Despite the considerable quantity of colleges built across Europe in the fifteenth century, no standard typology had been established when in the 1480s Alonso de Burgos, bishop of Palencia, decided to endow his great foundation in Valladolid, the College of San Gregorio (Fig. 7.1). Yet, as I will show, the layout of this purpose-built Dominican college differs significantly from other university buildings in late Gothic Castile. It was probably planned by the knowledgeable and experienced architect Juan Guas, who devised a new distribution of rooms based on a 鈥榙ouble-L鈥 structure. Moreover, in order to meet the needs of the students and ensure the preservation of his own memory, Alonso de Burgos provided his foundation with the best artists in Castile, who lavished the college with a fa莽ade that truly celebrates听inventio, and a magnificent decorative scheme that makes it one of the most important late Gothic buildings in Castile.
Inventio听is one of the five steps needed to elaborate speech according to the art of rhetoric, a discipline that was essential to the education of every medieval student. It was a creative process which consisted in discovering (rather than creating听ex nihilo) the most appropriate arguments in order to compose a speech that could charm, persuade or unsettle. Rhetorical notions of听inventio听may also help to understand the creative process that produced some of the architectural and sculptural novelties at the College of San Gregorio in Valladolid, a beautiful late Gothic building that now houses the Museo Nacional de Escultura.[1]听Much of 迟丑别听inventio听identifiable at San Gregorio stems from the fact that it represents a relatively new architectural type, the university college.
听
University Colleges and Architecture
In the fifteenth century university colleges were private educational institutions, generally founded by prelates or town councils to meet students鈥 need for housing. Colleges enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy in selecting their own members and managing their financial affairs. The European collegiate movement is a theme of cardinal importance for the history of medieval universities: colleges became a cornerstone for university development during the late Middle Ages, not only in the well-known universities of Paris, Oxford or Cambridge, but also in Italy, Spain and Portugal.[2]听Moreover, the officers, ecclesiastical dignitaries and regents who founded these colleges regarded their foundations as charitable and pious ventures that would enshrine their memory.[3]听These privileged institutions also guaranteed their members the best conditions for work and study, provided they were prepared to tolerate the highly disciplined environment.[4]听In other words, colleges aimed to establish a scholarly elite.
Until the fourteenth century, students lived where they could find accommodation compatible with their means. As this posed a major problem of discipline for university authorities, they decided that the long-term solution was to house them in purpose-built colleges where a strict way of life was imposed. Whereas previously classes had taken place in cloisters or in the naves and chapels of churches or cathedrals, new and specialised teaching spaces were built, and libraries became increasingly important. Wisdom was progressively building its own house. At first, extant buildings were reused as colleges, but gradually, buildings organised around a central courtyard came to be preferred, such as those founded by Robert Sorbon in Paris (1257), Walter de Merton in Oxford (1263) or Hugo de Balsham at Peterhouse, Cambridge (1284). Over the following decades, other important colleges in France and England started to erect new buildings.
According to Michael Kiene鈥檚 studies, the variety of local conditions resulted in multiple different solutions.[5]听The common element to collegiate architecture across Europe was not unity of type or style but the desire to create a functional space. Prototypes in England, France and Italy appeared almost simultaneously around 1370, giving importance to scholars鈥 lodgings, the library and, particularly after construction of the College of Spain in Bologna, classrooms. Functional challenges were met in similar ways, all aimed at separating collective and residential spaces to guarantee silence for studying.[6]
English colleges have their own special features, but even there, no model was uniformly followed. Generally, small and medium colleges were built in parts at different times, until a quadrangle鈥攎ore or less square鈥攚as achieved.[7]听The most significant elements were the chapel and the hall. At Merton College in Oxford鈥攚hose first quadrangle was finished in 1379鈥攖he hall was not integrated into the courtyard, but it was an integral element of the courtyard of New College in Oxford (1380-1400) and in Queen鈥檚 College, Cambridge (1448).
Colleges spread in the fourteenth century to southern European universities. The evolution of French and Italian models is closer to those in Castile than the English prototypes. In 1359, the now destroyed College of Saint Martial in Toulouse was commenced, supported by Pope Innocent VI. Its regular plan included rooms on two floors around a courtyard with galleries, and it has been considered an important antecedent of the Spanish College in Bologna.[8]
Founded by the Spanish cardinal Gil de Albornoz in 1367 and designed for Spanish and Portuguese students, the College of Spain or of San Clemente in Bologna was a key reference for later university buildings across Europe.[9]听It was a new and regular building designed by Matteo Gattapone da Gubbio to meet all the needs of students. Its simple structure is organised around a central courtyard with galleries, two floors, and an axis of symmetry marked by a double-height chapel (Fig. 7.2). Scholars have not yet come to an agreement about the origin of this architectural prototype, and its innovative and functional constructive plan has been connected with monastic buildings, as well as with secular architecture such as urban palaces.[10]听Recently Amadeo Serra has proposed a link between the concept of cloister developed in the charterhouses and the individual collegiate cells in Bologna.[11]听In any case, the Spanish College became a symbol and reference for Castilian colleges, although its influence was more a question of concept and institutional layout than a real architectural one.
The College of San Bartolom茅 in Salamanca was the first in Castile to be provided with a new and specially designed building.[12]听Founded in 1414 by bishop Diego de Anaya (with the same statutes as the Spanish College), it had fifteen rooms around a courtyard with two floors: a chapel and kitchen on the ground floor, a refectory and library on the first. Although the original construction does not survive, old descriptions show that the layout of this college was different from the Spanish College. In fact, the original layouts of several colleges founded at the end of the fifteenth century are closer to Salamanca than to Bologna.
