Main Square of Salamanca, Alberto Churriguera

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcp_dmoz/4505026416/

The Main Square of Salamanca was built by the architect Alberto Churriguera in Salamanca, Spain, as an imitation of the Main Square of Madrid, but as Churriguera died before, Andrés García de Quiñones finished the square. It belongs to the Baroque period in the Hispanic Monarchy and its construction was agreed in 1710 while Philip V was staying in Salamanca. He wanted to reward the city for its loyalty in the War of Spanish Succession. The construction started in 1729 and it ended in 1755. The built of the Square was commissioned by the Gentleman Mayor Rodrigo y Llanes and the main function of the Square was to regularize the space and at the same time to create a place for public meetings. The material used for the building was the stone from Villamayor (this was a very usual material used in buildings because it was very easy to manipulate)

Churriguera’s work of art has a trapezoidal shape (it isn’t a perfect square), the area is about 6,500 m2 and it has 3 floors. In the facade, there are a total of 88 semicircular arches which have 89 medallions. These medallions have the faces of some kings, conquistadors… All of them were made by the sculptor Alejandro Carnicero. Talking about the facade, we appreciate that the wall has a total of 247 balconies and that it has a lot of ornamental motifs: medallions, canopies… so, this made the Main Square of Salamanca’s façade a more decorative facade that the one of the Main Square of Madrid.

http://www.photaki.es/foto-madrid-plaza-mayor-vista-de-dos-de-sus-fachadas_190395.htm

               

http://otraorillahistoria.forosactivos.net/t3046p20-arquitectura-y-urbanismo-1-

mitad-s-xviii

As the Churriguera’s work belongs to the Baroque period, we can appreciate some of the characteristics of the buildings of this period, for example:

1.  Decorative exuberance in the interior and the exterior of the building
2.  There are curved lines
3.  The statues in the roof, the facade, the balconies... all this has Baroque features.
4.  Some columns have Corinthian style
5.  The building has uniformity and homogeneity (except the town hall)
6.  Other Baroque features are the semicircular pediments over the windows and the grandeur or majesty  of the bug square, similar to French Baroque. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_Mayor,_Salamanca

(I have made the red circles and the information on the white gaps)

But The Main Square of Salamanca has also some features that aren't the ones of the Baroque, for example some columns inspired in the classical era and the type of floor plan wasn't typical of the Baroque.

SOURCES

    
- Book of “Artis, Historia del Arte (Bachillerato Segundo Curso)”

- http://www.salamancaturistica.com/salamanca/monumentos_plazamayor.php


- http://www.jdiezarnal.com/plazamayordesalamanca.html

- “Espasa enciclopedia”

Equestian Statue of Philip IV in Madrid,Pietro Tacca

http://picturetouring.com/wp-content/uploads/Estatua-Felipe-IV-Oriente-palacio-copia.jpg

The Equestrian Statue of Philip IV was made up by the Italian sculptor Pietro Tacca. The king sent to Tacca two sketches to and Italy, he worked in this sculpture for 6 years . Two years later the sculpture was sent to Madrid from the workshop that had Tacca in Florence. In Spain first of all it was situated in gardens of the queen but later it was moved to many places. The statue was commission by Philip IV. It was made in the first part of the 17th century, more or less between 1634 and 1640.

Four gemiuses of that period intervented to make this scuplture:

• The painter Diego Velázquez , 
• The scientist Galileo Galilei 
• The painter Martínez MontañéS 
• The sculptor Pietro Tucca

This is a very interesting post of the equestrian sculpture of Philip IV , but it explain every thing in Spanish:

http://madridafondo.blogspot.com.es/2010/04/estatua-ecuestre-de-felipe-iv-plaza-de.html

http://picturetouring.com/wp-content/uploads/Estatua-Felipe-IV-Oriente-trasera-copia.jpg

High: 4.00m.

Width: 3.5m.

Depth: 2.00m.

The dimensions of the statue required a frame that weighed 9 tones. It was made up with bronze.

Nowadays it is in the center of Plaza de Oriente in Madrid, Spain.

First of all with this sculpture we can see features of Baroque sculpture. It was very difficult to represent it, because it was based on a painting made by Velázquez:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felipe_IV_(Vel%C3%A1zquez)#mediaviewer/File:Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez_053.jpg

The horse had to be represented supported only in its the back legs. This was the most difficult thing, because he had to made this heavy sculpture in a balanced way. He asked for advicee to Galileo Galilei who was a genius of that period, Galileo told him that the better thing that he could do is to let one part of the figure empty . But this advice wasn’t enough.

This sculpture is very realistic: It represents movement thanks to the cloth fold thanks to the horse’s legs.

When Tucca sent to the king a sketch of the sculpture to the king didn’t like the expression of his face, so Velázquez was worried about this. He thought about what was the best thing that he could do. So he asked  Juan Martínez Montañes to do a modelling head of the king. He sent the modeling head to Italy. The equestrian statue was finished the same year in which Pietro Tucca died.

