Granada Information: GRANADA
CATHEDRAL |
The surprising feature of the Cathedral of Granada is its size: 115
metres long, 65 metres wide, 45 metres high in the high chapel and
32 metres in the central aisle. The building is made up of the circular
gallery for the high chapel, with the ambulatory and the fivenave
basilica, plus the two side naves for chapels. The high chapel was
initially conceived as a burial site for Ferdinand and Isabella, and
for Philip I and Joanna of Castile, parents of Emperor Charles V.
The strong influence of the Holy Tomb in Jerusalem is not limited
to structures and forms; it is also necessary to consider the Christian
hope that those who have died in the faith of Christ will also come
to life with Him. The church in Jerusalem is not the only influence
in the cathedral, as a link also exists with medieval and Renaissance
models.
The initial plans are attributed to Enrique de Egas, who uses the
Cathedral of Toledo as his inspiration. Work began in 1505, though
in 1528 Diego de Siloe was commissioned to continue the works, and
he transformed the previous structure into a fully Renaissance building.
This new mentality did not allow for extremely high columns to hold
up the cupolas; to replace them Siloe designed two superimposed supports
which maintain the height but break up the extreme vertical style
preferred by the Gothic tradition. The supports are columns in the
lower tier and pilasters in the upper. The high chapel was covered
with a hemispherical dome, a brave idea that is superbly executed,
making for the most brilliant example of Spanish Renaissance architecture.
In the high chapel, Alonso Cano depicted the mysteries of the Virgin
Mary on large canvases and with absolute thematic unity. Other noteworthy
features are the busts of Adam and Eve, also by Cano. The gilt used
in the main altarpiece is highlighted by the sixteenth-century stained
glass windows, the work of Flemish and Granada mastercraftsmen.
The Perdon and San Jeronimo facades are superb examples of classicism.
The main front is the work of Alonso Cano, who designed it in the
same year as his death, having conceived it as a giant triumphal arch.
In the sacristy, Cano's Inmaculada is one of the highpoints in Spanish
imagery. The image, which measures no more than 50 centimetres in
height and is very much from the Granada school, is Baroque in the
voluminous robes, with airy folds and a pictorial technique, and classical
in the serenity of the features, with considerable theological content
and intimism. The Royal Chapel. Isabella, the 'Catholic Queen', always
wished for a simple burial, and her heirs designed a single-nave rectangular
chapel, with an altarpiece on high. Her grandson, Charles V, however,
had other plans, and commissioned a more sumptuous tomb. Although
the architecture of the Royal Chapel proved to be of little significance,
its "complements" are superb: the monarchs' tomb, the screen,
the altarpieces and the museum itself.
Buried here are Ferdinand and Isabella (the 'Catholic Kings'), Philip
'the Fair', his wife Joanna of Castile and the infante don Miguel.
The tomb of the 'Catholic Kings' is the work of the Florentine Domenico
Fancelli, who produced a Renaissance work, full of serenity, proportion
and elegance in the treatment of the marble. Fancelli idealised the
queen, whereas the sculpture of the king is almost a portrait. Bartolome
Ordóñez, a Spanish sculptor with a more realist style,
produced the tomb for Philip and Joanna. In the main altarpiece, attributed
to Bigamy, the evolution from Gothic to Renaissance can be seen. This
trend features again in the High chapel grille screen, created by
Bartolome Bermejo, an innovator in his craft and one of the most interesting
wrought iron artists of all time. The screen has an abundance of embossed
firegilded iron plate work.
The museum shows queen Queen Isabella's interest in Flemish art, and
houses panels and paintings by Roger van der Weyden, Diereck Bouts
and Memling, as well as oil paintings by Pedro Berruguete and Alonso
Cano. |
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