The typological experimentation that took place during the first decades of the fifteenth century in France and Italy led to the creation of a model for Castilian colleges that was first imitated in Salamanca, with the new building of its听Estudio General听or University, and later in other university towns.[13]听An example can be found in the plan of the College of Santa Cruz in Valladolid, founded for twenty students by Cardinal Mendoza and built between 1486 and 1491 after the model of San Bartolom茅 (Fig. 7.3).[14]
The college of San Gregorio in Valladolid
The college of San Gregorio, also in the city of Valladolid, was endowed by Alonso de Burgos in 1487 (Fig. 7.4). Although Alonso鈥檚 origins are unknown, the assumption that he was a听converso听has persisted, especially because of his closeness to the Santa Mar铆a family in Burgos (which includes heraldic similarities).[15]听Alonso de Burgos professed as a Dominican friar in the convent of San Pablo in Burgos, although he finished his degree in San Pablo of Valladolid where he became master and lecturer of theology. He became one of the confessors and closest collaborators of Queen Isabella when she was a princess, and he would develop an impressive career both at court, as the chief chaplain and Queen鈥檚 confessor, and in the Church, as bishop of C贸rdoba, Cuenca and Palencia. His artistic patronage increased as his career progressed, as can be seen in Cuenca and Palencia.[16]听His heraldic emblem, the fleur-de-lis, populates keystones and triforium balconies, recording his generous gifts and reforms (Fig. 7.5).[17]听He nonetheless elected burial in a foundation related to the Dominican Order, the College of San Gregorio in Valladolid.
Alonso鈥檚 choice of Valladolid was not casual. This Castilian city had continued to grow in importance since the beginning of the thirteenth century.[18]听Thanks to its central and strategic position between Burgos, Le贸n, Segovia and Toledo (among other reasons), it was frequently visited by members of the royal family, and was the target of important endowments from the most prominent religious orders.[19]听All these elements motivated the frequent presence of the court, which contributed to the development of an aristocratic neighbourhood close to the Plaza de San Pablo and to the installation of the Royal Chancery in the Vivero Palace in 1485.[20]
These circumstances propelled the development of the University of Valladolid, which was first established in the thirteenth century, largely to satisfy the need for administrators for the court and lawyers for the chancery.[21]听New university buildings (demolished in 1909) were built there in the last decades of the fifteenth century, and the Colleges of Santa Cruz and San Gregorio became the first university colleges in the city.[22]听The foundation of these colleges belongs to a wider political project initiated by the Catholic Monarchs in the effort to control key institutions with close allies educated in their ideals and goals. The endowment of these colleges thus implied a decrease in both power and autonomy for the university.
The origins of San Gregorio go back to 1486, when the Dominican convent of San Pablo donated the land as an expression of gratitude for the 鈥榤any honours and favours they had received from the most illustrious lord Dr Alonso de Burgos鈥, and for Alonso鈥檚 financial support for the convent鈥檚 refurbishment.[23]听The College of San Gregorio did not have the category of a听studium听of the mendicant order; it was a university college devoted to Theology.[24]听In the statutes drafted by Alonso de Burgos in 1499, he stated that his aim was to improve the clergy鈥檚 learning by encouraging wisdom, preaching ability, and knowledge of the Scriptures in those with a natural talent for studying but a lack of economic resources.[25]听To be eligible to study at San Gregorio, friars had to be aged between nineteen and twenty-eight and have prior knowledge of grammar, logic, arts and theology, enabling them to follow lectures in theology, logic, and natural and moral philosophy. The statutes also describe parts of the building that have not survived such as the infirmary, lavatories, well and vegetable garden.
Thanks to political support in Rome provided by the monarchs, Alonso was able to obtain a papal bull confirming the foundation of a university college for sixteen (ultimately twenty) Dominican observant friars.[26]听Work on the chapel started in 1487, and construction of the college began in 1488.[27]听We can assume that it was carefully planned from the start. The college was in use by 1496, although some works were still in progress after the death of Alonso de Burgos in 1499.
It is very likely that the college was designed by Juan Guas, who was master of royal works and is documented as working in the chapel in 1488, together with Juan de Talavera.[28]听As I argue below, the college must have been planned by a knowledgeable and experienced architect who was able to devise an ingenious variation on the distribution of rooms鈥攕omeone like Juan Guas, with a considerable degree of听inventio. Alonso de Burgos also hired many other leading artists for this project: Gil de Siloe created the altarpiece in the college chapel together with Diego de la Cruz, while Sim贸n de Colonia built the sacristy, Alonso鈥檚 funerary monument, and the chapel鈥檚 internal fa莽ade.[29]
The absence of documentation concerning construction, and the college鈥檚 uncertain position between Gothic and Renaissance, probably explain the relative scholarly neglect of San Gregorio. It has traditionally been understood as an example of the Gothic tradition, whereas similar and closely contemporary buildings such as Santa Cruz were identified with the 鈥榬evolution鈥 represented by the Renaissance (Fig. 7.6).[30]听With no obviously Italianate features, San Gregorio was described by early twentieth-century scholars as 鈥榙ecadent鈥 or 鈥榤otley鈥.[31]听However, analysis of the Dominican foundation reveals that it can claim a number of innovations, especially in terms of its architectural layout. Its decoration shows the impact of new artistic vocabularies brought by architects and artists from northern Europe, who had recently established workshops in Castile, especially in Burgos and Toledo, and created decorative schemes with an unprecedented richness that did not go unnoticed (Fig. 7.7). Contrary to the judgement of twentieth-century historians, this creative atmosphere was far from the clich茅 of decadence and exhaustion that was traditionally linked to the Spanish Flamboyant Gothic style.[32]
In fact, if we turn to sixteenth-century travellers鈥 accounts, the Italian elements incorporated into certain buildings as an erudite form of quotation鈥攁s boasted for Santa Cruz by some historians鈥攚ere not seen as something novel, but as a point of continuity in the development of a local and eclectic tradition.[33]听What is more, some of those who travelled to Valladolid gave similar descriptions for both colleges. For example, in 1517, Laurent Vital鈥攁 member of the party of Charles V鈥攑raised San Gregorio for its beauty and resemblance to the 鈥榯all and bright鈥 buildings of Flanders, making no equivalent comment about the Italianate features of Santa Cruz although he praised the latter鈥檚 library for being finer and richer than San Gregorio鈥檚.[34]
The layout of this purpose-built Dominican college differs significantly from other university buildings in late medieval Castile (Fig. 7.8). This is partly due to the fact that the college chapel, which was also the bishop鈥檚 funerary chapel, lies outside the courtyard and is connected to the church of San Pablo. However, its main novelty is in the layout of the buildings around the courtyard, which, as we will see, represents听inventio听in response to the building鈥檚 functions and patron鈥檚 brief.
