Building Sections
Las principales secciones en que se puede dividir el Real sitio son:.
Library
Philip II gave the rich codices he possessed to the monastery library and for whose enrichment he commissioned the acquisition of the most exemplary libraries and works both in Spain and abroad. It was designed by Juan de Herrera, closing the atrium of the Basilica and unifying the main façade, since Juan Bautista de Toledo placed it in the missing central tower of the South façade. Herrera was also in charge of designing the shelves it contains. It is located in a large warehouse 54 meters long, 9 meters wide and 10 meters high with a marble floor and shelves made of richly carved noble woods.
Arias Montano prepared his first catalog and selected some of the most important works for it. It is equipped with a collection of more than 40,000 volumes of extraordinary value. In 1616 he was granted the privilege of receiving a copy of each work published in Spain, although this was never completely accomplished.
The barrel vault of the library ceiling is decorated with frescoes representing the seven liberal arts, that is: Rhetoric, Dialectic, Music, Grammar, Arithmetic, Geometry and Astrology. Among the book shelves were hung portraits of various Spanish monarchs, among them the famous Silver Philip (Philip IV in a brown and silver suit) painted by Velázquez, and which is now in the National Gallery in London. The frescoes in the vaults were painted by Pellegrino Tibaldi, according to the iconological program of Father Sigüenza.
Solomon's fame as the wise king par excellence of the Bible must have conditioned Philip II's decision to donate his library to the monks of the Monastery to create a Center of Wisdom, instead of distributing it to his other palaces, such as Aranjuez, Valsaín or the Alcázar of Madrid, and thus donating it only to his heirs.
In 1671 a great fire broke out in the library,[10] destroying some 5,280 manuscript codices, whether Latin or Greek, French, Jewish or Arabic, although the printed collections were saved. The library's printed collection is made up of more than 600 incunabula, 10,608 century books, 2,179 century books, and a larger number of century books. The manuscript collection is made up of several thousand medieval codices.[11].
Palace of Philip II
The also called "Palacio de los Austrias" occupies the entire grill handle of El Escorial and part of the North patio, built on two floors around the presbytery of the Basilica and around the Patio de Mascarones. It follows the same architectural scheme of the Palace of Charles I in the Yuste Monastery. Currently you can only visit the Royal Quarters and the Battle Room. In the private rooms of the Kings you can see important pictorial works from the Spanish school of the early 17th century, the Italian and Venetian school of the 16th century, and the Flemish schools of the 16th and 17th century, including Saint Christopher at the Ford by Joachim Patinir.
Before the royal rooms, you pass through other rooms such as the Hall of Ambassadors, with interesting exhibits: mortars from the 19th century, a table inlaid with ivory, two sundials on the floor, two Chinese wooden folding chairs from the Ming era (ca. 1570) and the portraits of all the monarchs of the House of Austria. The impressive marquetry doors, a gift from Emperor Maximilian II, deserve special mention. Also on display is the supposed bunk chair in which Philip II made his last trip to the Monastery suffering from gout "Gout (disease)").
The "King's House" is made up of a series of rooms decorated with sobriety, since it was the place of residence of the austere Philip II. The royal bedroom, located next to the main altar of the Basilica, has a window that allowed the king to follow the mass from his bed when he was unable to do so due to the gout he suffered from. It is divided into four rooms: the main room, the desk, the bedroom and the luxurious oratory.
Bourbon Palace
In clear contrast to the austere monumentality of the Palace of the Austrias, stands the Palace of the Bourbons. Built to the north of the Basilica, around the Palace Courtyard, the room complex has its origins in the time of Philip II, when the Infants' quarters (northeast side of the courtyard), the Battle Gallery (south side, see below) and the kitchens and service areas (west side) were installed in that area.
Under the reign of Charles III, this area was inhabited by the then Princes of Asturias. When they ascended the throne, in 1788, as Charles IV and Maria Luisa of Parma, they decided to keep their rooms in the same area and not move to the "King's House." The new monarchs commissioned a new access staircase from the architect Juan de Villanueva, which was completed in 1793. The interiors were also adorned with sumptuous tapestries designed by Bayeu or Goya and rich furniture. Ferdinand VII was the last monarch to use these rooms.
