Felipe Bigarny
gigatos | June 9, 2022
Summary
Philip Bigarny, also known as Philip Vigarny, Philip Biguerny or Philip of Burgundy, nicknamed the Burgundian (Langres, Burgundy, c. 1475 – Toledo, November 10, 1543), was a Burgundian master sculptor and carver based in Spain, considered one of the most distinguished of the Spanish Renaissance. He also presented some projects as an architect.
In his works coexist Flemish, Burgundian and Italian Renaissance features. He achieved great prestige and became the master of sculpture and carving of the Cathedral of Burgos. He also intervened in important works throughout the Crown of Castile, managing several workshops simultaneously, which gave him a good socioeconomic position.
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Youth
He was born in Langres (Burgundy), it is believed that in 1475. When he was already a few years old it seems that he traveled to Italy, since when he was older he indicated that he had been to Rome in his youth. This trip to Italy would explain his knowledge of the Italian Renaissance prior to 1500; many features of this style were present in his initially Gothic training.
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Life in Spain
In 1498, at the age of 23, he was on the road to Santiago de Compostela when he stopped in Burgos. There he was commissioned to create the reliefs of the cathedral”s main altarpiece, which he did with great success, leading to the contracting of new works and his lifelong residence in Spain. It would be the beginning of an unstoppable activity in all sculptural genres, working as a decorator and image maker, with stone and wood.
In 1499 he designed the traces of the main altarpiece of the cathedral of Santa María de Toledo, contracted by Cardinal Cisneros, archbishop of Toledo, also preparing a figure of San Marcos and committing himself to sculpt four main reliefs, of which the two upper ones of the central street are unequivocally attributed to him, finishing these commissions in 1504. During these years he also made some images for the altarpiece of the University of Salamanca.
He then began to prepare the decoration of the chapel of the Sagrario of the Cathedral of Palencia, making it clear that although the work was done in his workshop, the artist was committed to sculpting all the faces and hands. On December 12, 1506, Bigarny delivered seventeen sculptures (including a polychromed Saint Antolin) and on October 19, 1509, he delivered the remaining nine. These were finally placed in the main altarpiece. That year he returned to Burgos to work with Andrés de Nájera on the choir stalls of the cathedral, which were finished in 1512. The panels of the upper row of the side chairs are attributed to him and his workshop.
In 1513 he designed the baldachin of the tomb of Saint Dominic for the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, which would be carried out by Juan de Rasines.
In 1516 he began work on the doorway and main altarpiece of the church of Santo Tomás de Haro, finishing in 1519. That year he lived for a time in Casalarreina, which led to think that he would have collaborated in the construction of the Monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Piedad, although there is no data to indicate this.
During these years he made a relief of the profile portrait of Cardinal Cisneros, which is currently at the Complutense University of Madrid. There is information about the realization of another portrait of Antonio de Nebrija.
He married María Sáez Pardo, a widow with children who had emigrated to America; he had five children with her. The first, Gregorio Pardo, was born in 1517. As he grew up, he would be the only son to continue his father”s work, collaborating with him in his last years, maintaining his father”s workshop in the diocese of Toledo. His beautiful daughter Clara was known in Burgos as La niña de plata (the silver girl).
In 1519 Bigarny collaborated with Alonso Berruguete in the elaboration of the tomb of Cardinal Selvagio in Zaragoza, probably continuing this collaboration in the Royal Chapel of Granada, of which it seems that Bigarny only participated in its design in 1521.
When he returned to Burgos he began to collaborate with Diego de Siloé from Burgos, who after finishing his training in Italy had returned to his city around 1519. With him in 1523 he made the altarpiece of St. Peter in the chapel of the Condestable of the Cathedral of Burgos. In the same chapel they made between 1523 and 1526 the figures of the main altarpiece, with the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, considered one of the most beautiful works of the Hispanic Renaissance. Before 1534 Bigarny would have also made the recumbent sculptures of the founders of the chapel, Pedro Fernández III de Velasco and his wife.
He had a certain rivalry with Diego de Siloé. Aware of his fame and respect in the city, Bigarny took up permanent residence in Burgos, first in a building in the San Juan neighborhood and later in a prominent house next to the Mint.
From 1524 is the contract for the tomb of Canon Gonzalo Diez de Lerma, also in the cathedral of Burgos, in the Chapel of the Presentation. It is very expressive and is influenced by the style of Diego de Siloé.
During these years he is attributed with the undocumented works of an altarpiece of Santiago de la Puebla (Salamanca) and the sculptures of the Virgin of the Chair and Virgin and Child for the church of the Assumption of El Barco de Avila; the latter is exhibited in the National Museum of Sculpture in Valladolid. Also, due to similarities with some of his works, he is attributed with the tomb of Canon Diego Bilbao and an altarpiece that is preserved in the parish of Cardeñuela Riopico.
He appeared in the 1526 book Medidas del Romano by Diego de Sagredo as one of the interlocutors and was praised as a singular artist in the art of sculpture and statuary. He received commissions from many places in Spain.
In 1527 he finished the altarpiece of the Descension or of the Pilar in the Cathedral of Toledo, which he had probably begun in 1520. This work is also very influenced by the style of Siloé, although shortly after the relationship with him was clouded because of differences in the contracting of the construction of the tower of the church of the Assumption of Our Lady of Santa María del Campo, for which Siloé filed and won a lawsuit against Bigarny.
