Juan Contreras y López de Ayala Marquez de Lozoya

REW: The Escorial was built to fulfill a vow made by King Philip II after his victory over the French at San Quentin. He invoked the blessings of San Lorenzo. Hence the building is laid out geometrically to look like a monumental grill. The saint had been cooked alive. The description of the vicissitudes of its building, in the control of a firmly irresolute monarch, by the great historian Jose de Siguenza, is one of the finest pieces of Castilian prose.
The museum includes monastery, library, church, palace, college, and mausoleum. The austerity of these are in contrast to the nearby palace of San Ildefonso, the summer residence of Philip V, built in 1719 to rival Versailles, with gardens and fountains.
In Spain, the Renaissance was not openly welcomed. The medieval devotion to spiritual values lived on until well into the 18th century. These values are reflected in the architecture, the uses, and the collections, with a surprising "unity" which was imposed by the precise and micro-managing aesthetic of Philip II. The Escorial is pure architecture, very little "decoration". The Bourbons, who ruled briefly in a later generation, found the place gloomy, and added several "pleasure palaces" at great expense so that they could enjoy the royal "hunts" in the adjacent wood. Still, it is the least pretentious residence occupied by the later Hapsburgs who would take their obsessions with trivia elsewhere.
The library is unique, and contains over 3000 medieval Arabic manuscripts.… (meer)