The Church of San Luis de los Franceses, in
Seville, is a great example of Baroque architecture in the 18th
century. It was designed by Leonardo Figueroa and built between 1699 and 1730.
It’s built
over the one that was the Enríquez de Ribera family’s house. This piece of land
was given by Lucía de Medina in exchange for calling the church San Luis (in honor of Saint Luis IX,
king of France), and burying her in its Major Chapel. The church was considered
as a monument in 1946.
This church
presents a rectangular, Greek Cross plan covered by a huge chapel over a
tambour. There is a semicircular space placed at the end of each of the four ends
of the cross (the frontal one was used to build the Major Chapel). In the
interior there are Solomonic columns between which there are alcoves, chapels
and tribunes, with a wide and decorated baseboard. In the bases of the columns,
we can see the Great Virtues: chastity, obedience, poverty, humility and
prayer.
The facade is
divided into two sections, and it’s decorated as an altarpiece facade: stone
and brick alternate as building materials. It’s asided by two octagonal towers.
The second section has five windows, and the central one is between two
Solomonic columns. Above the windows is the Spanish badge, crowned by culptures
of the three archangels
The carvings
on the bricks may be Leonardo Figueroa’s main artistic characteristic. We can
know that it’s a baroque architecture work because of its exhuberance and its
exaggerated art if we compare it with Renaissance and New Classicism. There’s a
predominance of movement, realism in the representations and use of symbols
(the main one might be the representation of the Great Virtues on the columns).
.
Leonardo de
Figueroa was born in Utiel (Valencia) in 1654. He was Matías José and Ambrosio de
Figueroa’s father, and Antonio de Figueroa’s grandfather. Apart from designing
the Church of San Luis de los Franceses, he participated in other important
projects, such as the Hospital of the Venerable Priests, in Seville, which was
built in 1675, and which is, nowadays, Historic Patrimony of Spain.
Sources used:
2 comments:
Hello,
These are my corrections and comments:
- It’s built over another church which was in the Enríquez de Ribera’s family house.
- This church presents a Greek Cross planinscribed on a rectangle covered by a huge dome over a tambour.
-... alternate as building materials. It’s flanked by two octagonal towers (...) Above the windows is the Spanish emblem , crowned by sculptures of the three archangels.
- We can know that it’s aBaroque architectureal work because of its exuberance and its exaggerated art i
- ... the Hospital of the Venerable Priests, in Seville, which was built in 1675, and which is, nowadays, Historical Patrimony of Spain.
You could have added more about the peculiar decoration of the church: the rich polychrome decoration and the church from which Figueroa drew inspiration (the Church of Sant’ Agnese in Agone in Rome).
Your mark is 8.5. Bye.
I'm rectifying: 0.5 points less, because you haven't included the sources of the pictures. Your final mark is 8.
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