Juan Bautista Villalpando
Juan Bautista Villalpando (also Villalpandus , * 1552 in Córdoba (Spain) , † May 22, 1608 in Rome ) was a Spanish Jesuit priest , scholar , mathematician and architect .
Life
Villalpando entered the Jesuit order in 1575. He studied geometry and architecture with Juan de Herrera , the builder of the Spanish King Philip II and the second architect of the Escorial . After his ordination he specialized in the exegesis of the Old Testament .
plant
Villalpando's main work as a scholar is a three-volume commentary on the biblical prophet Ezekiel (Ezechielem Explanationes), which he published with the support of Philip II.
His (fictional) reconstructions of the Temple of Solomon and the Heavenly Jerusalem based on the Prophet's vision, which appeared in the second volume of his commentary on Ezekiel in 1604, were famous and influential . They were represented by many European illustrators and circulated among the builders of the 17th century. The reconstruction was supposed to prove that the buildings of the Holy City were constructed according to the divine harmony laws of geometry and corresponded to the principles of the ancient architectural treatise of Vitruvius .
The illustrations brought Villalpando a church investigation into incorrect interpretation of the Holy Scriptures, but this turned out to be in his favor. Villalpando's illustrations of Solomon's Temple could according to some art historians have an impact on numerous monasteries of the Baroque have had. The geometric designs of systems with square inner courtyards and risalits , as they also characterize the program building of the Escorial , can be found again in the baroque monastery buildings such as the Imperial Abbey of Salem or Admont Abbey ; however, a direct influence is difficult to demonstrate.
In addition, Villalpando wrote theoretical treatises on gravity , geometry and architecture , where he mainly dealt with the transfer of geometric principles to buildings. The great polymath Isaac Newton made use of Villalpando's work in his studies of architecture.
As a builder, he built, among other things, the church of the Jesuit College of Seville . He also designed the first Spanish church with an oval floor plan.
literature
- Gregor Martin Lechner : Villalpandos temple reconstruction in relation to baroque monastery architecture , in: Piel, Friedrich / Traeger, Jörg (ed.), Festschrift Wolfgang Braunfels , Tübingen 1977, 223–237
- Paul von Naredi-Rainer; Cornelia Limpricht: Solomon's Temple and the Occident. Monumental consequences of historical errors . Cologne 1994, here pp. 172–189 with illus.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Villalpando, Juan Bautista |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Villalpandus, Ioannes Baptista |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Spanish Jesuit priest, scholar, mathematician and architect |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1552 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cordoba (Spain) |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 22, 1608 |
| Place of death | Rome |