Philip II and El Escorial (Art History)

Introduction

No building occupies as central a place in the architectural history of Spain than San Lorenzo el Real de El Escorial, and few rulers make for a more compelling historical figure than the monastery-palace’s patron, the Spanish Habsburg king Philip II (b. 1527; r. 1556–1598). Realized from 1563 to 1584/1586 with ongoing decorative programs, the royal monument comprised of a basilica, monastery, palace, library, and college came to symbolize a political dynasty. Later Spanish Habsburg interventions included a Royal Pantheon begun in 1617 and new decorative schemes following a devastating fire in 1671. The history of El Escorial is supported by rich archival holdings, primarily documents but also drawings in addition to beautifully engraved images of the building commissioned by its chief architect, Juan de Herrera (c. 1530–1597). Period documents reveal the deliberative role of Philip II as a patron of the building, which, due to scholarship since the 1990s, can be understood as part of a wider cultural-political effort to establish a worldly court in Madrid with El Escorial serving as its spiritual anchor. Primary sources allow us to reconstruct the process behind the erection of the monastery-palace, thereby contributing valuable information to the history of construction and building technology for the early modern period. Despite Herrera’s considerable contributions, authorship of El Escorial’s design is a question that runs through every vein of scholarship on the monastery-palace. In an exemplary study, Wilkinson-Zerner 1993 (cited under Architects) writes that Philip II’s “love of buildings of all kinds acted like a magnet on engineers and architects, drawing them toward him and inspiring extravagant hopes and projects” (p. 170). Thus it is no surprise that Philip is often given credit for the design of El Escorial prior to the building’s architects. Cultural exchange has emerged as a special topic with regard to the Spanish Habsburgs, whose kingdoms encompassed places in Iberia, as well as Italy, the Low Countries, the Americas, and even beyond with the annexation of Portugal in 1580. Studies of the art collections at El Escorial comprise works by famous Flemish, Italian, and Spanish artists; the library holdings with books and manuscripts in ancient and modern languages also bear witness to this phenomenon. The last sections of this bibliography explore science and letters at El Escorial and the critical reception of the monastery-palace from the late 16th century to modern times.

General Overviews

A tradition of writing about El Escorial begins with José de Sigüenza (1544–1606), a Jeronymite friar who served as Escorial librarian and prior. Sigüenza’s narration of the building’s foundation and construction was included as part of his Tercera Parte de la Historia de la Orden de San Jerónimo (Madrid 1605), a history of the religious order that first occupied the Escorial monastery. Sigüenza’s inaugural history remains an essential source for an understanding of the building and exists in modern editions including Sigüenza 1986, published to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the completion of construction around 1584–1586. Francisco de los Santos, another Jeronymite friar of note, entered the monastery of El Escorial around 1635 and from 1643 served as the maestro de capilla overseeing the Royal Basilica’s music program, among other duties. His first published “description” of the monastery-palace appeared in 1657 (facsimile, 1984) during the reign of Philip IV (b. 1605; r. 1621–1665) and provides critical information about 17th-century interventions at the Royal Pantheon, Sacristy, Royal Palace, and Basilica. Santos 1698 is his last published history of the building, offering up-to-date information on decorative schemes completed under Carlos II (b. 1661; r. 1675–1700). Ximénez 1764 continued the tradition, writing a description of the monastery-palace as it was being heralded as a highpoint of Spanish design during a period of architectural transformation with the creation of a Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid. The building’s canonical status was affirmed in the first history of Spanish architecture penned in the 1770s and 1780s and published as Llaguno y Amirola 1829. Today, the starting point for research on El Escorial’s design and construction is Bustamante García 1994, whose achievement seems to meet the challenge set forth by scholars in the two-volume El Escorial, 1563–1963. This publication marked the 400th anniversary of the laying of the building’s cornerstone in 1563 and helps us understand the building’s appropriation as a nationalist moment during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who authored the first essay. Kubler 1982 offers another fine contribution to the modern history of El Escorial, with particular attention to its construction as well as the building’s interpretation. The architectural historian Fernando Marías has also authored important articles about the monastery-palace, some of which are incorporated into Marías 1989. García-Frias Checa and Sancho 2008 is a useful introduction for the armchair traveler, and Kamen 2010 offers an idiosyncratic history of the building.

