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The Escorial: Art and Power in the Renaissance
An acclaimed historian of Europe explores one of the world’s most iconic buildings and the monarch who created it
Few buildings have played so central a role in Spain’s history as the monastery-palace of San Lorenzo del Escorial. Colossal in size and imposing—even forbidding—in appearance, the Escorial has invited and defied description for four centuries. Part palace, part monastery, part mausoleum, it has also served as a shrine, a school, a repository for thousands of relics, and one of the greatest libraries of its time. Constructed over the course of more than twenty years, the Escorial challenged and provoked, becoming for some a symbol of superstition and oppression, for others a “wonder of the world.” Now a World Heritage Site, it is visited by thousands of travelers every year.
In this intriguing study, Henry Kamen looks at the circumstances that brought the young Philip II to commission construction of the Escorial in 1563. He explores Philip’s motivation, the influence of his travels, the meaning of the design, and its place in Spanish culture. It represents a highly engaging narrative of the high point of Spanish imperial dominance, in which contemporary preoccupations with art, religion, and power are analyzed in the context of this remarkable building.
Few buildings have played so central a role in Spain’s history as the monastery-palace of San Lorenzo del Escorial. Colossal in size and imposing—even forbidding—in appearance, the Escorial has invited and defied description for four centuries. Part palace, part monastery, part mausoleum, it has also served as a shrine, a school, a repository for thousands of relics, and one of the greatest libraries of its time. Constructed over the course of more than twenty years, the Escorial challenged and provoked, becoming for some a symbol of superstition and oppression, for others a “wonder of the world.” Now a World Heritage Site, it is visited by thousands of travelers every year.
In this intriguing study, Henry Kamen looks at the circumstances that brought the young Philip II to commission construction of the Escorial in 1563. He explores Philip’s motivation, the influence of his travels, the meaning of the design, and its place in Spanish culture. It represents a highly engaging narrative of the high point of Spanish imperial dominance, in which contemporary preoccupations with art, religion, and power are analyzed in the context of this remarkable building.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
336 pages, Hardcover
First published May 25, 2010
About the author
Henry Kamen
87 books65 followersHenry Kamen is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society in London and an emeritus professor of the Higher Council for Scientific Research in Barcelona.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 11, 2016
I visited El Escorial around a month ago without much background on the building or Phillip II. Coming home with an interest into this enigmatic buildings history, I decided to give this book a shot. Kaman writes in a palatable style and provides plenty of insight into what the Escorial is not. Easily dispelling the rumors, myths, and legends held of this palace/monastery from years past. However, Kaman does not provide a sound thesis as to what he believes the Escorial is.
April 27, 2014
Author Henry Kamen devotes his book to dispel many myths surrounding the Spanish royal monastery and palace of the Escorial. He is prone to repetition and could have presented a more clear picture of his views of the Escorial, rather than only refuting the image portrayed by others.
June 6, 2018
With the possible exception of the dazzlingly perverse Borgia popes and the women who surrounded them (hello Lucrezia!), I am not sure any family in history has quite the dark and dastardly reputation as the Spanish Habsburgs.
First, there was Queen Isabella.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Even after reading--and really appreciating-- the fair portrayal of Queen Isabella in Giles Tremblett's Isabella of Castille, I must be honest and confess that I am stubbornly sticking to my image of her as the psychopathic religious fanatic and power hungry queen that I have long imagined her to be-- as portrayed so memorably by Salman Rushdie in his wonderful short story that appeared in the New Yorker way back in 1991, called Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship, Santa Fe, January, 1492.
Isabel la Católica~~ Love her or hate her (she is my own personal arch enemy), her religious fanaticism takes center stage in most books about her. Our British tour guide in Seville referred to Isabella and Ferdinand as "the psychopaths"~~ for indeed, everyone knew to whom he was referring to. It was obvious. The tropes have stuck. How much is fair or not fair is open to debate.