The fa莽ade of the College of San Gregorio leads to the Patio de Estudios, one of the courtyards around which the quarters are arranged (Fig. 7.9). The statutes of 1499 distinguish two areas: 迟丑别听escuela听or 鈥榮chool鈥, articulated by the Patio de Estudios; and 迟丑别听colegio听or 鈥榗ollege鈥, by the main courtyard, where the residential quarters were located. In 迟丑别听escuela听there were two big lecture rooms with gilded and decorated wooden ceilings, although only the Aula de Cano (a lecture theatre) remains. This small courtyard in turn gave access to the corridor that connected this area with the chapel, a lower hall and the chaplains鈥 chambers. This distinction between the teaching area and the lodgings was unparalleled in other university colleges, notably the Spanish College in Bologna or Santa Cruz in Valladolid.
The most striking aspect of this layout is the ground plan of the main courtyard and its remarkable distribution of spaces, functions, and levels.[35]听Superficially it seems homogeneous, with four galleries around a square courtyard, famous for its characteristic twisted columns and decorated first floor. However, the courtyard contains a double-L structure that is quite different from what was usual in contemporary secular and religious buildings. The rooms in the southeastern and southwestern sides of the ground floor are high and have richly ornamented entrances. They include the archive, the assembly hall, the Aula de Cano with access from the Patio de Estudios, the refectory, the kitchen and the fireplace. Given that these two sides of the courtyard are widest, it follows that they were the most important.[36]听They were also embellished with beautiful wooden ceilings (Fig. 7.10).
A great staircase was located between these monumental spaces, providing access to the first floor. As on the ground floor, both the southeastern and southwestern sides house the most important rooms, notably the magnificent library (which was already commonly located on the upper floor in other convents and colleges) and a room whose tripartite distribution brings to mind a monastic chapter house (Fig. 7.11). Jos茅 Ignacio Hern谩ndez Redondo has recently made the convincing suggestion that these were Alonso de Burgos鈥檚 private chambers.[37]
In contrast to the two-floor arrangement of the southeastern and southwestern sides of the courtyard, the other two sides have three storeys: the ground floor, mezzanine and first floor. They housed the chambers of the students, rector and lecturers, all behind humbly but individually decorated doors. There were twenty-four cells with a study and a bedroom in each one, although the original arrangement of the cells, especially in the mezzanine, is still unknown. Obliquely placed doors and windows in one corner reveal the existence of a now missing spiral staircase, which gave access to this residential area (Fig. 7.12). The use of these oblique elements was an architectural boast (indeed, it may be one of the first examples in Castile), which implies not only the designer鈥檚 knowledge of recent architectural innovations in Valencia, but also his desire to make an erudite quotation referring to 迟丑别听fenestras obliquas听of Solomon鈥檚 Palace (1 Kings 6:4), together with the torch columns and the simulated textiles of the main courtyard (Fig. 7.13).[38]
The main staircase is therefore located in the area of greater importance, with access from the main courtyard, and beside the vestibule that connects both courtyards.[39]听It constitutes a magnificent space, the sole entrance to the main floor, where the most important rooms were located. It was conceived as a place of representation which invited recreation, reflected refinement, and flaunted the patron鈥檚 social power (Fig. 7.14). But its relationship to the building typology and distribution of rooms has not always been understood. Although the emergence of a first floor in monastic cloisters has been interpreted as a response to the change from common dormitories to individual cells brought on by the mendicants, they did not generate substantial staircases before the sixteenth century. In secular architecture, however, the notion of听planta noble听(piano nobile) led to the development of monumental staircases in French palaces, a structure that soon spread to other regions.[40]听Through the course of the fifteenth century, the palaces of the Castilian nobility increasingly incorporated large and regular courtyards, with ceremonial chambers and galleries on the first floor, as at the Casa del Cord贸n (Burgos) or Cogolludo Palace (Guadalajara), and suitably grand 听staircases leading up to them.
San Gregorio was neither a monastic nor a domestic building. Thanks to the three-storey arrangement, the residential cells could be incorporated in one of the 鈥楲鈥檚 described above, leaving the remaining areas available for public spaces, including the staircase. This arrangement was similar to that developed contemporaneously in such noble palaces and castles as Manzanares el Real, el Infantado in Guadalajara and la Casa del Cord贸n in Burgos. Indeed, the residential area might be best compared with the efficient use of space in conventual architecture, whereas ceremonial areas more closely recall palaces.[41]
Hern谩ndez Redondo鈥檚 idea that the bishop鈥檚 chamber at San Gregorio was located on the first floor, linked to the library and near the staircase, would justify the palatial nature of the first floor. The entrance to the chamber is formed by a very ornate door between late Gothic windows, making this space stand out from the rest of the building (Fig. 7.11). The bishop鈥檚 room would be located in the west corner, connected to the rest of the chamber and built over the archive room, which is covered with a stone vault. The layout and decorative richness of the first floor, dominated by the fleur-de-lis, further suggests that this room could have been used mainly as Alonso de Burgos鈥 chambers (Fig. 7.15). The structure of these chambers鈥攚ith a large hall and smaller, more private听retrete鈥攔ecalls a number of palaces in Castile and Navarre, and ultimately their French models.[42]
Alonso de Burgos, who moved to Valladolid and even lived in the college, played an active role in its construction.[43]听One of the few surviving documents pertaining to San Gregorio is a protest from the bishop against the masons before the Royal Council: asking for an inspection of the works by other masons, Alonso de Burgos claimed that 鈥榯he works in the chapel are bad and false, there are many holes and cracks; the chapel has so many flaws that it is in danger鈥.[44]听The most striking feature of the chapel, built by Juan Guas and Juan de Talavera from 1487 to 1490, is perhaps the aisleless nave, covered by an innovative ribbed vault. Here, on the vault, the ribs of the western bay create a pattern of rotating squares, whilst the masonry is set concentrically in the vault webs of the unusual and irregular septagonal eastern bay (Fig. 7.16).[45]听The keystones of the vault are decorated with the heraldry of the bishop and of the Dominican order, and an inscription covers the walls.[46]听Besides the magnificent altarpiece by Diego de Siloe and Diego de la Cruz,[47]听the greatest innovation in the chapel was, in all likelihood, the now missing funerary monument of Alonso de Burgos, carved by Sim贸n de Colonia, who also designed the fa莽ade of the chapel that faces San Pablo.