In December 2015, after years of restorations, the set of 18 rooms was opened to the public for free visits.[12].
Basilica
Preceded by the Patio of the Kings, it is the true core of the entire complex, around which the other rooms are organized.
Royal Crypt (Pantheon of Kings)
Juan Gómez de Mora, according to plans by Juan Bautista Crescenzi, renovated by order of Philip III the small granite funerary chapel under the altar to house twenty-six marble tombs in a sumptuous Baroque Pantheon where the remains of the kings and queens of the houses of Austria and Bourbon rest, with only a few exceptions.
Reliquaries
Following one of the precepts approved by the Council of Trent regarding the veneration of saints, Philip II endowed the Monastery with one of the largest collections of relics in the Catholic world. The collection is made up of some 7,500 relics, which are kept in 507 boxes or sculptural reliquaries designed by Juan de Herrera and the majority built by the silversmith Juan de Arfe y Villafañe. These reliquaries take the most varied forms: heads, arms, pyramidal cases, caskets, etc. The relics were distributed throughout the Monastery, concentrating the most important ones in the Basilica. On the Gospel side, under the protection of the Mystery of the Annunciation of Mary, all the bones of the saints and martyrs are kept. On the opposite side, in the Altar of San Jerónimo, are the remains of the saints and martyrs. The sacred remains are kept in two large closets, decorated by Federico Zuccaro, which are divided into two bodies; They can be opened at the front, to be exposed to worship, and at the back, to access the relics. Currently they remain closed and are only displayed on All Saints' Day.
Convent
The monastery itself occupies the entire southern third of the building. It was originally occupied by Hieronymite monks in 1567, although since 1885 it has been inhabited by the cloistered Augustinian fathers, so it cannot be visited by the public. The enclosure is organized around the large main cloister, the Patio de los Evangelistas, a masterpiece designed by Juan Bautista de Toledo and which constitutes one of the best pages of architecture of the Monastery. Its two floors are connected by the spectacular main staircase, with the vaults decorated by frescoes by Luca Giordano. The ambitious pictorial program of its arcades was started by Luca Cambiaso and continued by Pellegrino Tibaldi. In the center of the cloister stands a beautiful temple made of granite, marble and jaspers of different colors on designs by Juan de Herrera, influenced by the tempietto of San Pietro in Montorio by Bramante. The sculptures of the four evangelists were chiseled by Juan Bautista Monegro from a single block of marble and hold an open book with a fragment of his Gospel in the language in which they were written.
Along with the Chapter Houses, the Lower Priory Cell also stands out, with a fresco on the ceiling about The Judgment of Solomon by Francesco da Urbino, reminding the prior of the need for a government right in front of the Monastery. The sacristy, still in use, with the Adoration of the Sacred Form by Claudio Coello.[13] In the Old or Prestado church, The Martyrdom of San Lorenzo by Titian is preserved, one of the masterpieces of the Italian Renaissance, which Philip II commissioned for the main altarpiece of the Basilica but which he discarded due to its dark coloring, inconspicuous from a distance.
main staircase
It follows the typical Spanish tradition of an imperial staircase with a main section divided into two on the sides starting from the first plateau, maintaining the axis of symmetry of the convent and making the three floors of the Patio de los Evangelistas compatible with the three of the convent through discreet doors that allow access to the more secluded and domestic area. It is usually attributed to Bergamasco, although his project was modified and developed by Juan de Herrera. Its height is 23 meters, 8 meters wide and it is made up of 52 granite steps in a single piece 4.40 meters long; It has its own roof that covers the large vaulted vault that illuminates its magnificent frescoes from above.