Likewise, her daughters don't fare much better either...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
In The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile, author Julia Fox very courageously sets the record straight on these two much-maligned women. Just leaving aside Catherine for now and looking at Juana... Juana, is the stuff of dark Spanish legend. So passionately in love was she with her husband (otherwise known as Philip the Gorgeous from Burgundy), she supposedly went stark raving mad after his death. The story goes that she, despite being pregnant, insisted on traveling with the corpse of her dead husband from Burgos to Granada (they never made it that far), where she had wanted to have him buried. It is said that she would not allow any women near the body, so jealous was she in his death as much as in his life and that she opened the coffin on several occasions to kiss his hands and feet-- and lips. Julia Fox does a wonderful job poking holes in the legend and explaining that it was probably her father who was the "mad" one and by locking her up in a nunnery was able to take the rulership of Castille for himself.
It goes without saying that the legends surrounding the Spanish monarchs--like those of the Borgia-- are in need of revision. Henry Kamen, in his wonderful book on the Escorial, has perhaps the hardest legend of all to address: that of Philip II and the building of the Escorial. Probably no one quite captures the black legend on Philip II as Carlos Fuentes does in in 1975 novel, Terra Nostra. In the novel, Juana la Loca is Philip's mother, instead of his grandmother, but you recognize the necromaniacal (I know that is not a real word) consorting... and she is not the only necrophiliac as Philip II has long been portrayed as a cross between a religious fanatic and necrophiliac. In the Fuentes novel, for example, we find him engaging in self- flagellation (wildly whipping himself as he prays prostrate on the cold marble floor of the basilica at el Escorial. They say he was unusual for a king in his avoidance of most pleasures and indeed, in the novel, he is depicted as entertaining some very strange religious ideas.
The Black Legend
The Black Legend itself has its roots in the aftermath of the failed Armada but really more than anything it is a product of the Protestant Reformation, which as part of its cultural wake, saw Catholic countries (especially Spain) portrayed as extremely backward--with religious superstition and fanaticism holding the country back in ways not seen in more enlightened Protestant countries. And so we have the inbred Hapsburgs with their courts filled with incredible art (from Bosch to Valesquez) their many dwarfs; religious sects and the dreadful Spanish Inquisition. Golden Age Spain has long been described as being embodied by black-clad aristocrats, by women strictly hidden away in their palaces and by Byzantine religious practiced that had a strong hold on everything.
Philip II in particular was seen as monomaniacal in his building of the tremendously expensive Escorial. It didn't help that the monastery/palace itself was constructed on top of a hill in a rather remote and harsh location and built in an unadorned and cold-feeling classical style. It appeared harsh and authoritarian and was much loathed by Europeans of the time... And did I mention that this monastery-palace was also a pantheon of dead kings? Philip had designed what later writers described as a necropolis-- a place of burial for the Spanish royals.
There must be other places like this somewhere in the world but for the life of me, I can't think of any. Basically, when the building was completed, bodies were taken out of and disinterred their various mausoleums and brought to el Escorial for their final interment. Royalty who died after the building's construction first had to be reduced to bones before being interred so fresh cadavers were first laid to rest in the “El Pudridero” (aka the rotting room). This project dominated Philip II's mature years as he spent enormous resources and energy in designing the huge complex and bringing artists from Italy over to adorn it.
Much was made of this in other parts of Europe--especially in lands prone to discriminating against the Spanish in the first place. But in all fairness, the Spanish themselves did much to spread the memes about their dark and morbid king Philip II.
In the book, Kamen addresses every single trope. His book is less a history of the building of el Escorial as much as it is a revisionist history of the life of Philip II (with special attention to his latter years). It is really stimulating reading--especially if you have read a lot of Spanish history. Kamen pays close attention to art--from the many Titian portraits to the opera by Verdi (based on Friedrich Schiller’s play about Philip and his son, the Don Carlo of the title):
I will sleep alone in my royal mantle
When my day has come to evening
I will sleep alone beneath the black
vault
There in the depths of the Escorial.
++
Kamen's book is a dazzling tour through the life of Philip II. But as he tackles each different element in the myth surrounding Philip II, you will probably be left clinging to the Black Legend despite Kamen's best efforts since; well, where there is smoke there is fire. And the Expulsions did happen and women were very much hidden away and in some ways Spain was indeed as "backward" as people said until fairly modern times (If you look up how long the Spanish Inquisition was continued down to modern times, you might be surprised).