The choice of funerary monument was one of the most important decisions made by princes, nobles and prelates, who sought materials, designs and artists of the highest quality.[48]听Described in the sixteenth century by Antoine de Lalaing and Laurent Vital, the funerary monument of Alonso de Burgos was unique in Castile.[49]听Made of alabaster (the stone of choice for elite tombs) and with an unusual design comparable to the ensemble of Miraflores, it consisted of a seven-metre tall monument featuring a portrait of Alonso behind a pulpit, in the act of preaching.[50]听Even more striking is the identity of his listeners, all shown seated: the Catholic Monarchs, Prince Juan with Margaret of Austria, and the rest of their daughters (presumably Juana, Mar铆a and Catalina), together with other important aristocrats. Bishop Alonso thus employed the greatest artists in the kingdom to create an extraordinary chapel that would perpetuate his memory by asserting his magnificence, drawing on an Aristotelian concept that was a common mark of power, ethics and virtue in fifteenth-century Castile.[51]
The fa莽ade of the college was the last part to be finished, and has also aroused most scholarly interest due to its profuse decoration, complex iconographic interpretations, and the difficulty of attributing it to particular artists (Fig. 7.17).[52]听It has generally been attributed to Gil de Siloe on account of its vegetal imagery which is similar to other works of vegetal microarchitecture that this artist developed in Burgos. Vegetal forms play a leading role in the fa莽ade, composed as an altarpiece in three storeys, and dominated by a huge royal coat of arms over a pomegranate tree emerging from a fountain (Fig. 7.18). It appears to have been conceived as an emblem, where characters such as wild men or soldiers stand together with more predictable figures, such as the founder (as donor) along with saints Gregory, Paul, and Dominic.
In my opinion, it is possible to identify a consistent and coherent iconographic programme in the portal that relates to the function of the building behind it, and that spells out a specific programme related to science, the acquisition of knowledge and virtue, constructed from literary metaphors, popular culture and visual models.[53]听This programme, which I have explored elsewhere, must have been devised by Gil de Siloe鈥攄rawing on his experience of designing altarpieces in Burgos鈥攚ith advice from a learned Dominican.[54]听It would have been a creative process that established a new iconography of wisdom, appropriate to San Gregorio鈥檚 function as a temple of knowledge, and equivalent to the great sculpted fa莽ades of cathedrals and collegiate churches. It was the very first time in Castile that such a fa莽ade was created for a building other than a church, and, like a fine speech, it was intended to charm, persuade and unsettle those that gazed upon it (Fig. 7.19). The choice of the topics and the multiple levels at which it can be read鈥攊ts听诲颈蝉辫辞蝉颈迟颈辞鈥correspond with the characteristics of a persuasive speech according to traditional rhetorical theory. Whoever designed the fa莽ade drew on both popular and high literary culture in order to create a fa莽ade that would communicate to different viewers, signalling the existence behind it of a building dedicated to knowledge.
As for the choice of architecture, in the period around 1500 this style was not only the preference of the majority of European elites but was also one where new forms and design strategies were employed.[55]听The imaginative and novel use of ornament was as important for architects as the revision of spatial properties and structural challenges. The scholarly inattention suffered by such buildings stems in part from a long-standing dismissal of ornament and from prejudices against rich decoration as a symptom of decadence and decline.[56]听From Paris to Vienna, Prague, Nuremberg, Strasbourg or D眉sseldorf, these kinds of ornamental patterns鈥攚here microarchitecture achieved a great prominence鈥攎ark a resistance to Italian forms that were already known thanks to the circulation of prints and portable objects.
We might say that the decorative idiom of the College of San Gregorio, always described as 鈥榦pulent鈥 and deeply rooted in the Gothic tradition, belongs to the much wider European phenomenon of听Astwerk听or 鈥榖ranches-work鈥, the Iberian reception of which remains largely unstudied.[57]听The whole college abounds with vegetal imagery, from the courtyard to the fa莽ade, with angels, textile strips, pomegranates, pearls and fleurs-de-lis, all covering the stone like a tapestry (Fig. 7.20). Indeed, the choice of this architectural and ornamental style, closely connected with French and German designs, could be said to make San Gregorio a more original or distinct building than the markedly Italianate College of Santa Cruz, also in Valladolid.
San Gregorio was arguably Alonso de Burgos鈥檚 greatest artistic commission, notwithstanding his patronage at Palencia Cathedral, or even at the convent of San Pablo in Valladolid. The fact that he did not come from a high noble family suggests, perhaps, that the heraldic exuberance of San Gregorio was a form of assertiveness in the sole place where the preservation of Alonso鈥檚 memory was guaranteed. He also sought to maintain his memory by means of portraits, at least of four of which were located in the confined perimeter of the college.[58]听Magnificence was of a great importance in this endowment. It represents a new attitude towards the arts associated with the virtues of nobility, transforming architecture into the material expression of the founder鈥檚 splendour.[59]听Inventio听was central to that expression, both in the design of the courtyards and in the overtly rhetorical message of the fa莽ade.