In 1530 he gives an opinion on the work of the Cathedral of Salamanca. Between 1531 and 1533 he made the tomb of Bishop Alonso de Burgos, for the chapel of the Colegio de San Gregorio in Valladolid (National Sculpture Museum). This work, although highly praised, has less merit. In 1534 he made the tomb of Pedro González Manso, bishop of Osma, for the monastery of San Salvador de Oña.
When his wife died, he married Francisca Velasco in 1535 and had five other children. In 1535 the chapter of Toledo asked him for traces to execute the choir stalls of the cathedral, as well as Diego de Siloe, Juan Picardo and Alonso Berruguete. Finally they were entrusted to Bigarny and Berruguete who committed themselves on January 1, 1539 to make thirty-five chairs each. Felipe would make the ones on the Gospel side and he would also have to make the archbishop”s chair.
In 1536 he signed a contract to execute in two years the tombs of Diego de Avellaneda, bishop of Tuy (designed for its original placement in the Monastery of San Jerónimo de Espeja, in Espejón, Soria) and that of his father (today preserved in Alcalá de Henares). In 1539 he had not yet been able to complete them due to his dedication to other commissions, subcontracting the bulk figures to Enrique de Maestrique. It would be one of the unfinished works at his death, being finished by Juan de Gómez. The tomb of Diego de Avellaneda was purchased by the Spanish State in 1932 to form part of the permanent collection of the Museo Nacional Colegio de San Gregorio in Valladolid.
In 1541 he was contracted to make an altarpiece for the Museum-Hospital of Santa Cruz in Toledo, which he did not execute.
He died in 1542, having works contracted and in execution in Toledo (where Berruguete would finish his unfinished part), Peñaranda de Duero, Valpuesta and Burgos. He had an organized workshop in each of these places, which in his absence was taken care of by one of his officers. Among them were Maese Enrique, Diego Guillén, Sebastián de Salinas, Juan de Goyaz and his son Gregorio Pardo. Among them was Diego Guillén, his most trusted officer, married to Bigarny”s sister-in-law.
He was buried in the now disappeared convent of San Pablo de Burgos.
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Descendants
With María Sáez Pardo he had five children, among whom may have been the sculptor Gregorio Pardo. His daughter Clara was known in Burgos for her beauty and nicknamed the silver girl. With Francisca Velasco he had another five children.
His works from the end of the 15th century in Burgos present a notably innovative style and are easily identifiable by very marked features, which he managed to impose on his large and disciplined workshop.
The cities with the largest number of works by the sculptor are Burgos, the city where he lived most of his life, and Toledo, where he had his own workshop.
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Sculpture
It was the art in which he worked the most. In it he had successes that made him famous in his time.
His first work in Burgos was a large relief for the cathedral chapter, representing the Road to Calvary, which would be used to decorate the central mural of the back wall of the Burgos cathedral. The work began in 1498 and was finished in March 1499, meeting the deadline agreed with the Chapter, who paid him the 200 ducats agreed and another 30 ducats as a token of their gratitude for his work. This work caused a great impact because it surpassed the late Gothic style and in it appeared for the first time a Renaissance ornamentation in the pilasters of the door of Jerusalem, which were topped with two classical themes in relation to the twelve labors of Hercules. After this work Felipe received new commissions that forced him to settle in Burgos.
The chapter asked him to make two more high reliefs to match the one already made. These would be placed in two other panels of the altarpiece. The first would represent the Crucifixion and the second the Descent from the Cross and the Resurrection. Both were finished in 1503.
The three reliefs show Bigarny”s initial style, with forms typical of the late Gothic of northern Europe. They have figures of noble bearing, with dramatic attitudes and gestures, of forced expression and capable of moving the viewer. Other Renaissance elements also appear, such as the movement and diagonal composition of the first of the panels. The poor quality of the stone in which the reliefs and their frame were carved, especially the Apostles by Simon of Cologne and his workshop, has seriously altered their initial state.
In collaboration with Diego de Siloé, he made the altarpiece of the chapel of the Constables of Castile. He carved in Carrara marble the recumbent sculptures of the Constable of Castile Pedro Fernández III de Velasco and his wife Mencía de Mendoza y Figueroa that can be found there.
Choir stalls in the main nave.
Although the decoration of the monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Piedad de Casalarreina has traditionally been attributed to Bigarny, and it is known that in 1519 he resided for a time in this locality, there is no evidence to suppose that Felipe and Matías, his carver, worked on the works of this church. José Martí y Monsó carried out a study on the works of Haro and Casalarreina, giving a negative result for the latter, with the result that most current specialists no longer attribute its authorship to Bigarny or his workshop.
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Architecture
Little has been said about Bigarny as an architect. He did not have great success with his architectural works despite his efforts to introduce himself into works of this type. It is believed that he made some designs for the dome of the cathedral of Burgos (which was finally rebuilt with plans by one of his disciples, Juan de Langres) and the arch of Santa Maria in the same city. He presented a project for the tower of the church of Santa María del Campo, but was not chosen.
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