Architects of Madrid: Ventura Rodríguez
The s. XVIII is a particularly productive moment for Madrid architecture, which will receive European trends from the hand of authors called to court by the Bourbon monarchy. If Sabatini or Juvarra represented the Italian side and Marquet the French, Ventura Rodríguez knew how to combine these influences with the Spanish Baroque tradition.
Brief biographical sketch
Ventura Rodríguez (Ciempozuelos, 1717 - Madrid, 1785)
His father, a builder and professor of architecture, will train him and adopt him as an assistant. But given his inclination and ability with drawing, he soon stands out as a draftsman and a draftsman, which provides him with work in the works of Aranjuez.
The construction of the new Royal Palace takes him to Madrid, where he works first with Filippo Juvarra, author of the initial project, and later with Giovanni Batista Sachetti, responsible for the definitive palace, in which he becomes a rigger and first officer.
Man of intellectual concerns and enlightened spirit, stands out as a treatise and professor of architecture at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, institution responsible for approving the architectural projects of the city and ends up directing.
Construction
Senior Master Architect of the Villa from 1764 to the end of his life, he left a mark of his style in numerous buildings and corners of our region, with works as emblematic as the Cibeles, Apolo and Neptuno fountains in the Paseo del Prado, the church de San Marcos or the palace of the Infante don Luis de Borbón in Boadilla del Monte.
On the death of Ferdinand VI, the new King Carlos III preferred Sabatini as royal architect, which will relegate Ventura Rodríguez. However, he continues to work for the Council of Castilla and in cities such as Toledo, Cuenca, Malaga, Valladolid, Pamplona and Jaén.
It is best understood with the Infante don Luis de Borbón, brother of the king, who puts him in touch with the intelligentsia of the time. Goya, Mengs, Campomanes or Jovellanos were some of the authors who frequented the palace that Ventura built for him in Boadilla del Monte.
Built on the remains of the Two Towers building, it stands out in its classicist baroque architecture. The gardens, essential in court life during the XNUMXth century, and a chapel, covered by an impressive vault, complete the complex. Industrial spaces are also preserved from the residence, such as the oil mill, the presses and the kitchens.
Ventura Rodríguez also works for members of the aristocracy. Thus, on the death of the architect Guilbert, he took over the Palacio de Liria in Madrid. Damaged during the Civil War, we know its state before the bombings thanks to the photographic archives.
Also in the capital, it builds the palace of the Count of Altamira on San Bernardo Street, which, had it been completely executed, would have been among the largest buildings in Madrid. Today it houses the headquarters of the European Institute of Design.
In religious architecture, in addition to works in Ávila, Zaragoza or Toledo, in Madrid we must highlight the church of the Monastery of the Incarnation and the church of San Marcos. To these works are added an endless number of projects, religious and civil, that were never built, from San Francisco el Grande to Puerta de Alcalá, or disappeared: a fire during the Civil War destroyed part of the San Isidro chapel.
For the exhibition 'Ventura Rodríguez, architect of the Enlightenment', an audiovisual re-creation of one of those imaginary projects was carried out: the one presenting the Accademia di San Luca in Rome in gratitude for having been named academic emeritus:
However, the most recognizable footprint in the city will be his project to develop the current Paseo del Prado, with monumental fountains, so important in illustrated architecture, that they have ended up being identified with Madrid: Cibeles, Neptuno, Apolo or Galapagos known today as Fountain of the Dolphins.