Citations
[1]听The building was the main subject of my PhD Dissertation, 鈥楢lonso de Burgos y el Colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid: saber y magnificencia en el tardog贸tico castellano鈥, supervised by Javier Mart铆nez de Aguirre and finished in April 2018 at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
[2]听Alan B. Cobban, 鈥楾he Role of Colleges in the Medieval Universities of Northern Europe, with Special Reference to England and France鈥,听Bulletin of the John Rylands Library听71 (1989): p. 50.
[3]听A. Gabriel, 鈥楳otivation of the Founders at Mediaeval Colleges鈥,听Beitr盲ge zum Berufsbewusstein des Mittelalterlichen Menschen听3 (1964): p. 61.
[4]听Jacques Verger, 鈥楶atterns鈥, in Walter R眉egg (ed.),听A History of the University in Europe,听vol. 1, Universities in the Middle Ages听(Cambridge: University Press, 1992), p. 60.
[5]听Michael Kiene, 鈥楲鈥檜niversit脿 nelle citt脿 europee鈥, in G. P. Brizzi and Jacques Verger,听Le Universit脿 dell鈥橢uropa dal Rinascimento alle riforme religiose听(Milan: Silvana, 1993), p. 32.
[6]听The topic of university colleges as an architectural typology around Europe has been studied by several authors. See Nikolas Pevsner, 鈥楿niversities Yesterday鈥,听Architectural Review听122 (1957): pp. 235-9; Konrad R眉ckbrod,听Universit盲t und Kollegium.听Baugeschichte und Bautyp听(Darmstadt: Brepols, 1977); Michael Kiene, 鈥楧ie Grundlagen der europ盲ischen Universit盲tsbaukunst鈥,听Zeitschrift f眉r Kunstgeschichte听46 (1983): pp. 63-114; 鈥楧ie Baut盲tigkeit in den italienischen Universit盲ten von der Mitte der Trecento bis zur Mitte des Quattrocento鈥,听Mitteilungen der Kunsthistorischen Institut in Florenz听30 (1986): pp. 433-92 and 鈥楥olleges, 鈥楶alaces of Wisdom鈥 and University Buildings in Europe before 1500鈥, in A. Savini (ed.),听Collegiate Learning in the Middle Ages and Beyond听(Pavia: Monduzzi Editoriale, 2012), pp. 57-68; Felipe Pereda, 鈥楨l estudio y el problema de la tipolog铆a del colegio universitario鈥,听La arquitectura elocuente.听El edificio de la Universidad de Salamanca bajo el reinado de Carlos V听(Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para la Conmemoraci贸n de los centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V, 2000), pp. 17-75; Rui Lobo, 鈥楿rbanismo y arquitectura universitarios en la Pen铆nsula Ib茅rica. Algunos apuntes鈥, in Luis Rodr铆guez-San Pedro and Jos茅 Luis Polo Rodr铆guez (eds.),听Imagen, contextos morfol贸gicos y universidades.听Miscel谩nea Alfonso IX, 2012 (Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 2013), pp. 39-68.
[7]听Robert Willis,听The Architectural History of the University of Cambridge听(Cambridge: University Press, 1988); Robin Darwal, 鈥楾he Medieval Buildings of University College, Oxford鈥,听Oxoniensia听70 (2005): pp. 9-26.
[8]听Kiene, 鈥楲鈥橴niversit脿鈥, p. 27.
[9]听See, amongst others, Michael Kiene, 鈥楲鈥檃rchitettura del Colegio di Spagna di Bologna: organizzazione dello spazio e influssi sull鈥檈dilizia universitaria europea鈥,听Il Carrobbio听9 (1983): pp. 234-42; Ignacio Gonz谩lez-Varas,听Dietro il muro del Collegio di Spagna听(Bologna: Clueb, 1998); Amadeo Serra,听Matteo Gattapone, arquitecto del Colegio de Espa帽a听(Bologna and Zaragoza: Publicaciones del Real Colegio de Espa帽a, 1992); Amadeo Serra, 鈥楨l Colegio de Espa帽a en Bolonia y la arquitectura universitaria del primer Renacimiento en Italia y Espa帽a鈥, in听Espa帽a y Bolonia: siete siglos de relaciones art铆sticas y culturales听(Madrid: Fundaci贸n Carolina, 2006); Amadeo Serra, 鈥楤olonia y la definici贸n de un tipo en la arquitectura universitaria europea鈥, in Luis Rodr铆guez-San Pedro Bezares 听and Juan Luis Polo Rodr铆guez (eds.),听Imagen, contextos morfol贸gicos y universidades听(Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 2013), pp. 19-38.
[10]听Konrad R眉ckbrod,听Universit盲t und Kollegium.听Baugeschichte und Bautyp听(Darmstadt: Brepols, 1977), p. 27; J. Winckelmann, 鈥楿niversit谩 e Collegi. Sviluppo e modelli architettonici. Nota su un recente libro鈥, in Emilio Verdera y Tuells (ed.),听El Cardenal Albornoz y el Colegio de Espa帽a听(Bologna and Zaragoza: Cometa, 1979), p. 37; Gottfried Kerscher, 鈥楶alazzi prerinascimentali: la rocca di Spoleto e il Collegio di Spagna a Bologna. Architettura del cardinale Aegidius Albornoz鈥,听Annali di architettura听3 (1991): pp. 14-25.
[11]听Serra, 鈥楨l Colegio de Espa帽a en Bolonia鈥, pp. 22; 29.
