Scenographia totius fabricae S. Laurentii in Escoriali.

Title

Scenographia totius fabricae S. Laurentii in Escoriali.

Description

Bird's-eye view of the Real Sitio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial (monastery residence El Escorial), the seat of the Spanish monarch Philip II near Madrid. From the atlas "Parergon" from 1595, with poems in praise of the Spanish king and a title cartouche below. Translation of the reverse: This building, almost unique in the world, is a monastery inhabited by Hieronymite monks, but also a royal palace and a hunting lodge, so charming and beautiful that it is in no way inferior to the seven wonders of the ancient world. The most beautiful gable of the monastery is on the west side, where it has three gates or doors, the centre one being the most beautiful and giving access to the church, the monastery and the chapter.

ca. 1591

Artist

Ortelius (1527-1598)

Abraham Ortelius, (1527 - 1598) Antwerp, comes from an Augsburg family and was born in Antwerp, Spain, where he lived throughout his life. After thorough training, he joined the Antwerp Guild of St. Luke in 1547 as a card painter. In 1554 he took over an antiquarian bookshop that mainly deals with the coloring, distribution and publishing of maps. Basically he is more of a publisher than a scholar. And so he also made the acquaintance of another great man of his time, Gerhard Mercator (1512-1594), who encouraged him to draw cards and to make maps of the most varied of countries. His first cartographic work of his own is a large 8-sheet map of the world that appears in Antwerp in 1564. This is followed by a two-sheet map of Egypt (1565) and another of Asia (1567). The great achievement of Ortelius, who was one of the most famous European cartographers of his time, and the enthusiastic reception of his theater, mark a decisive turning point in the history of the world map. The new path is mapped out with the Theatrum. For the general view of the world, the appearance of Ortelius-Theatrum is important insofar as it emphatically confirms that America is a completely independent continent, which is also not connected to the Asian mainland mass at its northern tip. Ortelius was the first to come up with the idea of ​​producing a handy collection of reliable maps, all kept in the same format and only by the same author for each country. These sheets could also be bound into a book for easy storage and use. Mercator, who also realized the idea of ​​a world atlas from 1569, persuaded his friend to publish the famous Theatrum Orbis Terrarrum. Ortelius collected, traveled, corresponded and negotiated for 10 years before he could have his work printed in the best European printing house (Plantijn / Amsterdam). In addition to technical difficulties, Ortelius had to submit to the political / religious conditions, since maps were also subject to strict scrutiny during the Inquisition. Biblical scenes are pleasant, portraits of outstanding Catholics are welcome, but not family coats of arms or other emblems that could be politically suspect. On May 20, 1570, his first edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first collection of maps in book form, was published, financed and edited by Gillis Hooftman, an Antwerp merchant, banker and shipowner. Atlases did not yet have this name at that time. This collection was published between 1570 and 1612 in 42 editions and in 7 languages: Latin, German, Dutch, French, Spanish, English and Italian. Unlike his professional colleagues, he clearly referenced the sources of his maps and texts. The work contains, among other things, an illustration of the world known until 1492 and was therefore already looking back at the time the map was created.

Historical Description

The Real Sitio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial - "Royal Seat of St. Lawrence of El Escorial" - is a palace and monastery complex that was built between 1563 and 1584 on the initiative of King Philip II of Spain according to plans by Juan Bautista de Toledo and under the long-term supervision of Juan de Herrera in the central Spanish town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial in the northwest of the Madrid region. After Philip II of Spain defeated the French King Henry II at the Battle of Saint-Quentin in August 1557, the feast of Saint Lawrence, he vowed to build a monastery in honor of the saint. His astrologers chose the small Castilian town of El Escorial. Construction work began in 1563 and lasted until September 1584. Granite blocks from the Sierra de Guadarrama were used for the construction. El Escorial was designed by Juan Bautista de Toledo, a pupil of Michelangelo. After his death in 1567, Juan de Herrera succeeded him and became the actual builder of the Escorial. Almost all Spanish kings from Charles I to Alfonso XIII are buried in the Baroque crypt, which was extended by Juan Gómez de Mora in 1654. Charles IV, who did not like the austerity of the palace, built a Moorish-style pleasure palace, the Casita del Príncipe, nearby at the end of the 18th century. Since 1861, the Escorial has no longer been a royal residence.