Churrigueresque refers to a
Spanish BaroqueSpanish Baroque is a strand of Baroque architecture that evolved in Spain and its provinces and former colonies, notably Spanish America and Belgium....
style of elaborate sculptural architectural ornament which emerged as a manner of stucco decoration in
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
in the late 1600s 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.
Named after the architect and sculptor,
José Benito de ChurrigueraJosé Benito de Churriguera , was a Spanish architect, sculptor and urbanist of the late-Baroque or Rococo style...
, who was born in
MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London.The city is located on the river...
of a
CatalanCatalan can refer to:* Catalan people* Catalan language* Països Catalans* Catalan wine* An inhabitant of Catalonia* Catalan Ornithological Institute* Eugène Charles Catalan, a mathematician** Catalan number, a concept in mathematics...
family (originally named Xoriguera), and who worked primarily in Madrid and
SalamancaSalamanca is a city in western Spain, the capital of the province of Salamanca, which belongs to the autonomous community of Castile and Leon...
, 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.
The development of the style passed through three phases. Between 1680 and 1720, the Churriguera popularized Guarino Guarini's blend of
Solomonic columnThe Solomonic column, also called Barley-sugar column, is a helical column, characterized by a spiraling twisting shaft like a corkscrew...
s and
composite orderThe composite order is a mixed order, combining the volutes of the Ionic order capital with the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order. The composite order volutes are larger, however, and the composite order also has echinus molding with egg-and-dart ornamentation between the volutes...
, known as "supreme order". Between 1720 and 1760, the Churrigueresque column, or
estipiteThe estipite column is a type of column or pilaster typical of the Churrigueresque baroque style of Spain and Spanish America used in the 18th century. It has the shape of an inverted cone or obelisk....
, 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 CharterhouseGranada Charterhouse is a Carthusian monastery in Granada, Spain. It is one of the finest examples of Spanish Baroque architecture.The charterhouse was founded in 1506; construction started ten years later, and continued for the following 300 years. While the exterior is a tame ember in...
offer some of the most impressive combinations of space and light in 18th-century Europe. Integrating sculpture and architecture even more radically,
Narciso ToméNarciso Tomé was a Spanish architect and sculptor of the late-Baroque or Rococo period.Born in Toro. With his brother, Diego, he sculpted in 1715, the facade of the University of Valladolid...
achieved striking
chiaroscuroChiaroscuro is a term in art for a contrast between light and dark. The term is usually applied to bold contrasts affecting a whole composition, but is also more technically used by artists and art historians for the use of effects representing contrasts of light, not necessarily strong, to...
effects in his
TransparenteEl Transparente is a Baroque altarpiece in the ambulatory of the Cathedral of Toledo. Its name refers to the unique illumination provided by a skylight in the vault above. It was created in 1729-1732 by Narciso Tomé and his 4 sons...
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 in
Mexico CityMexico City is the capital city of Mexico. It is the economic, industrial, and cultural center in the country, and the most populous city, with about 8,836,045 inhabitants in 2008...
(1749-69).
A distant precursor (early 1400s) of the overwrought 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 architectureMoorish architecture is a term used to describe the articulated Islamic architecture which developed in North Africa and south-western Europe, especially the Iberian Peninsula, where Islamic civilisation came into contact with Berber, Greco-Roman, Visigothic and other traditions...
or
Mudéjar architectureMudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Christian territory after the Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
that still remained through south and central Spain. The interior stucco roofs of for example the Alcazar de Granada flourish with detail and ornamentation.
The style enjoyed a resurgence after
Bertram GoodhueBertram Grosvenor Goodhue was a renowned American architect celebrated for his work in neo-gothic design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for the Merrymount Press....
's designs for the
1915 Panama-California ExpositionThe Panama-California Exposition was an exposition held in San Diego, California between March 9, 1915 and January 1, 1917. The exposition celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal, and was meant to tout San Diego as the first US port of call for ships traveling north after passing through the...
in Balboa Park,
San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego , named after Saint Didacus , is the second-largest city in California and the ninth largest city in the United States, located along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States. The US Census Bureau estimates the city's population at 1,279,329 as of 2008...
included Churrigueresque ornament.