[12]听Pereda, 鈥楨l estudio y el problema鈥, pp. 27-31; Alfonso Rodr铆guez G. de Ceballos, 鈥楴oticias documentales sobre el Colegio de San Bartolom茅 de Salamanca鈥,听Archivo Espa帽ol de Arte听302 (2003): pp. 187-205; Nieves Rup茅rez,听El colegio de San Bartolom茅 o de Anaya听(Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca, 2003); Nieves Rup茅rez, 鈥楨l Colegio de San Bartolom茅 antes de las reformas del siglo XVIII鈥, in Rodr铆guez-San Pedro Bezares and Polo Rodr铆guez,听Imagen, contextos morfol贸gicos y universidades听(Salamanca, Universidad de Salamanca, 2013), pp.159-210.
[13]听These ideas have been developed by Felipe Pereda. See听La arquitectura elocuente. El edificio de la Universidad de Salamanca bajo el reinado de Carlos V听(Madrid, Sociedad Estatal para la Conmemoraci贸n de los centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V, 2000), p.44.
[14]听This building has been recently studied by Rui Lobo, although it requires a detailed and an up-to-date analysis. See Luis Cervera Vera,听Arquitectura del Colegio Mayor de Santa Cruz de Valladolid听(Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid, 1982); Salvador Andr茅s Ordax y Jos茅 Rivera Blanco (eds.),听La introducci贸n del Renacimiento en Espa帽a. El Colegio de Santa Cruz (1491-1991)听(Valladolid: Instituto Espa帽ol de Arquitectura 鈥 Universidad de Valladolid, 1992); Miguel 脕ngel Zalama, 鈥楢rquitectura y estilo en la 茅poca de los Reyes Cat贸licos鈥, in听La magnificencia de un reinado. Cat谩logo de Exposici贸n听(Salamanca: Sociedad Estatal de Conmemoraciones Culturales, 2004), pp. 127-40; Salvador Andr茅s Ordax,听El Colegio de Santa Cruz de Valladolid. M谩s de quinientos a帽os de historia听(Valladolid: Diputaci贸n y Ayuntamiento de Valladolid, 2015); Rui Lobo, 鈥楨l primitivo edificio del Colegio Mayor de Santa Cruz de Valladolid y la consolidaci贸n del tipo colegial castellano,听Goya: Revista de arte听352 (2015): pp. 192-207.
[15]听Pablo de Santamar铆a (formerly Solomon Ha-Levi) and his son Alonso de Cartagena (both of whom were bishops of Burgos) were all members of an extended听converso听family, most of whom bore the names Santamaria or Maluenda. All shared the same heraldic emblem: a single fleur-de-lis, representing the Virgin, which Pablo (the initial convert in the family) presumably chose to relate to his adopted Christian name. For more information on Alonso de Burgos, see Diana Olivares Mart铆nez and Gema Palomo Fern谩ndez, 鈥楨scudos con flor de lis o la huella de un prelado promotor: Alonso de Burgos, obispo de Cuenca (1482-1485)鈥,听Lope de Barrientos. Seminario de cultura听6 (2013): pp. 93-124; Jorge D铆az Ib谩帽ez, 鈥楩ray Alonso de Burgos. Un prelado al servicio de la monarqu铆a castellana en la segunda mitad del siglo XV鈥, in H. Vasconcelos and M. J. Branco (eds.),听Ecclesiastics and political state building in the Iberian monarchies, 13th-15th centuries听(Coimbra: Publica莽oes do Cidehus, 2016), pp. 147-82.
[16]听The relationshop between Alonso de Burgos鈥檚 patronage and income has been studied in Diana Olivares Mart铆nez, 鈥楲os Reyes Cat贸licos y la financiaci贸n de las empresas arquitect贸nicas de Alonso de Burgos鈥, in Mar铆a Dolores Teijeira et al. (eds.),听Reyes y Prelados.听La creaci贸n art铆stica en los reinos de Le贸n y Castilla (1050-1500)听(Madrid: S铆lex, 2014), pp. 417-35.
[17]听Fleurs-de-lis can be found in the keystone of the transept vault in the cathedral of Palencia, as well as in the dismantled balcony from the triforium in the cathedral of Cuenca, among other locations.
[18]听Julio Valde贸n, 鈥榁alladolid de Villa a Ciudad鈥, in听Valladolid. Historia de una ciudad, vol. 1,听La ciudad y el arte. Valladolid Villa (茅poca medieval)听(Valladolid: Ayuntamiento de Valladolid, 1999), pp. 181-92.
[19]听Adeline Rucquoi,听Valladolid en la Edad Media, vol. 2,听El mundo abreviado (1367-1474)听(Valladolid: Junta de Castilla y Le贸n, 1987), pp. 519-24; Pascual Mart铆nez Sopena, 鈥楲a capital del rigor. Valladolid y los movimientos observantes del siglo XV鈥, in Javier Burrieza (ed.),听La ciudad del Regalado听(Valladolid: Ayuntamiento de Valladolid, 2004), p. 39.
[20]听Mar铆a Antonia Varona,听La Chanciller铆a de Valladolid en el reinado de los Reyes Cat贸licos听(Valladolid: Universidad, 1981); Jes煤s Urrea,听La plaza de San Pablo: escenario de la Corte听(Valladolid, Diputaci贸n de Valladolid, 2003).
[21]听Elena S谩nchez Movell谩n, 鈥楲a Universidad Medieval鈥, in Jos茅 Mar铆a Palomares (ed.),听Historia de la Universidad de Valladolid听(Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid, 1989), 1: pp. 25-72.
[22]听Amalia Prieto Cantero, 鈥楨l antiguo edificio de la Universidad鈥, in听Historia de la Universidad de Valladolid, 2: pp. 645-8; Mar铆a Jos茅 Redondo Cantera,听Una casa para la sabidur铆a. El edificio hist贸rico de la Universidad de Valladolid听(Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid, 2002).
[23]听Libro Becerro del colegio dominico de San Gregorio de Valladolid, c贸dices, libro 1260, fol. 263, Archivo Hist贸rico Nacional, Madrid (henceforth AHN). The donation became effective from 9 January 1487. See Clero secular-regular, legajo 7872, AHN.
