The figure of Andrés de Vandelvira
The figure of Andrés de Vandelvira
Discover in all its fullness the great Master Andrew of Vandelvira
The tour begins with the domains of the powerful Secretary, Francisco de los Cobos, to pass to those of another illustrious family for which Vandelvira also worked: the Benavides, Counts of Santisteban, whose County limits with the advance of Cazorla and with the foothills of Sierra Morena where the colonization of Charles III took place. Confluence of epochs and styles are reached in this interesting territory, also of extraordinary natural beauty.
The biography of the artist
Meet the master of the light stone
Andrés de Vandelvira (1505-1575) is the most prominent architect of the 16th century in Jaén and one of the three great names of the Andalusian Renaissance, next to Siloé and Hernán Ruiz II. Born in Alcaraz (Albacete), he began as a simple bartender and soon, from the hand of his father-in-law Francisco de Luna, he moved to Uclés (Cuenca), where he met the first plateresque Renaissance.
From Villanueva de los Infantes he visited with Luna the villas of the Sierra de Segura - Furnaces, Segura, Orcera - to repair and project parish churches. In the mid-1530s he settled in Villacarillo, married to Luisa de Luna, where he founded family and chaplaincy. His growing prestige led him to Ubeda in 1536, where he assumed the works of the Chapel of the Saviour projected by Siloé, providing from 1540 original contributions such as the sacristy and the side gates.
Committed to the companies of Francisco de los Cobos in Ubeda, Sabiote and Cazorla, it was required by the nobility: Diego Valencia de Benavides in Baeza and La Guardia, Rodrigo Mexía and Mayor of Fonseca in Jaén. In 1553 he signed as Master Major of the Cathedral and Diocese of Jaén, a position he simulated with Cuenca and gave him control over all the ecclesiastical works of the province, including Baeza. His fame came to Seville, Guadix and Málaga, where he made models. He never left civil works: Corregiment houses in Baeza, Vázquez de Molina palace in Ubeda, Posites, bridges and the Hospital of Santiago.
Anecdotary / Curiosities
In Andres de Vandelvira's biography, the number of places he worked and the distance between them are striking. The master moved on a wide radio from Cuenca to the north, Sevilla to the west, Málaga to the south and Guadix to the north-east, with a centre on the Jaén@-@ Ubeda axis. They surprise the miles in a short time, always to the cavalry loins.
That rhythm speaks of its enormous capacity to workwhich he himself valued to a high degree. In his will he proudly stresses the separation of goods: "a hundred thousand Maravedis that I had won" and states that the farms of Villacarillo were "acquired by my industry and work after the death of the so-called Luisa de Luna, my wife."
His sense of justice also appears in the inheritance for his children: "May all my children be equal [...] my intention is not to give more to one another than to the other [...] I pray and command all my children to have love among themselves as the debt compels them."
Among his colleagues, he enjoyed a fair reputation.. Diego Gómez chooses him as a taster in Villacarillo, and the witnesses confirm: "The said Andrés de Vandelvira is one of the most skilled teachers [...] of very good conscience and by whose hand he passes most of the tasations of all these regions."
In his youth, in Uclés, showed courage in defending his principles. In front of Judge Tomás de Ribera, who intended to enter the convent, Vandelvira cautioned calmly that the doorman would not let "even the same emperor." The punishment - 200 stings and donkey ride - did not erase its firmness.
Of his seven sons (six men, one woman) Alonso was the most faithful to the trade. Francis and Cristobal also approached, but one died soon and the other entered religion. Peter was a priest in Castellar and first chaplain of the paternal chaplaincy; John studied in Baeza; Bernardino was patron of the chaplaincy in 1620; Catalina de Luna
He completed the family.
The work of Andrés de Vandelvira
The work of Andrés de Vandelvira is characterized by its constructive strength and constant experimentation. Its mastery of stereotomy - the precise cutting of stone - adapts the medieval tradition to the "Roman" Renaissance language. Each dovela fits to hold itself, solving curved and hollow spaces with half-point arches.
Here it unites manual experience and euclidean mathematics to create vaulted vaults - circular or square, curved profile - that give ingraverity to spaces of tons of stone.
This virtue requires continuous experimentation, marked by contacts with teachers like Siloé. Even Ubeda dominates the plateresque - Uclés, Alhorí de Alcaraz (1530), the chapel of the Dean Ortega in San Nicolás - with prolija ornamentation.
Since 1540, in the Sacra Capilla del Salvador, it has introduced innovative structures and anamorphosis. With Esteban Jamete, the human figure in high relief replaces the small decoration.
In maturity (1550-1560) it balances structure and decoration; in its last years (1570-1575), it prioritizes pure masses with minimal geometry, as in the Hospital of Santiago.
Unique features:
-Very thin fuse columns in interior courtyards.
- Fustes with unequal sticks or French garlands.
-Facade composition that continues on sides.
- Frequent parteluz in windows and balconies.
-Disks (with or without ceramic) in front.
Ionian "swollen" friars, inspired by Serlio.
