and directed the construction of the Mosteiro da Batalha for 36 years .

The origin of Huguet is not clear. The most common assumption is that it came from Catalonia or anywhere on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Other historians argue that he was English or French.

In 1402 he took over the management of the construction site for the Mosteiro da Batalha, where he had already been involved in the construction of the monastery under the direction of Afonso Domingues . He oversaw the completion of the church, the cloister and the chapter house ; these structures had been started under his predecessor. Huguet also built the burial chapel and designed the mausoleum for King Duarte . Part of the cloister was also built under his leadership.

Huguet used late Gothic techniques when building the monastery . He created the exterior facade in the flamboyant style . whose horizontal lines contrast strongly with the main nave and its verticality. The portal with its rich ornamentation was groundbreaking for the Portuguese Gothic in the 15th and 16th centuries. Huguet simplified the vaults compared to his predecessor's design, in particular he had the chapter house roofed with a single vault - this was a daring undertaking at the time with the 19 square meters of floor space. It is possible that Huguet designed it this way to demonstrate his skills, knowing that his predecessor had preferred a different construction method. It stands to reason that Huguet wanted to convince the king to commission him with further construction work. The design of the founder's chapel at the time of its construction was also innovative, complex and elegant. Huguet's mausoleum for King Duarte, which was supposed to consist of a central octagon with seven square chapels arranged around it, remained unfinished.

For his activities Huguet received several houses in Batalha from the king . The Dominicans refused to recognize this donation and reclaimed the houses of Huguet's widow Maria Estevez. In 1450 King Afonso V decided in favor of the monks.

Huguet was buried in the church of Santa Maria a Velha .

Web links

Commons : Huguet (architect)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c José Custodio Vieira da Silva: Huguet . In: Jane Turner (Ed.): The dictionary of art . tape 14 . Grove, Oxford 1996, ISBN 1-884446-00-0 , pp. 857 .
  2. ↑ a b c Ralf Gottschlich: The monastery of Santa Maria da Vitória in Batalha and its position in the Iberian sacred architecture of the late Middle Ages . Olms, Hildesheim 2012, p. 49 .
  3. ↑ José Custódio Vieira da Silva and Pedro Redol: The monastery of Batalha . IPPAR and Scala, London 2007, pp. 28 .
  4. ↑ José Custódio Vieira da Silva and Pedro Redol: The monastery of Batalha . IPPAR and Scala, London 2007, pp. 92 .
personal data
SURNAME Huguet
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ouguete
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese builder
DATE OF BIRTH 14th century or 15th century
DATE OF DEATH 1438