[24]听Traditionally, the Dominican friars studied at the universities of Paris, Oxford and Cambridge, but during the fifteenth century, students elected to study across Europe. The Western Schism forced the Observant friars to register in universities other than Paris, such as the Bologna Theology Faculty. With the Hundred Years鈥 War, however, Spanish and Portuguese students were granted permission to register at Valladolid University, where theology was taught from 1418. See Santiago Aguad茅, 鈥楲as universidades y la formaci贸n intelectual del clero castellano en la Edad Media鈥, in听Universidad, cultura y sociedad en la Edad Media听(Alcal谩 de Henares: Universidad, 1994), p. 192.
[25]听The statutes (Clero secular-regular, carpeta 3500/5, pos. 3125, AHN) have been transcribed and studied in Jorge D铆az Ib谩帽ez, 鈥楢lonso de Burgos y la fundaci贸n y primeros estatutos del colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid. La regulaci贸n de la vida religiosa y acad茅mica de los dominicos observantes en la Castilla del siglo XV鈥,听Cuadernos de historia del derecho听23 (2016), pp. 41-100.
[26]听The bull was granted by Pope Innocent VIII on 15 December 1487 and is transcribed in Gonzalo de Arriaga,听Historia del Colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid听(Valladolid: Tipograf铆a Cuesta, 1928), 1: pp. 68-9. See R. J. Clemente y B. Hidalgo, 鈥楥olecci贸n diplom谩tica del Archivo Hist贸rico Dominicano de la Provincia de Espa帽a,听Archivo Dominicano.听Anuario听34 (2013), p. 97n25.
[27]听The chapel鈥檚 construction is recorded in an inscription. See Francisco Javier Molina de la Torre, 鈥楲os estudios epigr谩ficos desde la teor铆a de la comunicaci贸n: el friso de la capilla del Colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid鈥,听Documenta & Instrumenta听11(2013): pp. 141-70.
[28]听Registro General del Sello, legajo 148812,131. 1488, 12, 4, Archivo General de Simancas. See Esteban Garc铆a Chico, 鈥楯uan Guas y la capilla del Colegio de San Gregorio鈥,听Bolet铆n del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueolog铆a听16 (1949-1950): pp. 200-1; Mar铆a L贸pez D铆ez,听Los Trast谩mara en Segovia. Juan Guas, maestro de obras reales听(Segovia: Caja Segovia, 2006).
[29]听Libro Becerro del colegio dominico de San Gregorio de Valladolid, C贸dices, L.1260, fols. 263-4, AHN; Anton Mayer, 鈥楨l escultor Gil de Siloe鈥,听Bolet铆n de la Sociedad Espa帽ola de Excursiones听31 (1923): pp. 252-7; Filem贸n Arribas, 鈥楽im贸n de Colonia en Valladolid鈥,听Bolet铆n del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueolog铆a听5 (1933-1934): pp. 153-66; Manuel G贸mez-Moreno, 鈥楢 prop贸sito de Sim贸n de Colonia en Valladolid鈥,听Archivo Espa帽ol de Arte y Arqueolog铆a听30 (1934): pp. 181-4; Isabel Fuentes Rebollo, 鈥楨l maestro Sim贸n de Colonia en San Pablo y San Gregorio (Nueva lectura documental)鈥,听Bolet铆n del Museo Nacional de Escultura听3 (1998-1999): pp. 7-10.
[30]听See Zalama, 鈥楢rquitectura y estilo鈥.
[31]听Vicente Lamp茅rez y Romea,听Arquitectura Civil Espa帽ola de los siglos I al XVIII, vol. 2,听Arquitectura p煤blica听(Madrid: Saturnino Calleja, 1922), p. 156; Manuel G贸mez-Moreno,听Las 谩guilas del Renacimiento espa帽ol: Bartolom茅 Ordo帽ez, Diego Silo茅, Pedro Machuca, Alonso Berruguete听(Madrid: Xarait, 1941), p. 185. For the historiography, see Diana Olivares Mart铆nez, 鈥樷淒el m谩s abigarrado y barroco estilo Isabel鈥. La historiograf铆a como condicionante para el estudio del tardog贸tico hispano: el colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid鈥, in Fernando Grilo et al. (eds.),听Da tra莽a 脿 edifica莽ao: a arquitetura dos s猫culos XV e XVI em Portugal e na Europa听(forthcoming).
[32]听See especially Bego帽a Alonso Ruiz,听Arquitectura Tardog贸tica en Castilla: los Rasines听(Santander: Universidad de Cantabria, 2003); Alonso, 鈥楲os tiempos y los nombres del tardog贸tico castellano鈥, in听La arquitectura tardog贸tica castellana entre Europa y Am茅rica听(Madrid: S铆lex, 2011), pp. 43-80.
[33]听Zalama, 鈥楢rquitectura y estilo鈥, p. 139.
[34]听Jos茅 Garc铆a Mercadal,听Viajes de Extranjeros por Espa帽a y Portugal. Desde los tiempos m谩s remotos hasta comienzos del siglo XX听(Valladolid: Junta de Castilla y Le贸n 鈥 Consejer铆a de Educaci贸n y Cultura, 1999), 1: p. 672.
[35]听I have studied this in relation to the main staircase in more detail. See Diana Olivares Mart铆nez, 鈥楲a escalera del colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid, espacio y representaci贸n鈥, in听Sevilla, 1514: arquitectos tardog贸ticos en la encrucijada听(Seville: Editorial Universidad de Sevilla, 2016), pp. 369-81.
[36]听The southeast and southwest sides are wider than the northeast and northwest ones, giving clear proof of the different importance given to each area. For instance, the southwest side measures 10.6 metres in width whereas the northwest is 9.8 metres.
[37]听Jos茅 Ignacio Hern谩ndez Redondo, 鈥楨l Colegio de San Gregorio, fundaci贸n de fray Alonso de Burgos: reflexiones y propuestas鈥, in听Conocer Valladolid听(Valladolid: Real Academia de Bellas Artes de la Pur铆sima Concepci贸n, 2014), p. 101.