As Ingrid Rowland's fabulous review to the book states:
Kamen notes that the king attended “only” four autos-da-fé in person, and that none of them involved burnings at the stake. But surely it is incontrovertible that Spanish colonial rule, the Spanish Inquisition, and Spanish pressures on the Catholic church caused the world untold misery. The legacy of Philip II and the Escorial is as mixed and ambiguous as their eclectic heritage.
Fantastic review by Rowland here https://newrepublic.com/article/77377... LOVED THIS BOOK!!
First, there was Queen Isabella.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Even after reading--and really appreciating-- the fair portrayal of Queen Isabella in Giles Tremblett's Isabella of Castille, I must be honest and confess that I am stubbornly sticking to my image of her as the psychopathic religious fanatic and power hungry queen that I have long imagined her to be-- as portrayed so memorably by Salman Rushdie in his wonderful short story that appeared in the New Yorker way back in 1991, called Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain Consummate Their Relationship, Santa Fe, January, 1492.
Isabel la Católica~~ Love her or hate her (she is my own personal arch enemy), her religious fanaticism takes center stage in most books about her. Our British tour guide in Seville referred to Isabella and Ferdinand as "the psychopaths"~~ for indeed, everyone knew to whom he was referring to. It was obvious. The tropes have stuck. How much is fair or not fair is open to debate.
Likewise, her daughters don't fare much better either...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
In The Noble, Tragic Lives of Katherine of Aragon and Juana, Queen of Castile, author Julia Fox very courageously sets the record straight on these two much-maligned women. Just leaving aside Catherine for now and looking at Juana... Juana, is the stuff of dark Spanish legend. So passionately in love was she with her husband (otherwise known as Philip the Gorgeous from Burgundy), she supposedly went stark raving mad after his death. The story goes that she, despite being pregnant, insisted on traveling with the corpse of her dead husband from Burgos to Granada (they never made it that far), where she had wanted to have him buried. It is said that she would not allow any women near the body, so jealous was she in his death as much as in his life and that she opened the coffin on several occasions to kiss his hands and feet-- and lips. Julia Fox does a wonderful job poking holes in the legend and explaining that it was probably her father who was the "mad" one and by locking her up in a nunnery was able to take the rulership of Castille for himself.
It goes without saying that the legends surrounding the Spanish monarchs--like those of the Borgia-- are in need of revision. Henry Kamen, in his wonderful book on the Escorial, has perhaps the hardest legend of all to address: that of Philip II and the building of the Escorial. Probably no one quite captures the black legend on Philip II as Carlos Fuentes does in in 1975 novel, Terra Nostra. In the novel, Juana la Loca is Philip's mother, instead of his grandmother, but you recognize the necromaniacal (I know that is not a real word) consorting... and she is not the only necrophiliac as Philip II has long been portrayed as a cross between a religious fanatic and necrophiliac. In the Fuentes novel, for example, we find him engaging in self- flagellation (wildly whipping himself as he prays prostrate on the cold marble floor of the basilica at el Escorial. They say he was unusual for a king in his avoidance of most pleasures and indeed, in the novel, he is depicted as entertaining some very strange religious ideas.
The Black Legend
The Black Legend itself has its roots in the aftermath of the failed Armada but really more than anything it is a product of the Protestant Reformation, which as part of its cultural wake, saw Catholic countries (especially Spain) portrayed as extremely backward--with religious superstition and fanaticism holding the country back in ways not seen in more enlightened Protestant countries. And so we have the inbred Hapsburgs with their courts filled with incredible art (from Bosch to Valesquez) their many dwarfs; religious sects and the dreadful Spanish Inquisition. Golden Age Spain has long been described as being embodied by black-clad aristocrats, by women strictly hidden away in their palaces and by Byzantine religious practiced that had a strong hold on everything.