Bustamante García, Agustín. La Octava Maravilla del Mundo: Estudio histórico sobre El Escorial de Felipe II. Madrid: Alpuerto, 1994.
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Monumental tome that offers a summation of knowledge about the conception, building, and interpretation of El Escorial. Ten chapters fill 687 pages in what is really two books, one comprised of transcriptions of archival documents from Spain, Italy, and elsewhere that fill the lengthy footnotes. The quality of images does not match the scholarly apparatus of this book, which is an essential read for the Escorial’s 16th-century history. Excellent bibliography.
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El Escorial, 1563–1963. 2 vols. Madrid: Ediciones Patrimonio Nacional, 1963.
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Two large-scale volumes with contributions from leading scholars, architects, and also political figures. Volume I explores history and literature, and Volume II is devoted to architecture and the arts. Essays by Luis Cervera Vera on Juan de Herrera, Secundino Suazo Ugalde on design precedents for the monastery-palace, and Luis Moya Blanco on the composition of the building are some of the stand-out contributions regarding architecture. Volume II includes excellent information about painting, sculpture, engraving, furniture, ceramics, and more.
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García-Frias Checa, Carmen, and José Luis Sancho. Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Madrid: Patrimonio Nacional, 2008.
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Tourist guidebook offering a helpful introduction to the building and its history, along with a ground plan.
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Kamen, Henry. The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2010.
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The book’s primary contribution is the attention it provides to Philip’s early travels as prince to northern Italy and especially Germany, where Kamen identifies a possible architectural inspiration for El Escorial. The claim lacks a real argument but serves the purpose of posing new questions about the international climate that informed Philip’s artistic and architectural patronage. Oddly lacking in recent bibliography, the book is an accessible read but also idiosyncratic.
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Kubler, George. Building the Escorial. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982.
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This impressive book tackles the design and building history as well as style of the El Escorial in compact, informative chapters. Kubler’s work is based on minute attention to archival sources and extensive, on-site analysis. It also offers a generous synthesis of the work of earlier scholars beginning with Sigüenza and an unsurpassed survey of writing about El Escorial and its “changing fame.” Excellent source for undergraduates.
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Llaguno y Amirola, Eugenio. Noticias de los arquitectos y arquitectura de España desde su restauración. 4 vols. Edited by Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez. Madrid: Imprenta Real, 1829.
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This bedrock study of Spanish architectural history established El Escorial and the era of Philip II as the summa of Spanish architectural design. The author was an official of the Royal Academy of History and the editor one of the founders of art history in Spain as well as member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Ceán Bermúdez’s contributions are formidable and include documentary finds about Juan de Herrera (see Architects).
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Marías, Fernando. El Largo Siglo XVI: Los usos artísticos del Renacimiento español. Madrid: Taurus, 1989.
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Survey of Renaissance artistic trends and developments in Spain from the late 15th century to around the year 1600. Composed of previously published essays, the book includes rich material on El Escorial and its impact on the cultural life of 16th-century Spain. Includes a reworking of an important essay on El Escorial and its interpretation as a monument to Divine Wisdom.
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Santos, Francisco de los. Descripcion del Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial, unica maravilla del mundo. 4th ed. Madrid: Juan García Infançon, 1698.
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De los Santos claims this is the fourth edition of his work though a 1681 version is known only in manuscript. It offers the most complete history of El Escorial for the whole of the Spanish Habsburg era with information about rebuilding after the 1671 fire and the frescoes executed by Luca Giordano from 1692 to 1694. An English translation by George Thompson was published in London in 1760 with new copperplates. (1st edition, Madrid: Imprenta Real, 1657).
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Sigüenza, Fray José de. La Fundación del Monasterio de El Escorial. Madrid: Turner, 1986.
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Foundational study of the building of El Escorial, and Bustamante García 1994 labels it one of the great works of Spanish literature. An edition was also issued for the 1963 anniversary of the laying of the building’s cornerstone.
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Ximénez, Andrés. Descripcion del Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial: Su magnifico templo, panteón, y palacio. Madrid: Antonio Marín, 1764.
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Follows in the tradition established by Siguenza and elaborated by De los Santos and updated for the neoclassical era and a time of radical change in Spanish architectural practice following the establishment of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid.
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Period Documents and Drawings

Primary sources for El Escorial include archival documents, drawings, and a series of engravings, all of which have received a good deal of scholarly attention. The Jeronymite Order was suppressed in 1835 and Augustinian monks took over residence at El Escorial in 1885, shortly thereafter renewing the tradition of scholarship on the monastery-palace. Most significantly, these monk-scholars scoured the Royal Library for archival documents, producing a series of publications that remain critical starting points for research today. Zarco Cuevas 1916–1924 is wide-ranging as the author sought to elucidate all aspects of the building’s history and the invaluable collection of resources in the Royal Library. Zarco Cuevas’ work was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War and the author’s execution, though his writings were reissued in the 1960s as part of the celebration of the building’s 400th anniversary. Also in the 1960s, four new volumes of documentary finds were edited by another Augustinian librarian at El Escorial (Andrés 1962–1965). In 1583, Herrera began work for eleven copperplate engravings known as the Estampas that were intended to publicize the architect’s achievement at El Escorial to the world. Plans, sections, elevations, and details such as the High Altar of the Basilica were included in this project and published in 1589 along with a Sumario offering a key to the images. The best introduction to this publishing project is Cervera Vera 1998, a facsimile of a study first published in 1954. Thousands of drawings were prepared for the Escorial project, though only a small number survive. The most important cache of these drawings by Herrera and his followers now in the collection of the Royal Palace in Madrid was published first as López Serrano 1944. The publication inspired Iñiguez Almech 1965 and also Las Trazas de Juan de Herrera y sus seguidores, which includes excellent reproductions.

Andrés, Gregorio de, ed. Documentos para la historia del Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial. 4 vols. Madrid: Imprenta Sáez, 1962–1965.
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Indispensable collection of documents on the monastery’s history that continues the project begun by Zarco Cuevas 1916–1924. The four volumes include essays and transcriptions of unpublished material edited primarily by Andrés, librarian of the Escorial. The material includes unpublished tracts about the building, diaries of royal officials, royal correspondence, inventories of the library, documents about fires at the building, and unpublished sources regarding 17th-century Spanish Habsburg interventions.
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Cervera Vera, Luis. Las Estampas y el Sumario de El Escorial por Juan de Herrera. Facsimile ed. Madrid: Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid, 1998.
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Facsimile of Juan de Herrera’s 1589 publication that celebrated the design of El Escorial with a series of copperplates after Herrera’s drawings—the Estampas—engraved by the Flemish artist Pedro Perret, whom Herrera called to Madrid from Rome in 1583 to undertake the project. The Sumario was the written report published in quarto by Herrera as a guide to the engravings. (1st edition: Madrid: Tecnos, 1954).
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Iñiguez Almech, Francisco. Las trazas del Monasterio de S. Lorenzo de El Escorial. Madrid: Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, 1965.
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This induction lecture for the author’s membership in the Royal Academy of Fine Arts offers a meditation on the surviving drawings for El Escorial and their utility for understanding the building’s design. Illustrations include the architect’s own drawings.
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Las Trazas de Juan de Herrera y sus seguidores. Madrid: Patrimonio Nacional and Fundación Marcelino Botín, c. 2001.
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Catalogue with excellent reproductions of restored drawings by Herrera and other royal works architects first published as López Serrano 1944. The majority of drawings correspond to El Escorial but some concern other royal buildings in Madrid and Granada, as well as public works projects. An excellent essay by Agustín Bustamante García surveys the Escorial drawings from the point of view of Philip II’s transformation of architectural practice in Spain.
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López Serrano, Matilde. Trazas de Juan de Herrera y sus seguidores para el Monasterio del Escorial: Estudio preliminar. Madrid: Patrimonio Nacional, 1944.
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First publication of a cache of drawings by Herrera and his followers. The accompanying essay has been surpassed by Las Trazas de Juan de Herrera y sus seguidores 2001 and also Ortega Vidal 1999 (cited under Critical Reception of the Building).
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Zarco Cuevas, Julián, ed. Documentos para la historia del Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial. 4 vols. Madrid: Helénica, 1916–1924.
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Foundational resource for the planning, construction, and afterlife of El Escorial. Volume I surveys documents related to the Jeronymite friar and a chief Escorial builder, Antonio de Villacastín. Volume II gathers royal documents including a full transcription of the April 1567 foundation and endowment for the monastery-palace. Philip II documents related to construction are transcribed in Volume III, and Volume IV includes documents on a range of contemporary events in 16th-century Spain.
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Philip II as Patron of Architecture and Art

