User:UW AE 2024/Estipite

Estipite from Retablo de los Reyes en la Catedral Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México

Estipite

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The estipite column is a type of pilaster typical of the Churrigueresque Baroque style of Spain and Spanish America used in the 18th century. In the late Baroque period (late 18th century), many classical architectural elements lost their simple shapes and became increasingly complex, offering variety of forms and exuberant decoration. Therefore, the column has the shape of an inverted cone or obelisk. The shaft is always wider in its middle part than the base and capital. The column combines features of both late Baroque and Mannerist. It was widely in use between 1720 and 1780.

Characteristic

The shape of the estipite has a narrow base and the shaft is in the shape of an inverted obelisk . This is a variation to previous uses of the pilaster which deviates from classical architecture with its form. In classical architecture, pilasters give the impression that they have a load bearing function. However, due to the obelisk shape of the estipite, this tradition is disrupted.The estipite is not supposed to look solid, instead be dynamic and create movement. Creating an apparent lightness to the structure.

Manuel Toussaint defines estipites as:

“A supporting member, square or rectangular in section, and formed of multiple elements: pyramids and truncated prisms, parallelepipeds, superimposed foliage, medallions, garlands, bouquets, festoons. The ornament is all vegetable, applied to geometric forms”.

Estipite from Portada Templo de Nuestra Señora del Rosario

The capitals usually highlight the line of a broken cornice and are unabridged. Or may be connected to another estipite by a horizontal entablature. The capital for esiplite pilasters are typically Corinthian .There are deviations to this. For example, decorations of vegetation and cherub heads take the place of the Corinthian capital in Capilla del Sagrario for the Cathedral of Segovia by Jeronimo de Balbas.

Estípites from Templo de San Francisco Acatepec

Similar to Baroque styling with the use of double columns, the double estipites is a feature in some Churrigueresque buildings.

Estipies were utilized between Ultra-Baroque and the rise of Neo-Classical styles. Therefore, even though estipites are distinct in style, they are sometimes used alongside Solomonic and classical columns. A good example of this is San Francisco Acatepec in Puebla.

History

In Richard W. Amero's thesis, “The California Building: A Case Of The Misunderstood Baroque”, claims that Michelangelo is the first one to use an estipite pilaster in the Laurentian Library (1526). Meanwhile, John F Moffitt states in his thesis “El Sagrario Metropolitano, Wendel Dietterlin, and The Estipite” that Juan de Arfe y Villafane could have been the first known person to mention the estipite. This is seen in Arfe’s “Description de la traza de la custodia de la Iglesia de Sevilla” (1587). Therefore the origins of the estipite are debated among scholars. The architect known for making estipites popular is Jose Benito de Churriguera, who has the Churrigueresque style named after him. His first works with estipites were Capilla del Sagrario for the Segovia Cathedral (1690) and Convento de San Esteban, Salamanca (1693). Jeronimo de Balbas was a spanish architect who moved to Mexico (New Spain) in 1717, and introduced the new world to estipites. His work Retablo de los Reyes in the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral (1718-37)  was the first building to showcase estipites in the New World. The era of estipites only lasted till 1783 with the establishment of Academia de San Carlos. However in this short period of time 1736, the completion of Retablo de los Reyes, till 1783, many buildings in New Spain (Mexico) had facades or alters with estipites. Due to the decline in popularity for the estipite pilasters, Solomonic and Classical columns were revived throughout Spain and New Spain. This lead to many estipite-style monuments to be destroyed or replaced with classical columns in the last decades of the 1800s.

Parroquia Antigua (Salamanca).In Guanajuato, México

Buildings

Name	Architect	Location	Date of Feature	Feature
Mission San Xavier del Bac	Ignacio Gaona	Tucson, Arizona	1783-97	Retable
Segovia Cathedral	José Benito de Churriguera	Segovia, Spain	1690	Capilla del sagrario
Convento de San Esteban, Salamanca	José Benito de Churriguera	Salamanca, Spain	1693	Reredos
Serville Sagrario([1])	Jeronimo de Balbas ([2])	Seville, Spain	1712	High Altar
Iglesia de San Juan ([3])	Jeronimo de Balbas ([4])	Marchena, Spain	1714	choir stalls
Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral	Jeronimo de Balbas ([5])	Mexico City, Mexico	1718-37	Retablo de los Reyes ([6]) Altar of Forgiveness
La Santísima Church	Lorenzo Rodriguez	Mexico City, Mexico	1755-83	Main Portal (architecture)
California Building (California Quadrangle)		San Diego, California
Temple of San Francisco Javier([7])	Ildefonso de Iniesta Bejarano and Duran([8])	Tepotzotlán, Mexico		Main Portal (architecture)
church of la Cata		Guanajuato, Mexico		Main Portal (architecture)
la castrense (The Chapel of Our Lady of Light)		Santa Fe, New Mexico	1761	Reredos of Our Lady of Light
Church of Santa Prisca de Taxco		Taxco, Mexico	1751-58	Main Portal (architecture)
Church of San Francisco Acatepec		San Francisco Acatepec, Mexico		Main Portal (architecture)
Royal Collegiate Church of Saint Hippolytus		Córdoba, Spain	1736	Main Portal (architecture)
Sagrario of the Cathedral of Granada	Francisco Hurtado Izquierdo	Granada, Spain	designed in 1707	Retablo de Santiago([9])
Laurentian Library ?	Michelangelo	Florence, Italy	Designed in 1526	Walls of vestibule

Notes for table:

? = disputed among historians

External links in table from Wikipedia pages that are in Spanish.