[38]听Based on Arturo Zaragoz谩, 鈥業nspiraci贸n b铆blica y presencia de la Antig眉edad en el episodio tardog贸tico valenciano鈥, in听Historia de la Ciudad, vol. 2,听Territorio, sociedad y Patrimonio:听una visi贸n arquitect贸nica de la historia de la ciudad de Valencia听(Valencia: Colegio de Arquitectos, 2002), pp. 165-83. I have explored this more deeply in 鈥Sapientia aedificavit sibi domum: el Colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid y el imaginario salom贸nico鈥, in Alexandra Uscatescu and Irene Gonz谩lez (eds.),听En busca del saber: arte y ciencia en el Mediterr谩neo medieval听(Madrid: Ediciones Complutense, 2018), pp. 367-79.
[39]听See Diana Olivares Mart铆nez, 鈥楲a escalera del colegio鈥.
[40]听Jean Guillaume, 鈥楪en猫se de l鈥檈scalier moderne鈥, in Jean Guillaume (ed.),听L鈥橢scalier dans l鈥檃rchitecture de la Renaissance听(Paris: Picard, 1985), p. 10.
[41]听The idea of specialization in fifteenth-century Castilian palaces has been developed by Elena Paulino Montero. See especially 鈥楨l Alc谩zar de Medina de Pomar y la Casa del Cord贸n. La creaci贸n de un palacio especializado nobiliario, en听Anales de Historia del Arte听23 (2013): pp. 521-36.
[42]听For Castilian examples, see the Casa del Cord贸n and the so-called Felipe el Hermoso rooms; the 鈥榬etrait鈥 had been used in the palaces of Olite and Pamplona in Navarre since the fourteenth century. See Paulino Montero, 鈥楨l Alc谩zar de Medina de Pomar鈥, p.553; Javier Mart铆nez de Aguirre, 鈥楲ancelot en Olite: paradigmas arquitect贸nicos y referentes literarios en los palacios de Carlos III de Navarra (1387-1425)鈥,听Anales de Historia del Arte听23, n煤mero extraordinario 2 (2013): pp. 191-218.
[43]听In his will he refers to the sale of the houses where he had lived before his move to the college. See Jorge D铆az Ib谩帽ez, 鈥楨l testamento del obispo Alonso de Burgos: religiosidad, construcci贸n de la memoria y preeminencia eclesi谩stica en Castilla a fines del siglo XV鈥,听Estudios de historia de Espa帽a听10 (2017): p. 134.
[44]听Registro General del Sello, legajo 148812,131. 1488, 12, 4, Archivo General de Simancas. Garc铆a Chico, 鈥楯uan Guas y la capilla鈥, p. 201.
[45]听Juan Guas also set masonry concentrically in the vaults of San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo.
[46]听See note 27 above.
[47]听The altarpiece was made of walnut and included 鈥榯wenty-two stories and effigies of saints鈥. Its cost was comparable to Luis de Acu帽a鈥檚 altarpiece in Burgos Cathedral. See C贸dices, L.1260, fols. 263-4, AHN.
[48]听Milena Bartlova, 鈥In memoriam defunctorum: visual arts as devices of memory鈥, in L. Dolezalov谩 (ed.),听The Making of Memory in the Middle Ages听(Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2010), pp. 473-86.
[49]听Garc铆a Mercadal,听Viajes de Extranjeros,听pp. 423 and 674.
[50]听See Ethan Matt Kavaler,听Renaissance Gothic听(New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 194.
[51]听C. Stephen Jaeger (ed.),听Magnificence and the Sublime in Medieval Aesthetics.听Art, Architecture, Music听(New York: Pallgrave Macmillan, 2010); Bego帽a Alonso Ruiz, 鈥楲a nobleza en la ciudad: Arquitectura y听Magnificencia听a finales de la Edad Media鈥,听Studia Historica.听Historia Moderna听34 (2012): pp. 215-51.
[52]听See especially Mar铆a Lozano de Vilatela, 鈥楽imbolismo de la portada de San Gregorio de Valladolid鈥,听Traza y Baza听4 (1974): pp. 7-15; Clementina Julia Ara Gil, 鈥楲as fachadas de San Gregorio y San Pablo de Valladolid en el contexto de la arquitectura europea鈥,听Actas del Coloquio La arquitectura g贸tica en Espa帽a听(G枚ttingen: Vervuert, 1999) pp. 317-34; Felipe Pereda, 鈥楾he Shelter of the Savage: From Valladolid to the New World鈥,听Medieval Encounters听16 (2010): pp. 268-359.
[53]听For the notion of a 鈥榩rogramme鈥, see B. Boerner, 鈥楽culptural Programs鈥, in Conrad Rudolph (ed.),听A Companion to Medieval Art听(Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2006), pp. 557-76; Michel Pastoreau, 鈥楶rogramme. Histoire d鈥檜n mot, histoire d鈥檜n concept鈥,听in听Jean-Marie Guillou毛t and Claudia Rabel (eds.),听Le Programme. Une notion pertinente en histoire de l鈥檃rt m茅di茅val?听(Paris: Le l茅opard d鈥橭r, 2011), pp. 15-25.
[54]听I give a fuller account of the iconography in my doctoral dissertation which I hope to publish shortly.
[55]听Kavaler,听Renaissance Gothic, p. 4.
[56]听Ethan Matt Kavaler, 鈥楻enaissance Gothic: Pictures of Geometry and Narratives of Ornament鈥,听Art History听29 (2006): p. 4.
[57]听See Pereda, 鈥楾he Shelter鈥, p. 269.
[58]听On the fa莽ade, the altarpiece of the chapel, the tomb monument, and the door which linked the chapel to the church of San Pablo, as well as on the fa莽ade of San Pablo.
[59]听Alonso Ruiz, 鈥楲a nobleza en la ciudad鈥, p. 216.
DOI: 10.33999/2019.51