Philip II’s active role as a patron of architecture and art has long been recognized though treated secondarily by scholars more interested in the social and political history of his reign. With Franco’s appropriation of the monarch for a new state ideology following the Spanish Civil War, Philip’s reputation as a humanist prince suffered. A revived interest in Philip’s artistic patronage coincides with the Spanish transition to democracy in the 1970s and embrace of the European Union in the 1980s. The crucial study was authored by the historian and former director of the Museo Nacional del Prado Fernando Checa Cremades. Checa 1992 is a book that examines the breadth of the king’s passion for art and architecture with considerable attention to El Escorial. Checa sheds important light on Philip’s outstanding collection of Flemish and Italian art with important works by artists as diverse as Hieronymous Bosch and Titian, a theme also addressed by Brown 1998 and Mulcahy 2004 in their considerations of the king as patron. Philip’s work at El Escorial should be understood in the larger context of reforming and founding a series of royal retreats (casas or sitios reales) in and around Madrid, as well as maintaining palaces in places farther afield such as Granada, Segovia, and Seville. An early study of the royal retreats is provided by Iñiguez Almech 1952 and more recent work can be found in Morán Turina and Checa Cremades 1986 and Añón and Sancho 1998. For a wider picture of Philip’s architectural and urban reform efforts, including the design of fortifications along the sea coast, see also Kagan 1989, Cámara Muñoz 1998, and Escobar 2003. There are many outstanding biographies of Philip II to fill out the picture of his patronage with Parker 2014 standing out among recent contributions.

Añón, Carmen, and José Luis Sancho, eds. Jardín y naturaleza en el reinado de Felipe II. Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para las Conmemoraciones de Felipe II y Carlos V, 1998.
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Sumptuous volume offering an introduction to Philip’s estimation and patronage of gardens, including those at El Escorial. Essays by a range of experts consider European gardens that would have been known to Philip as well as Spanish gardens in Seville, Granada, Valencia, and the royal retreats surrounding Madrid. Also includes two essays on botany with information about its study at El Escorial.
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Brown, Jonathan. Painting in Spain, 1500–1700. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1998.
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Excellent and highly accessible survey of Spanish painting. Includes an important chapter on Philip II as a patron of the arts and his exchange with El Greco related to El Escorial. The book is a modified version of Brown’s The Golden Age of Painting in Spain published in 1991.
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Cámara Muñoz, Alicia. Fortificación y ciudad en los reinos de Felipe II. Madrid: Nerea, 1998.
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Examines the importance of military architecture and fortification design, lesser-known aspects of Philip’s architectural patronage. Given the range of foreign architects and military engineers involved in these enterprises, the book elucidates the international nature of building during the reign of Philip II.
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Checa, Fernando. Felipe II: Mecenas de las artes. Madrid: Nerea, 1992.
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Groundbreaking study of Philip II as a Renaissance prince and patron of the arts. Offers considerable attention to the design of El Escorial and its extensive art collections as well as interior decorative programs touching on painting, sculpture, maps, and tapestry. The book opens with two illuminating chapters on Philip’s early patronage of architecture as prince and his youthful travels in Italy, Germany, and the Low Countries during which his artistic education took fruit.
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Escobar, Jesús. The Plaza Mayor and the Shaping of Baroque Madrid. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
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Offers a consideration of Philip II’s patronage of architecture in Madrid in tandem with developments at El Escorial and the monastery-palace workforce. Also considers the royal works administration that oversaw building projects in and around Madrid, including El Escorial.
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Iñiguez Almech, Francisco. Casas reales y jardines de Felipe II. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, 1952.
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Exploration of architectural patronage under Philip II based on the finding of a 1626 album of drawings of royal houses in the Vatican Library, along with a written report by the royal architect Juan Gómez de Mora (1586–1648). The album does not include a plan of El Escorial but provides a rich context for understanding Philip’s foundation of royal retreats in the vicinity of Madrid.
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Kagan, Richard L., ed. Spanish Cities of the Golden Age: The Views of Anton van den Wyngaerde. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1989.
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Jonathan Brown’s introductory essay on Philip II’s patronage of the arts sets the stage for this book’s exploration of the city views he commissioned of all Spanish and North African cities in his domain from 1562 to 1570, a period during which El Escorial was under construction. The book includes an essay by Kagan on 16th-century Spanish cities, another by Fernando Marías on urbanism, and beautifully-produced reproductions of Wyngaerde’s drawings.
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Morán Turina, J. Miguel, and Fernando Checa Cremades. Las Casas del Rey: Casas de Campo, Cazaderos y Jardines. Siglos XVI y XVII. Madrid: El Viso, 1986.
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Study of royal retreats in the vicinity of Madrid with pioneering attention to Philip II’s affinity for nature and the hunt. The book considers medieval antecedents for these buildings and examines their settings as counterpoints to urban expansion. El Escorial is not central to the discussion but the context provided here helps explain another aspect of its use.
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Mulcahy, Rosemarie. Philip II of Spain, Patron of the Arts. Dublin: Four Courts, 2004.
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Excellent introduction to Philip’s patronage of books, painting, and architecture, with interesting comments on sculpture and other artistic and scientific pursuits. Includes a valuable study of Juan Fernández de Navarrete (1526–1579), one of Philip’s favorite artists, and three chapters addressing artistic matters at the Escorial including Benvenuto Cellini’s Crucifix; sculptures by Adriaen de Vries, Leone Leoni, and Pompeo Leoni for the Royal Basilica’s High Altar; and drawings by Federico Zuccaro related to the High Altar.
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Parker, Geoffrey. Imprudent King: A New Life of Philip II. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014.
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This revised and expanded study of Parker’s original 1978 biography of Philip II was first published in Spanish in 2010 and is now an essential starting point for research. Parker includes much information about Philip’s artistic and architectural pursuits, including El Escorial.
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Architects