The king is wearing a half framework and in his hand he has a cane.

http://www.memoriademadrid.es/imagen.php?w=1&i=/OTROS/Imp_11998_felipeivplazao2.jpg

The bronze was a material very difficult to work with. Tacca received influences from his teacher.

This was the first equestrian statue of history in which the horse is supported only in its his back legs. Finally he obtained the balance of the figure using the tail of the horse as a support for the figure, it was possible because the distance between the legs and the tail makes a perfect triangle.

The symbols that have this equestrian sculpture has are two marble plaques on the pedestal. It was then that the two bas-relief panels were added at the base of the statue. One shows Philip IV presenting the Cross of Santiago to Velázquez and the other one is an allegorical reference to the monarch's role as a patron of the arts. The ensemble also includes two large shell-shaped fountains, a figure that represents a river and four bronze lions.

http://www.memoriademadrid.es/imagen.php?w=1&i=/OTROS/Imp_11998_felipeivplazao3.jpg
Finally here we have a self portrait of Diego de Velázquez.

 

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorretrato_(Vel%C3%A1zquez)#mediaviewer/File:Self-portrait_by_Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez.jpg

Sources :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monument_to_Philip_IV_of_Spain

http://picturetouring.com/equestrian-statue-of-philip-iv-of-spain/

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumento_a_Felipe_IV

http://www.madrid-tourist.com/madrid-attractions/Statue-Philip-IV.html

http://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/escultura-ecuestre-de-felipe-iv/

http://www.memoriademadrid.es/buscador.php?accion=VerFicha&id=45195

http://www.fotomadrid.com/ver/1239

Venus at her mirror, Diego Velázquez

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokeby_Venus#mediaviewer/File:RokebyVenus.jpg

It also has different names:

“The Toilet of Venus”, “Venus at her Mirror”, “Venus and Cupid”,”Rokeby Venus” or “La Venus del espejo”.


It is  not very clear where he did  the painting, some people say that he did it before his second trip to Italy and others say that he painted it during he’s visit in Italy. It was painted between 1647 and 1651. This painting was not commissioned by anyone .It was just a painting that Velázquez did.

The Venus at her mirror's size is 122,5 x 177 cm. It is painted on oil on canvas. The painting is in the National Gallery, London.

It is a mythological painting. This painting is representing the goddess Venus in a sensual pose lying on a bed and looking into a mirror held by her son, Cupid. The painting describes Venus as she is looking at herself in the mirror, but we can’t see that, what we see is that Venus is looking at us. It is painted in a room. We can see a clear contrast between light and shadow. The warm colors were: pink, white, grey, black and red colors to create a fine illumination of the body. The darkness of the sheets givse to the painting big contrast with Venus skin, making it look lustrous. Velázquez went to Italy and there he painted in a different style, his painting is an influence of Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus and Titian’s Venus of Urbino. As his painting recived the influence of the other paintings, he painted his Venus mixing the postures of the other Venuses made by other painters . His Venus was considerated as a personification of the female beauty.

Venus at her mirror, Paul Peter Rubens

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Rubens_Venus_at_a_Mirror_c1615.jpg/640px-Rubens_Venus_at_a_Mirror_c1615.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokeby_Venus#mediaviewer/File:Titian_Venus_Mirror_(furs).jpg

Titian's Venus of Ubrion

Giorgione’s Sleeping Venus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokeby_Venus#mediaviewer/File:Giorgione_-_Sleeping_Venus_-_Google_Art_Project_2.jpg

In that period the models of the other paintings were representing ideal beauty with wide hips meaingt that they ate well, but Velazquez Venus was fit and this was not common in that period, she also has a modern hairstyle. The only thing that made this woman a goddess is the presence of his children Cupid .

This painting was made in the Baroque because the technique used in this painting is foreshortened and realistic because Venus is not looking directly at the viewer, she is represent with her back , in a foreshortened position.

This is the only surviving nude painting of Velázquez because in the 17th century it was rare to see a nude painting in the Hispanic Monarchy (also because the Inquisiton controlled art and morality).


In 1914 Mary Richardson went to the museum where this painting is located and attacked Velázquez's painting with a cleaver. She left seven marks on the canvas . When they asked her why she has done that she said: "I have tried to destroy the picture of the most beautiful woman in mythological history as a protest against the Government for destroying Mrs. Pankhurst, who is the most beautiful character in modern history."[

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokeby_Venus#mediaviewer/File:Richardson-Venus.png

Velázquez self portrait:

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Vel%C3%A1zquez#mediaviewer/File:Autorretrato_de_Vel%C3%A1zquez_en_las_Meninas.jpg

Sources:

http://jssgallery.org/Other_Artists/Velazquez/Velazquez_Venus_at_her_Mirror.htm

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_del_espejo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokeby_Venus

http://www.wga.hu/html_m/v/velazque/07/0714vela.html

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/diego-velazquez-the-toilet-of-venus-the-rokeby-venus

http://klrblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/venus-at-her-mirror-by-velazquez/

http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2009/03/26/the-venus-effect-what-we-see-i/

http://www.aaronartprints.org/velazquez-venusathermirror.php