Its fresco painting decoration is notable; The stairwell has 14 arches at the height of the upper floor. Five of them are closed and show painted panels that continue the themes of the Life of Jesus Christ in the lower cloister; two are by Luca Cambiaso (Saint Peter and Saint John next to the tomb of the Lord and Appearance of Jesus to the Apostles in the Cenacle) and three by Pellegrino Tibaldi (Appearance of the Lord to the Magdalene; Appearance to the Holy Women and Appearance to the disciples of Emmaus). But the most considerable work corresponds to Luca Giordano, who, by order of Charles II dated August 31, 1692, painted the great frieze and the grandiose vault with his grandiloquent and spirited style, creating a work of extraordinary beauty and unsurpassed technique in the incredible time of seven months. The frieze highlights the scenes of The Battle of San Quentin and the Foundation of El Escorial, in which Philip II appears discussing the plans of the Monastery with Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera, together with the Chief Worker, the Hieronymite Fray Antonio de Villacastín. The vault is a masterpiece where scenes of the Holy Trinity, Virgin with angels carrying the emblems of the Passion, numerous Spanish saints or the Cardinal Virtues are represented. On the western side, a balustrade is depicted overlooking Charles II, who explains to his wife Mariana of Neoburg and his mother Mariana of Austria the meaning of the painting that he had ordered to be made.
Sacristy
It occupies a large vaulted room, measuring 30x9 meters and almost 11 meters high. It is located in the eastern area of the lower cloister of the Patio de los Evangelistas, and receives light from it through five windows at ground level. In the center is placed a beautiful baroque mirror with a silver frame and rock crystal decorations, a gift from Queen Mariana of Austria (mother of Charles II), and on its sides, there are six other smaller ones conveniently spaced, with frames made of finely worked silver sheet. The vault is painted with grotesques, featuring large coffered panels with various ornaments between highlighted bands, the work of Niccolò Granello and Fabrizio Castello; The pavement is made of white and gray marble.
It exhibits an excellent collection of paintings, among which works by Luca Giordano (Drunken Noah and His Children; The Prayer in the Garden; The False Prophet Balaam; The Saint Job; The Heroine Jael and Sisera), Titian (Crucified Christ), José de Ribera (Saint Peter in Prison), Michel Coxcie (The Virgin, the Child Jesus and Saint Anne Who Offers Him a Fruit) stand out. or Herrera Barnuevo (*San Juan Bautista). Although among all of them, The Adoration of the Holy Form shines with its own light, a masterpiece by Claudio Coello from Madrid, representing in it the religious function that was held on October 19, 1680 for the solemn transfer of the Holy Form from another place in the Monastery to its new sacristy chapel, admirably composed both in perspective and in the mastery of the characters portrayed: Charles II kneeling; Francisco de los Santos, prior of the Monastery; Father Fray Marcos de Herrera; the Dukes of Medinaceli and Pastrana; Count Baños; the Marquis of Puebla and the eldest son of the Duke of Alba; the community of religious Hieronymites singing and, even, the painter himself included a self-portrait of himself in the person located on the leftmost part of the work.
The altar is completely covered with Coello's painting, which serves as a veil or transparency to the Blessed Sacrament and is only removed once a year (last Sunday in September). It is then that the painting moves lower and remains under the pavement, revealing the magnificent crucifix with the figure of Christ beautifully modeled and cast in fire-gilded bronze, the work of Pietro Tacca, as well as a large temple also gilded with fire, in the Gothic-Germanic style, 1.60 meters high, drawn by Vicente López, begun in 1829 by Ignacio Millán and completed in 1834. It contains various relics and is It is decorated with forty statuettes and ten busts. The very rich monstrance of Isabel II, a gift from this queen in 1852, is a work made in Madrid by Carlos Pizzala, with admirable goldsmith work and studded with precious stones, it is - unfortunately - one of the jewels that disappeared in 1936. The sacristy dressing room, behind the altarpiece covered with marble and bronze ornaments, is the work of Francisco Rizi, José del Olmo and Francisco Filippi.
Chapter Houses (Museum of Painting)
Currently used as the Museum of Paintings, they were the rooms where the monks celebrated their chapters "Chapter (religion)"), a kind of mutual confessions to maintain the purity of the Congregation. Since the time of Velázquez, who intervened in its decoration, they housed important paintings. Despite the transfer of many to the Prado Museum, several as important as The Last Supper and a Saint Jerome by Titian and The Tunic of Joseph by Diego Velázquez are currently on display. In February 2009, Van Dyck's Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian was re-hung on its walls, recovered (after its acquisition by National Heritage) two centuries after its theft during the Napoleonic invasion.