As noted in the Introduction, authorship of El Escorial can be a thorny topic although recent attention to the collaborative process of design and construction in the early modern period makes the matter far less urgent than in earlier periods. Authorship was a concern of Llaguno y Amirola 1829 (cited under General Overviews), the first encyclopedia of Spanish architectural history that stated that Juan Bautista de Toledo was the building’s “only inventor,” although it was “continued and concluded entirely by his disciple Juan de Herrera” (II, p. 77). In the 20th century, Ruiz de Arcaute 1997 (originally published in 1936) examined Herrera’s critical role at the site based on a careful examination of surviving drawings only to be challenged vociferously by Portabales Pichel 1945 and Portabales Pichel 1952. All of this played out, interestingly, in the context of extensive rebuilding in Spain following the Civil War and also the promotion of Herrera as a national hero. Chueca Goitia and de Miguel 1949 considers the interventions by the neoclassical architect Juan de Villanueva at El Escorial, and Kubler 1964 sheds light on Francesco Paciotto’s 16th-century critique of Toledo’s plan for the Basilica. The essays in Herrera y el clasicismo elucidate the state of research about authorship on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the completion of construction at the monastery-palace. More recently, Marías 2000 offers a critical reconsideration of the role of Italian architects in the design of El Escorial. Rivera Blanco 1984 is the first monographic study of Toledo in the form of a revised dissertation that helps fill out the architect’s career in Spain though without conclusive new information about the design of El Escorial. A much more significant contribution is Wilkinson-Zerner 1993 on Herrera, which gathers and reworks earlier published material and is filled with provocative interpretations that point to Philip II’s central role in the design of the monastery-palace alongside his chief architect.

Chueca Goitia, Fernando, and Carlos de Miguel. La vida y las obras del arquitecto Juan de Villanueva. Rev. ed. Madrid: Gráficas Carlos-Jaime, 1949.
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Biography of the architect who built the Casas de Infantas to the immediate north of El Escorial beginning in 1768. Chueca Goitia considers El Escorial as a central source of inspiration for Villanueva’s architecture in the neoclassical era. Includes serviceable chapter summaries in English by K. J. J. Munden.
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Herrera y el clasicismo: Ensayos, catálogo y dibujos en torno a la arquitectura en clave clasicista. Valladolid, Spain: Junta de Castilla y León, 1986.
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Essays of varying quality written to accompany a 1986 exhibition on Herrera’s contribution to classical architecture. A number of contributors consider aspects of El Escorial including those by Nicolás García Tapia on the cranes designed by Herrera for the worksite and Fernando Chueca Goitia questioning the role of Toledo in the monastery-palace’s design. Other essays touch upon the dispersal of Escorial builders to sites in other parts of Spain.
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Kubler, George. “Francesco Paciotto.” In Essays in Memory of Karl Lehmann. By George Kubler, 176–189. New York: Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, 1964.
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Examines the architect and military engineer Paciotto’s work in Spain and his 1562 written report to Philip II critiquing Toledo’s design for the Escorial Basilica. For Kubler, Paciotto’s designs represent a new style, the estilo desornamentado that would be embraced for El Escorial and have a lasting impact on Spanish architecture. Though brief, this essay remains the best introduction to Paciotto in Spain despite the appearance of a recent monograph.
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Llaguno y Amirola, Eugenio. Noticias de los arquitectos y arquitectura de España desde su restauración. 4 vols. Edited by Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez. Madrid: Imprenta Real, 1829.
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Volume II of this foundational survey of Spanish architectural history covers the years 1537 to 1597, corresponding almost exactly to the life of Juan de Herrera. The entry on Herrera includes significant biographical information collected by Ceán Bermúdez. In a sense, this volume is the first monographic study of Herrera and one that offers substantial information about El Escorial.
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Marías, Fernando. “La basilica de El Escorial y la arquitectura y los arquitectos italianos.” In Studi in onore di Renato Cevese. By Fernando Marías, 351–373. Vicenza, Italy: Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura Andrea Palladio, 2000.
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Important article tackling historical tropes about the contributions of 16th-century Italian architects to the design of the Basilica. Surveying the literature, Marías draws our attention to Rome and Milan as important poles of Spanish influence in Italy and argues for greater attention to Michelangelo and Pellegrino Tibaldi’s efforts to reinterpret the ancient basilica form for a modern age.
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Portabales Pichel, Amancio. Los verdaderos artífices de El Escorial y el estilo indebidamente llamado herreriano. Madrid: Gráfica Literaria, 1945.
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Study that challenges the very existence of Herrera as a historical figure and foregrounds the role of other builders at El Escorial, most notably Pedro de Tolosa, Lucas de Escalante, and the Jeronymite friar Antonio de Villacastín. Portabales Pichel includes documentary transcriptions to support his claims, but his use of these materials is often forced and unreliable.
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Portabales Pichel, Amancio. Maestros mayores, arquitectos y aparejadores de El Escorial. Madrid: Rollán, 1952.
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Polemical study that counters the attribution of El Escorial to Herrera and argues instead for the fundamental work of Toledo. Portabales Pichel also sheds light on the teams of builders who worked at the site. Half the book is comprised of documentary transcriptions.
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Rivera Blanco, José Javier. Juan Bautista de Toledo y Felipe II. La implantacion del clasicismo en España. Valladolid, Spain: Universidad de Valladolid, 1984.
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Monographic study of the life and work of Juan Bautista de Toledo. The author reviews projects in Italy and Spain, with special attention to Aranjuez. Refuting much earlier scholarship, Rivera Blanco argues that Toledo’s contributions to El Escorial were of fundamental importance and that his Italian training made him indispensable to realizing the monastery-palace’s classical design.
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Ruiz de Arcaute, Agustín. Juan de Herrera: Arquitecto de Felipe II. Facsimile ed. Madrid: Instituto Juan de Herrera, Escuela Superior de Arquitectura, 1997.
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First modern monographic study of Herrera originally published on the eve of the Spanish Civil War (Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1936). Important for its supporting apparatus of archival documents and graphic material, including period drawings for El Escorial as well as the author’s own. A few of the drawings have since been lost. The facsimile edition includes a helpful introduction by Javier Ortega Vidal.
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Wilkinson-Zerner, Catherine. Juan de Herrera: Architect to Philip II of Spain. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993.
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Masterful contribution combining a monographic study of Herrera, a rich exploration of Philip II’s patronage of architecture, and a perceptive introduction to Renaissance architecture in 16th-century Spain. Wilkinson-Zerner challenges the notion of Spain’s exceptionality and reinserts Spanish architectural design and practice within the context of European Renaissance trends. The book offers revisions of important essays published by the author in the 1970s and 1980s.
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Construction and Labor

