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Antonio de Villacastín
Fray Antonio de Villacastín | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Fray Antonio de Villacastín by Valentín Carderera, graphite pencil drawing on chickpea-colored paper. Biblioteca Nacional de España. | |
| Born | c. 1512 |
| Died | March 3, 1603 |
| Occupations | Religious, master builder |
| Organization | Order of Saint Jerome |
| Known for | Architecture |
| Notable work | Monastery of El Escorial |
Fray Antonio de Villacastín (c. 1512, Villacastín – March 3, 1603) was a religious of the Order of Saint Jerome and a Spanish master builder, director of the works of the Monastery of El Escorial.
Biography
He was orphaned at a very young age and, under the guardianship of an uncle, learned to read and write.
When he became independent he went to live in Toledo, where he found work with a master bricklayer who taught him everything about the building trade.
He later wished to become a religious and was admitted to the convent of the Order of Saint Jerome of Santa María de la Sisla, located three km east of Toledo, which had been founded in the 14th century (today that convent is a farmhouse, since the Church was unable to maintain it).
He had a reputation as a fine construction professional, a reputation that reached the court of Philip II, so a Royal Order was sent to the convent requiring him to come and take part in the works that were about to begin on the monastery of El Escorial. His superiors ordered him to comply with the request, and so he arrived at the site as Obrero Mayor (chief overseer of works) in July 1562.
The architects Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera greatly valued his professionalism. Fray Antonio always played a brilliant role. Fray Juan de San Jerónimo, one of those in charge of the great library of the Monastery of El Escorial, wrote these words in praise of Fray Antonio:
In the whole of the said Order no one was found more experienced in matters of building than he, and of his qualities no other such will be found among the friars of all Spain for this task....
He died on March 3, 1603, at nearly 90 years of age. He was buried at the door of his cell in the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial.
Works
He wrote some Memorias (Memoirs), which were edited by Julián Zarco Cuevas and of which there is a modern edition from 1985.[1]
Antonio de Villacastín is also responsible for a lengthy account written to Jehan Lhermite on March 4, 1600, by the hand of Fray Juan de Olmeda, since he was by then almost blind as a result of an unsuccessful operation on his cataracts. He took the opportunity of replying to a letter received from the Fleming to inform him thoroughly, "and since Your Grace is going to your own homeland, it is well that you take some things of the grandeurs of this House to tell there [...] as a person who has seen it with his own eyes, and you will be able to bear witness to it as an eyewitness".[2]
Tributes
In Villacastín there are several reminders of this illustrious 16th-century master builder: a bust displayed in the Town Hall, a street bearing his name, the name of the town's school, and a monolith erected to his memory that can be seen on the left side of the Madrid road.
The Centro Segoviano de Madrid awards the "Premio Fray Antonio de Villacastín" for Architecture and Heritage Rehabilitation.
References
- ↑ Memorias de Fr. Antonio de Villacastín, monje jerónimo de dicho Monasterio. Publicadas y anotadas por el P. Fr. Julián Zarco Cuevas, religioso agustino escurialense. Madrid: Imprenta Helénica, 1916. Reissued in Madrid: Editorial Cimborrio S. A., 1985.
- ↑ "Carta a Jehan Lhermite", in Le Passetemps, by J. Lhermite, vol. II, Antwerpen 1890–1896, pp. 86–91 (ed. in El Monasterio de San Lorenzo el Real de El Escorial y la Casita del Príncipe, Madrid, 1926, pp. 216–221)
Bibliography
- Portabales Pichel, Amancio: Fray Antonio de Villacastín. Símbolo y ejemplo de Aparejadores y Ayudantes de la Ingeniería, Madrid, 1944
- Rico de Estasen, José: Fray Antonio de Villacastín. El Lego que construyó los Aposentos Imperiales de Yuste, Madrid, 1944, ISBN 84-404-9470-X
- J. Quevedo, Historia del Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo, llamado comúnmemte del Escorial, desde su origen y fundación hasta fin del año 1848 y descripción de las bellezas artísticas y literarias que contiene, Madrid, 1849, pp. 13–101
- J. Zarco Cuevas, "Introducción a la edición de las Memorias de Fray Antonio de Villacastín", in Documentos para la Historia del Monasterio de San Lorenzo el Real de El Escorial, vol. I, Madrid, Imp. Helénica, 1916, pp. VII–XV. J. de Sepúlveda, "Historia de varios sucesos y de las cosas notables que han sucedido de veinte años a esta parte en toda España y en toda la Iglesia Católica y otras naciones desde el año de 1584 hasta el de 1603", in Documentos para la Historia del Monasterio de San Lorenzo el Real de El Escorial, ed. by J. Zarco, Madrid, Imp. Helénica, 1924, pp. 14–15 and 325–326
- M.ª Vilar Bonet, "Fray Antonio de Villacastín, obrero mayor del Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial", in Revista de Archivos, Bibliotecas y Museos, 71/1-2 (1963), pp. 151–161
- A. Gómez Santos, "Genio y figura de fray Antonio de Villacastín, el lego que impulsó la construcción del Monasterio de El Escorial", in Hoja del Lunes (Madrid), April 15, 1963
- I. de Madrid, "Villacastín, Antonio de", in Q. Aldea Vaquero, T. Marín Martínez and J. Vives Gatell (eds.), Diccionario de Historia eclesiástica de España, vol. IV, Madrid, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto Enrique Flórez, 1975, p. 2795
- F. J. Campos y Fernández de Sevilla, "El Monasterio del Escorial en la historiografía jerónima de la primera época (siglo XVI)", in El Monasterio del Escorial y la Arquitectura (proceedings of the symposium), San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Ediciones Escurialenses, 2002, pp. 186–190
External links
- Biografia de Villacastín, Antonio de. Fray Antón Francisco Javier Campos y Fernández de Sevilla, OSA. Real Academia de la Historia
