ESPAGNE - BURGOS - Chartreuse de Miraflores - 1442 - Retable Gil de Siloé (66)
BURGOS
In 884, as part of the policy of repopulating the territories reconquered by the Christians, Alfonso III, king of Leon, trying to slow down the advance of the Muslims, ordered Count Diego Rodríguez to create a city on the banks of the Arlanzón. The origin of Burgos is, therefore, military. It benefits from a privileged geographical location due to the fact that it is halfway between Madrid and the French border, as well as very close cities such as Bilbao, Santander, Logroño or Valladolid, among others.
After being a simple stage of the Camino de Santiago, Burgos comes to dominate the Segovia-Bilbao commercial axis, that is to say the route for exporting wool, the main resource of Castile. At the end of the 15th century, the merchants of Burgos, after having established a de facto monopoly on the trade of this raw material, reigned over Old Castile and maintained agents in the main commercial centres of Western Europe: Nantes and Rouen, Antwerp and Bruges. They settled in Seville to take advantage of the relations established with America, and the quest for fortune took them to the Canaries, Cape Verde and Guinea. From the 16th century, however, the bourgeoisie of Burgos, until then the most prosperous in Spain, experienced decline.
MIRAFLORES CHARTERHOUSE
The Carthusian monastery, Miraflores Charterhouse (Cartuja de Miraflores) is situated about four kilometres from the historic city center.
Before the building was ceded to the Carthusian order, it was the recreational residence of Henry III of Spain, who decided to build this palace on one of his hunting reserves. The building was subsequently restored when his son King John II came to the throne, following a design by John of Cologne. Construction was finally completed in the reign of Queen Isabella, and the top architects, sculptures and painters of the time were employed for the job, including figures such as Simon of Cologne, Gil de Siloé and Pedro Berruguete. The Carthusian monastery became one of the treasures of the Gothic style of the late 15th century.
Gil de Siloé (Antwerp? 1440s – Burgos, 1501) was a Castilian sculptor of Flemish origin, who worked in Burgos in a late gothic or Isabelline style.
His Hispano-Flemish style, which combines influences of the Germanic and Flemish gothic, and Mudéjar, is meticulous in its ornamentation and displays great technical virtuosity.
In Miraflores Charterhouse there are several works by Gil de Siloé:
•The main altarpiece (1496–1499). Gil was assisted by Diego de la Cruz, who was responsible for the polychromy and some of the figures.
It is an altarpiece in gilded and polychromatic walnut wood, representing Christ on the cross. It is located in the choir of the monastery.
•The mausoleum of King John II of Castile and of his wife, Isabella of Portugal (1489–1493).
•The funeral monument for Alfonso son of John II and brother of Isabella I of Castile (1489–1492).
ESPAGNE - BURGOS - Chartreuse de Miraflores - 1442 - Retable Gil de Siloé (66)
BURGOS
In 884, as part of the policy of repopulating the territories reconquered by the Christians, Alfonso III, king of Leon, trying to slow down the advance of the Muslims, ordered Count Diego Rodríguez to create a city on the banks of the Arlanzón. The origin of Burgos is, therefore, military. It benefits from a privileged geographical location due to the fact that it is halfway between Madrid and the French border, as well as very close cities such as Bilbao, Santander, Logroño or Valladolid, among others.
After being a simple stage of the Camino de Santiago, Burgos comes to dominate the Segovia-Bilbao commercial axis, that is to say the route for exporting wool, the main resource of Castile. At the end of the 15th century, the merchants of Burgos, after having established a de facto monopoly on the trade of this raw material, reigned over Old Castile and maintained agents in the main commercial centres of Western Europe: Nantes and Rouen, Antwerp and Bruges. They settled in Seville to take advantage of the relations established with America, and the quest for fortune took them to the Canaries, Cape Verde and Guinea. From the 16th century, however, the bourgeoisie of Burgos, until then the most prosperous in Spain, experienced decline.
MIRAFLORES CHARTERHOUSE
The Carthusian monastery, Miraflores Charterhouse (Cartuja de Miraflores) is situated about four kilometres from the historic city center.
Before the building was ceded to the Carthusian order, it was the recreational residence of Henry III of Spain, who decided to build this palace on one of his hunting reserves. The building was subsequently restored when his son King John II came to the throne, following a design by John of Cologne. Construction was finally completed in the reign of Queen Isabella, and the top architects, sculptures and painters of the time were employed for the job, including figures such as Simon of Cologne, Gil de Siloé and Pedro Berruguete. The Carthusian monastery became one of the treasures of the Gothic style of the late 15th century.
Gil de Siloé (Antwerp? 1440s – Burgos, 1501) was a Castilian sculptor of Flemish origin, who worked in Burgos in a late gothic or Isabelline style.
His Hispano-Flemish style, which combines influences of the Germanic and Flemish gothic, and Mudéjar, is meticulous in its ornamentation and displays great technical virtuosity.
In Miraflores Charterhouse there are several works by Gil de Siloé:
•The main altarpiece (1496–1499). Gil was assisted by Diego de la Cruz, who was responsible for the polychromy and some of the figures.
It is an altarpiece in gilded and polychromatic walnut wood, representing Christ on the cross. It is located in the choir of the monastery.
•The mausoleum of King John II of Castile and of his wife, Isabella of Portugal (1489–1493).
•The funeral monument for Alfonso son of John II and brother of Isabella I of Castile (1489–1492).