The abundant and complex archival paper trail for the construction of El Escorial makes this building site, although exceptional, an invaluable case study of the building trade in the 16th century. Kubler 1982 offers a tour-de-force survey of the documents that is complemented by excellent photography and a sensitive treatment of the “human fabric” behind the monastery-palace’s realization. Wilkinson 1990 considers architectural technology behind the building of El Escorial as well as the diffusion of knowledge about the building and its realization via the medium of print. Bustamante García 1994 and Cano de Gardoqui y García 1994 offer exceptional treatments of the construction process, at times bringing the project to life by analyzing day-to-day transactions recorded in the archives. On the topic of machines and engineering, Felipe II offers a useful introduction with excellent illustrations.

Bustamante García, Agustín. La Octava Maravilla del Mundo: Estudio histórico sobre El Escorial de Felipe II. Madrid: Alpuerto, 1994.
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This book offers an exacting reconsideration of the construction of El Escorial based on a reexamination of known archival documents, study of new documents, and careful attention to working drawings. Chapters 3 to 9 offer a meticulous reconstruction of the building as it took shape. Other aspects of this book are noted in General Overviews.
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Cano de Gardoqui y García, José Luis. La construcción del Monasterio de El Escorial: Historia de una empresa arquitectónica. Valladolid, Spain: Universidad de Valladolid, 1994.
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Exhaustive study of the building process with particular attention to the accumulation of building materials as well as their transport and use at the worksite. The author considers the worksite to be an ephemeral, late-16th-century Spanish “city” with some 2,000 inhabitants contributing to the realization of the monument and then dispersing. Also explores the hierarchy of the building works and its administration as well as the composition of work crews.
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Felipe II: Los ingenios y las máquinas. Ingeniería y obras públicas en la época de Felipe II. Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para la Conmemoración de los Centennarios de Felipe II y Carlos V, 1998.
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Wide-ranging and richly illustrated exhibition catalogue concerned with machinery and technological innovations related to public works undertakings as well as shipbuilding, irrigation, and dye-making among other enterprises in 16th-century Spain. Ignazio González Tascón’s essay on the organization and financing of public works includes attention to architecture and Juan de Herrera’s innovations for the building of El Escorial.
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Kubler, George. Building the Escorial. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1982.
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In addition to the contributions mentioned in General Overviews, this book offers detailed attention to the construction process with particular attention to labor, materials, and the chain of command at the worksite. The book is dedicated to the builders of the monastery-palace past and present, revealing Kubler’s high regard for the herculean effort in the 16th century and since to maintain the monument.
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Wilkinson, Catherine, ed. Philip II and the Escorial: Technology and the Representation of Architecture. Providence, RI: David Winton Bell Gallery, 1990.
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An exhibition catalogue featuring Juan de Herrera’s Estampas and other 16th-century sources—manuscripts, books, drawings, and prints—that situate the building of El Escorial within a wider European context of architectural practice. Wilkinson’s introductory essay also explores Herrera’s effort to secure credit for the building’s design for himself. The range of period sources touches upon cartography, fortifications, mathematics, metallurgy, and architectural treatises as well as artistic representations of buildings.
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Art Collections and Their Display at El Escorial

The museum at El Escorial today houses one of the finest collections of European Renaissance and Baroque painting in Spain with works by a range of foreign artists from Rogier van der Weyden to Anthonis Mor to Paolo Veronese in addition to a who’s who list of Spanish artists. The High Altar in the Royal Basilica stands as one of the best examples of collaborative, multimedia art to remain in situ from the 16th century. For years, the monastery-palace’s rich collection of paintings dispersed throughout the complex have received the most attention. In addition to Julián Zarco Cuevas’ publication of documents related the history, building, and library holdings of El Escorial cited under General Overviews, the same author published two important inventories of paintings. Zarco Cuevas 1931 considers the output of Spanish painters with special attention to Fernández de Navarrete, and Zarco Cuevas 1932 is devoted to the work of Italian painters including Luca Cambiaso and Pellegrino Tibaldi. Italian fresco painters and their preparatory processes are the focus of Giampaolo 1993 and Giampaolo 1995, with Brown 1998 offering a focused discussion of the Hall of Battles. Mulcahy 1994 considers the work of foreign artists as well as the contributions of Spanish painters to the decoration of the Royal Basilica. Mulcahy also draws our attention to Herrera’s High Altar design with bronze sculptures commissioned from the workshop of Leone Leoni in Milan, a topic now complemented by the rigorous research in Di Dio 2011. Nieto Alcaide 1994 provides a useful bibliography concerning sculpture at El Escorial. Aguiló Alonso 2001 allows us to think about the teams of woodworkers at El Escorial and, in an innovative study, Bassegoda 2003 sheds light on matters of artistic installation and display within the Royal Palace under Philip IV, Mariana of Austria (1634–1696; regency 1665–1675), and Carlos II. Current research on the display of art in Habsburg Spain more broadly promises to shed new light on our understanding of royal patronage along the lines proposed by Bassegoda 2003.