Its vaults are beautifully frescoed in the Renaissance style of grotesques and with biblical figures and saints, made by the sons of Bergamasco (Niccolò Granello and Fabrizio Castello) in the Rooms themselves and by Francisco de Urbino in the lower priory cell, with a beautiful decorative effect, in the center of which the Judgment of Solomon stands out.
In the center of the vestibule there is an Angel somewhat larger than life, on a pedestal and holding a lectern that acted as a lectern; It is made of gilded bronze and was made in Antwerp by the Flemish Juan Simón in 1571. In the smaller wall of the right Chapter House there is a curious Portable Altar of the Emperor, which Emperor Charles V is supposed to have carried on his campaigns, made of bronze and silver with enamels.
The splendid art gallery of the Chapter Houses is made up of works of art of extraordinary value. It was reorganized in the middle of the century to solve the lack of space and lighting in the rooms. It includes works from the German, Flemish, Venetian, Italian and Spanish schools, from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, by some of Philip II's favorite painters such as Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Coecke and Michel Coxcie, along with works by artists such as Rogier van der Weyden (Great Calvary "Calvary (Rogier van der Weyden)"), Patinir (Saint Christopher), Navarrete "the Mute", Tintoretto (Adoration of the Shepherds), Federico Barocci, Paolo Veronese, El Greco (Saint Peter and Allegory of the Holy League), Luca Giordano (Apollo and Marsyas), Francesco Guercino, José de Ribera (Assumption of the Magdalene), Zurbarán, Alonso Cano, Mario de Fiori, Vicente Carducho, Andrea Vaccaro, Pablo Matteis, Daniel Seghers or Francisco Rizi, as well as a copy of *Portrait of Innocent
Battle Hall
It is a 60 x 6 meter gallery, 8 meters high, located in the area of the royal apartments. Some battles won by the Spanish armies are frescoed on its walls. On the south wall, only interrupted by two doors, the battle of La Higueruela was painted continuously, where the Castilian army defeated the Granada Moors in Sierra Elvira (1431). On the contrary, the north wall appears divided by nine windows, creating nine spaces in which as many scenes of the war against France (1557-1558) were represented, with the emphasis placed on the battle of San Quentin "Battle of San Quentin (1557)"), linked to the founding of the monastery itself. Finally, at the ends two scenes of one of the most recent victories of the Spanish troops were represented: the battle of Terceira Island fought between the Spanish fleet led by Álvaro de Bazán and the French fleet (1582-1583). The painting was carried out by Niccolò Granello and his half-brother Fabrizio Castello, Lazzaro Tavarone and Orazio Cambiaso, who soon left. The first thing to be painted were the grotesques on the vault, for which the artists were paid in January 1585 and were finished six months later.
In January 1587 the contract was signed for the painting of the battle of La Higueruela, which was not completed until September 1589. Father Sigüenza explains that it was chosen to represent this battle of the War of Granada because a 130-foot canvas on which the same battle was painted in grisaille was found in an old chest in the Alcázar of Segovia and that, having liked it, the king ordered it to be copied.
A few months after the painting of the Battle of Higueruela was finished, it was decided to complete the decoration of the room, signing a new contract with Castello, Granello and Tavarone in February 1590. The battles chosen were, on the one hand, those of the war against the French of 1557 and 1558, the only battles to which Philip II had attended in person, and the taking of the island Tercera in the Azores, which completed the incorporation of Portugal to the Spanish Crown. To ensure historical veracity, the painters were given models of the formation of the squads and their uniforms provided by Rodrigo de Holland, son-in-law of Antonio de las Viñas.[14].
In 1890, the iron railing that protects the frescoes was installed, drawing by the architect José de Lema.
Architecture Museum
It was located in the basement of the building, in what Juan de Herrera called Planta de Bóvedas, and was created in 1963 as part of the exhibitions of the IV centenary of the laying of the first stone. In its eleven rooms the tools, cranes "Crane (machine)") and other material used in the construction of the monument were displayed, as well as reproductions of plans "Plan (cartography)"), models and documents related to the works, with very interesting data that explained the idea and gestation of the building. These rooms were permanently closed in 2015.