Diego de Siloé | |
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| Born | Diego de Siloé c. 1495 |
| Died | 1563 |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Known for | Architecture,Sculpture |
| Notable work | Granada Cathedral Monastery of Saint Jerome (Granada) |
| Movement | Plateresque,Spanish Renaissance |
Diego Siloe (anglicized) orDiego de Siloé (c. 1495–1563) was a SpanishRenaissance architect andsculptor, progenitor of theGranadan school of sculpture.[1] He developed the majority of his work inAndalusia.
Siloe was most likely the son of the Spanish-FlemishGothic sculptorGil de Siloé. He spent the first part of his artistic career (1519–1528) in his birthplace,Burgos, where he worked principally as a sculptor.[2][3]
The works of de Siloé combine the Italian Renaissance style that he had studied on a visit toNaples around 1517 with the influences of the Spanish Gothic and ofArab architecture in Spain. The gilded staircase of theBurgos Cathedral (1519) is his most important work of this period. Its well-proportioned, round and airy structure with sculptures ofcherubs, coats of arms, and vegetal ornamentation, occupies an entire wall of the cathedral. With this design, Siloe resolved the problem that the Coronería door of the Cathedral, situated in the north arm of thetransept, was level with the street but stood several meters above the floor of the Cathedral. The monumental staircase splits into two sections parallel to the back wall, and incorporates architectural elements of the classicist tradition, in the style of the Italian architectDonato Bramante.
From 1528 until the end of his life, Siloe worked in Granada, above all as an architect. His arrival in the city marks the beginning of classicism in Andalusia. He was commissioned to complete two previously projected projects: the church of theMonastery of Saint Jerome (burial place of the Fernández family ofCórdoba, including the tomb ofGonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, "El Gran Capitán") and theGranada Cathedral, which he made into two of the outstanding buildings in the Renaissance style in Spain. The monastery church is distinguished by the immense dome covering its central space, after the fashion of funerary buildings ofAncient Rome. Theelevations show references to the work ofFilippo Brunelleschi, with large pillars fronted byCorinthian half-columns, matching the height of thenaves, with a second body of supports over theentablature of the first. Most outstanding is thePortada del Perdón ("Door of Pardon", c. 1534) conceived as a greattriumphal arch. Its rich decoration and the energetic and fluid lines and curves of its interior were an early expression of thePlateresque in Spain.
Among his other most notable projects are the Sacra Capilla de El Salvador del Mundo ("Holy Chapel of the Savior of the World") inÚbeda, conceived as a burial place for the Cobos family. It has a central nave of three wings, side chapels betweenbuttresses, and culminates in a circular space covered by a large dome.
Besides the Cathedral of Granada, de Siloe was the primary architect of theAlmería,Málaga andGuadix Cathedrals in Spain,Guadalajara Cathedral inMexico, and the cathedrals ofLima andCuzco inPeru. He was also the sculptor of a notable tomb in Spain'sBasque Country, the mausoleum of BishopRodrigo Mercado de Zuazola, who was president of the chancery of Granada. Carved from white marble, full of grotesque and allegorical scenes, it stands in the chapel of thePietàin the Church the Archangel Michael inOñati.
He died in Granada.
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