Aguiló Alonso, María Paz. Orden y decoro: Felipe II y el amueblamiento del Monasterio de El Escorial. Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para la Conmemoración de los Centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V, 2001.
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Introductory study of the carpentry workshop at El Escorial and its projects for furnishings throughout the monastery-palace from 1575 to 1600. The book examines the workshop’s composition including names of officials as well as specific details about works at the basilica, college, monastery, and palace. Includes nearly 100 pages of documentary transcriptions to help spark further research.
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Bassegoda, Bonaventura. “La decoración pictórica de El Escorial en el reinado de Carlos II.” In Arte y diplomacia de la Monarquía Hispánica en el siglo XVII. Edited by José Luis Colomer, 35–59. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica, 2003.
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Reconstruction of the decorative scheme for important rooms in the Royal Palace carried out during the regency of Mariana of Austria. Offers details about the installation of works of art, including royal portraits and many paintings by Jusepe Ribera acquired by a royal official in Naples. The essay highlights the importance of Francisco de los Santos’ editions of his Descripción as a source for understanding changes to El Escorial’s decoration.
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Brown, Jonathan. La Sala de Batallas de El Escorial: La obra de arte como artefacto cultural. Salamanca, Spain: Universidad de Salamanca, 1998.
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Transcript of an elegant lecture analyzing of one of the Escorial’s most important frescoed galleries. Brown provides historical background for the battle scenes, biographies of the Italian artists who painted them, and a consideration of the significance of the hall as an illustration of the Spanish Habsburg monarchy’s role as defenders of Christianity. Ends with a consideration of war paintings and their place in the history of art.
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Di Dio, Kelley Helmstutler. Leone Leoni and the Status of the Artist at the End of the Renaissance. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2011.
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Monograph of a leading sculptor of 16th-century Italy and Philip II’s choice to create the bronze sculptures for the High Altar of the Escorial Basilica, a collaborative project also involving Leoni’s son Pompeo and the Flemish sculptor Adriaen de Vries. The book provides an introduction to the artistic climate of Spanish Milan and a contextualization of the Escorial commission within the larger framework of a fascinating artistic biography.
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Giampaolo, Mario di, ed. Los frescos italianos de El Escorial. Madrid: Electa, 1993.
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Concise essays in Spanish and Italian by seven scholars covering the work of Italian fresco artists at El Escorial including Luca Cambiaso, Francesco da Urbino, Romolo Cincinnato, and Pellegrino Tibaldi and a stand-out essay on Luca Giordano by Manuela Mena. The essays, which are illustrated with black-and-white reproductions of related drawings, include enumerated descriptions of works that are subsequently illustrated in full color.
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Giampaolo, Mario di, ed. Dibujos italianos para El Escorial. Madrid: Nerea, 1995.
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Inspired by Giampaolo 1993, this study reunites preparatory drawings from a range of museum collections by Luca Cambiaso, Niccolò Granello, Romolo Cincinnato, Francesco da Urbino, Pellegrino Tibaldi, Federico Zuccaro, and Luca Giordano for frescoes as well as paintings at El Escorial. Opens with an introduction by Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez, co-author of an important 1975 corpus of Spanish drawings that included the first catalogue of drawings in the Escorial Library.
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Mulcahy, Rosemarie. The Decoration of the Royal Basilica of El Escorial. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
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Examines the collaborative decorative program for the Royal Basilica from 1576 to 1600 by a roster of Italian, Flemish, and Spanish artists. From the low altars to choir frescoes to the sculptures and paintings made for the remarkable High Altar, Mulcahy elucidates Philip II’s iconographical program aligned with the decrees of the Council of Trent. Her findings are updated in Mulcahy 2004 (cited under Philip II as Patron of Architecture and Art).
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Nieto Alcaide. “Bibliografía crítica de la escultura de El Escorial.” In La escultura en el Monasterio del Escorial. Edited by Francisco Javier Campos and Fernández de Sevilla, 287–314. San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain: Real Centro Universitario Escorial-María Cristina, 1994.
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Helpful bibliography on sculpture at El Escorial, offered without commentary.
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Zarco Cuevas, Julián. Pintores españoles en San Lorenzo el Real de El Escorial (1566–1613). Madrid: Instituto de Valencia de Don Juan, 1931.
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Study of Spanish painters who worked at El Escorial with an introduction to Philip II’s taste as a patron of the arts. Zarco Cuevas provides biographies of individual artists with special attention to Fernández Navarrete in addition to lists of artists’ works at the monastery-palace and archival documents associated with their output. The book also includes illustrations.
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Zarco Cuevas, Julián. Pintores italianos en San Lorenzo el Real de El Escorial (1575–1613). Madrid: Talleres de E. Maestre, 1932.
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Introduction to the work of Italian artists at El Escorial. Opens with an overview about Philip II’s engagement with Italian artists and then provides brief biographies of individual artists, lists of their works at the monastery-palace, and associated documents. Illustrations of most works accompany the text.
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Science and Letters at El Escorial

In Mulcahy 2004 (cited under Philip II as Patron of Architecture and Art), we read “The quest for knowledge of the natural world can be seen as a desire on the part of [Philip II] to know, in all their aspects, the territories over which he ruled” (p. 28). With regard to the production of knowledge at El Escorial, the Royal Library is the linchpin, and, happily, it survives relatively intact. The main room of the library includes an elaborate ceiling and upper wall fresco cycle whose humanist program was devised by the first librarian of El Escorial, Benito Arias Montano (1527–1598) and painted by the Milanese architect-artist Pellegrino Tibaldi (1527–1596). The ceiling celebrates the Seven Liberal Arts—the Trivium (Grammar, Rhetoric, and Dialectic) and Quadrivium (Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, and Astrology)—with allegorical images of Philosophy on the wall above the door leading to the college and Theology on the wall above the door to the monastery. For the space, Juan de Herrera designed highly inventive furniture with wood acquired from across the empire and carved in classical forms. Herrera’s bookshelves bear witness to Philip’s collecting impulse and the pursuit of universalism that can be deduced in all manner of scientific and humanistic study at the monastery-palace. Zarco Cuevas 1924–1929 remains the point of introduction to the history of the library, and this pioneering work is complemented by von Barghahn 1985 and Scholz-Hänsel 1987. The recent work Florez and Balsinde 2000 focuses on the contribution of Arias Montano to the iconographical program for the library’s painted decoration, and Rincón Álvarez 2010 is a helpful guidebook to the space. Humanist inquiry took a number of forms at El Escorial, often blending interests in history, religion, and science. Lazure 2007 offers a fascinating introduction to the political function of relics in Philip II’s Spain, and Noone 1998 considers relics as they related to the liturgical calendar of the Escorial Basilica and its musical programming. Portuondo 2010 highlights the Escorial library as a place for research on the natural world. For Cuadra Blanco 2013, the library and its holdings serve as the basis for a revisionist study of biblical scholarship at El Escorial and what it can inform us about Philip II’s intentions in building the monastery-palace.

Cuadra Blanco, Juan Rafael de la. “Arquitectura e Historia Sagrada: Nuevas consideraciones sobre la idea de El Escorial y el Templo de Jerusalen.” Cuadernos de Arte y Iconografía 22.43 (2013): 10–256.
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Exhaustive examination of 16th-century biblical and humanist scholarship that argues the Temple of Jerusalem served as an architectural model for the Escorial’s initial conception. Taking aim at the work of earlier scholars who argued for an esoteric interpretation of the monastery-palace and/or dismissed Philip’s interest in Solomon, the author notes that Philip’s admiration and emulation of the biblical king was a leitmotif of his reign. Not for the impatient reader.
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Florez, Ramiro, and Isabel Balsinde. El Escorial y Arias Montano: Ejercicios y comprensión. Madrid: Fundación Universitaria Española, 2000.
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Study of the humanist scholar Benito Arias Montano, the first librarian at El Escorial who is credited with devising the humanist program for the library’s fresco decoration. Surprisingly poor production value and very sparsely illustrated.
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Lazure, Guy. “Possessing the Sacred: Monarchy and Identity in Philip II’s Relic Collection at the Escorial.” Renaissance Quarterly 60.1 (2007): 58–93.
DOI: 10.1353/ren.2007.0076Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This fascinating study explores Philip II’s extensive collection of relics as a window onto contemporary politics and religion offering both dynastic and Tridentine explanations for the power of relics. With relics representative of many Spanish cities brought to and housed at the Escorial, Lazure argues the collection reaffirmed the nation’s early Christian past and promoted the building as a holy site for Spain and Christendom as a whole.
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Noone, Michael. Music and Musicians in the Escorial Liturgy under the Habsburgs, 1563–1700. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 1998.
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Case study of Latin liturgical polyphony and its performance at El Escorial, which is considered a veritable musical institution. The book surveys musicians active at the monastery-palace during the span of the Habsburg era and details liturgical commemorations for which musical performances were held. Also draws attention to Francisco de los Santos (see General Overviews) as one of the primary sources for musical matters at El Escorial.
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Portuondo, María M. “The Study of Nature, Philosophy, and the Royal Library of San Lorenzo of the Escorial.” Renaissance Quarterly 63.4 (2010): 1106–1150.
DOI: 10.1086/658508Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
A reading of the library fresco program based on careful analysis of Sigüenza’s description, which is revealed to advocate for a renewed study of natural philosophy promoted by Arias Montano. The author’s attention to the study of nature, or what is called “science in its many early modern guises” (p. 1107), at El Escorial complements a sensitive consideration of the spatial arrangement of the library frescoes.
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Rincón Álvarez, Manuel. La bóveda de la Biblioteca Real. San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Spain: Ediciones Escurialenses, 2010.
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Small tourist guidebook to the Escorial Library fresco program, with excellent photography and a concise introduction to the iconography.
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Scholz-Hänsel, Michael. Eine Spanische Wissenschaftsutopie am Ende des 16. Jahrhunderts: Die Bibliotheksfresken von Pellegrino Pellegrini im Escorial. Munster, Germany: Lit Verlag, 1987.
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Dissertation that seeks to understand the Escorial library fresco cycle in the context of Spanish art history and the scientific-humanistic aspirations pursued at El Escorial. The author also provides biographical information about Pellegrino Tibaldi and the time this Milanese architect-painter spent in Spain.
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von Barghahn, Barbara. Age of Gold, Age of Iron: Renaissance Spain and Symbols of Monarchy: The Imperial Legacy of Charles V and Philip II, Royal Castles, Palace-Monasteries, Princely Houses. 2 vols. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1985.
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A survey of royal houses during the reign of Charles V and Philip with the intention of serving as a primer for deeper investigation of architectural patronage under Philip IV. Offers interpretations of artistic schemes at El Escorial, including a lengthy discussion of the humanist program behind the decoration of the library.
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Zarco Cuevas, Julián. Catálogo de los manuscritos castellanos de la Real Biblioteca de El Escorial. 3 vols. Madrid: Imprenta Helenica, 1924–1929.
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Critical resource for the history and contents of the library, with information about provenance of the collection that began to be assembled in 1565. Volume I includes biographies of El Escorial’s librarians, beginning with Arias Montano, before turning to the inventory proper that continues in Volumes II and III. The third volume offers helpful indices organized by author and subject and another highlighting drawings, engravings, and miniatures among the manuscripts.
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Critical Reception of the Building

Within decades of the completion of El Escorial, observers sought to critique or interpret the building. Every 20th-century volume cited under General Overviews addresses interpretation, which is not surprising given the building’s monumentality and the enigma of its patron. Around 1580, the Jesuits Jerónimo Prado and Juan Bautista Villalpando began a project to reconstruct the Temple of Solomon published as Prado and Villalpando 1596–1605. Villalpando produced magnificent drawings that were engraved for the project and show a remarkable affinity with the Estampas and El Escorial itself, lending evidence to a long-standing debate over an interpretation of El Escorial as the rebuilt Temple. The link between the Temple of Solomon and Philip II’s monastery-palace drives much of Caramuel Lobkowitz 1678, a highly erudite architectural treatise. Caramuel’s ideas about El Escorial and much more are explored in Fernández-Santos Ortiz-Iribas 2014. Nineteenth-century histories of Spanish architecture largely followed the scheme established by Llaguno y Amirola 1829 (cited under General Overviews) in which El Escorial was considered to be the summa of Spanish architectural history. Such was the building’s esteem in the late 18th century that is was appropriated by the French as discussed in Marías 2004. Camón Aznar 1963 proposes that El Escorial served as the foundational monument for Baroque architecture in all of Spain, thereby securing once again its preeminent status in history. By the late 20th century, scholarship on El Escorial turned to explore the building’s meaning and resulted in a variety of interpretations of Philip II’s intentions. In a highly contested essay, Taylor 1967 offers an interpretation of the building in relation to 16th-century interest in alchemy and magic. Osten Sacken 1984 refocuses the iconography of the building within the context of 16th-century religious history. More recently, Eire 1995 hones in on the funerary purposes of El Escorial to propose a novel interpretation. In keeping with the spirit of earlier scholarship on the monastery-palace, Ortega Vidal 1999 turns the reader’s attention to drawing and the physical remains of the building itself as a corrective to interpretation.

Camón Aznar, José. La arquitectura barroca madrileña. Madrid: Artes Gráficas Municipales, 1963.
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Brief tract that appears to have been delivered as a lecture offering a definition of Baroque architecture in Madrid. Camón Aznar focuses largely on El Escorial, which he labels “the foundation upon which the Baroque operatic machine would be erected” (p. 4). The essay speaks to the impact of El Escorial on 17th-century architecture in and around the Spanish capital.
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Caramuel Lobkowitz, Juan. Architectura civil recta y obliqua, considerada y dibuxada en el Templo de Iervsalen. . . promovida a svma perfeccion en el Templo y Palacio de S. Lorenço cerca del Escvrial. . . 3 vols. Vigevano, Italy: Emprenta Obispal por Camillo Corrado, 1678.
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A wide-ranging architectural treatise that advocates for what the author labels an oblique architecture departing from the rectilinear norms established under Philip II. The full title of this work reveals the author’s debt and admiration for El Escorial, which is presented as the successor to Solomon’s Temple following the late-16th-century Jesuit scholars Prado and Villalpando.
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Eire, Carlos. From Madrid to Purgatory: The Art and Craft of Dying in Sixteenth-Century Spain. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
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Social historical study of 16th-century Spanish attitudes toward death and the afterlife that offers an innovative interpretation of El Escorial as “a place for a king to die.” As evidence, Eire focuses on Philip II’s attention to the mortuary aspects of the building during its design and construction and describes the death rites for the king performed at the monastery-palace.
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Fernández-Santos Ortiz-Iribas, Jorge. Juan Caramuel y la probable arquitectura. Madrid: Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica, 2014.
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Monographic study of Juan Caramuel Lobokowitz that includes a provocative chapter exploring the legacy of Philip II’s Escorial on the Solomonic ideal in 17th-century architectural theory. The text is thickly wrought but nonetheless makes Caramuel’s often convoluted writing more accessible.
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Marías, Fernando. “‘Cuando El Escorial era francés’: Problemas de interpretación y apropriación de la arquitectura española.” In Per Franco Barbieri: Studi di storia dell’arte e dell’architettura. Edited by E. Avagnina and Guido Beltramini, 213–222, 533–540. Venice: Marsilio, 2004.
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Critical commentary on 17th-century sources that explain innovations at El Escorial as being French in origin. Marías explores the historiographical implications of this appropriation and the reclaiming of the building by Spanish Enlightenment thinkers who were invested in promoting El Escorial as a model for new classical architecture in Spain. Marías also argues for greater attention to the innovative uses of stereotomy at El Escorial as characteristically Spanish.
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Ortega Vidal, Javier. El Escorial: Dibujo y lenguaje clásico. Madrid: Sociedad Estatal para la Conmemoración de los Centenarios de Felipe II y Carlos V, 1999.
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This study focuses on architectural drawings to reconstruct the building project and explore the incorporation of the Italian classical language into Spanish building practice. The author sheds light on understudied portions of El Escorial such as the building’s northern third comprising the college, seminary, and palace service quarters. Includes eighty drawings by the author based on meticulous, on-site measurements.
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Osten Sacken, Cornelia von der. El Escorial. Estudio iconológico. Translated by María Dolores Abalos. Madrid: Xarait, 1984.
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Translation of a 1979 German dissertation proposing an iconographical interpretation of El Escorial based on a wide-ranging exploration of the monastery-palace complex and its decoration. The author situates the building within a context of Early Modern Catholicism and Philip II’s role as a defender of the faith and universal ruler.
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Prado, Jerónimo, and Juan Bautista Villalpando. In Ezechielem Explanationes et Apparatus Urbis, ac Templi Hierosoloymitani. 2 vols. Rome, 1596–1605.
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A three-volume commentary on the Book of Ezekiel and its description of the Temple of Solomon, which is reconstructed by Villalpando in monumental copperplate engravings. The engravings reveal Villalpando’s training in Herrera’s workshop and suggest a period relation between El Escorial and the Temple of Solomon. Modern editions of the book exist though they do not offer the same visual impact of this publication sponsored by Philip II.
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Taylor, René C. “Architecture and Magic: Considerations on the ‘Idea’ of the Escorial.” In Essays in the History of Architecture Presented to Rudolf Wittkower. Edited by D. Fraser, H. Hibbard, and M. J. Lewine, 81–109. London: Phaidon, 1967.
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This highly interpretive study explores Juan de Herrera and Philip II’s interest in Hermetic thought, mathematics, and astrology in the design of El Escorial and argues that Herrera can be considered not just architect but also a “Magus” to Philip II. Taylor touches on astrology, Vitruvius, and Saint Augustine as he hypothesizes about the geometries of El Escorial and speculates on the relation between Philip, King Solomon, and El Escorial.