Philip II in particular was seen as monomaniacal in his building of the tremendously expensive Escorial. It didn't help that the monastery/palace itself was constructed on top of a hill in a rather remote and harsh location and built in an unadorned and cold-feeling classical style. It appeared harsh and authoritarian and was much loathed by Europeans of the time... And did I mention that this monastery-palace was also a pantheon of dead kings? Philip had designed what later writers described as a necropolis-- a place of burial for the Spanish royals.
There must be other places like this somewhere in the world but for the life of me, I can't think of any. Basically, when the building was completed, bodies were taken out of and disinterred their various mausoleums and brought to el Escorial for their final interment. Royalty who died after the building's construction first had to be reduced to bones before being interred so fresh cadavers were first laid to rest in the “El Pudridero” (aka the rotting room). This project dominated Philip II's mature years as he spent enormous resources and energy in designing the huge complex and bringing artists from Italy over to adorn it.
Much was made of this in other parts of Europe--especially in lands prone to discriminating against the Spanish in the first place. But in all fairness, the Spanish themselves did much to spread the memes about their dark and morbid king Philip II.
In the book, Kamen addresses every single trope. His book is less a history of the building of el Escorial as much as it is a revisionist history of the life of Philip II (with special attention to his latter years). It is really stimulating reading--especially if you have read a lot of Spanish history. Kamen pays close attention to art--from the many Titian portraits to the opera by Verdi (based on Friedrich Schiller’s play about Philip and his son, the Don Carlo of the title):
I will sleep alone in my royal mantle
When my day has come to evening
I will sleep alone beneath the black
vault
There in the depths of the Escorial.
++
Kamen's book is a dazzling tour through the life of Philip II. But as he tackles each different element in the myth surrounding Philip II, you will probably be left clinging to the Black Legend despite Kamen's best efforts since; well, where there is smoke there is fire. And the Expulsions did happen and women were very much hidden away and in some ways Spain was indeed as "backward" as people said until fairly modern times (If you look up how long the Spanish Inquisition was continued down to modern times, you might be surprised).
As Ingrid Rowland's fabulous review to the book states:
Kamen notes that the king attended “only” four autos-da-fé in person, and that none of them involved burnings at the stake. But surely it is incontrovertible that Spanish colonial rule, the Spanish Inquisition, and Spanish pressures on the Catholic church caused the world untold misery. The legacy of Philip II and the Escorial is as mixed and ambiguous as their eclectic heritage.
Fantastic review by Rowland here https://newrepublic.com/article/77377... LOVED THIS BOOK!!
August 8, 2023
"...the Escorial* has seldom been judged simply on its own merits, but rather as a reflection of the personage who created it...(which) makes it clearer that we should first seek to understand Philip II before evaluating his masterpiece..." in these words Professor Kamen sums up not just what he is trying to do with this book but what he has been attempting to do in so many of his ground breaking books on Spain (I am particularly thinking of his biography of Philip II and history of the Inquisition) which is to break away from the mountain of ill concealed prejudice, special pleading and above all theories, positions, statements and conclusions about the history of and personages of Spain's 'Golden Age' that are made with the authority of an ex cathedra pronouncement but which have actually no basis in reality, and especially no basis in the archival record, to support them.
Before saying anything about this book I must praise Professor Kamen because he is a superb historian and if only more academic historians would write like him then far more 'real' history might be read. He has gone into the archives and come back with astounding discoveries and insights (while admitting that a vast amount of Phillip II letters and papers have yet to be examined, by him or any other scholar) which reveal a different more complex, varied and interesting story. that doesn't mean he is seeking to glorify Philip, he has as little time for the bombastic historiography of 'unchanging, rock like glorious catholic Spain' as he does for the prejudices of thee long lived 'black legend school' of history**. Discovering historical truth, or at least demolishing historical untruths, is never easy***, but always rewarding for both reader and author and is as a part of his overall historical writing on Spain and Philip II that this book dazzles.
Having said that it is important what this book is not. It is not architectural history, though it is a book about the creation of a major building (the tag 'eighth wonder of the world' to describe Escorial owes its currency to a Franco era (1964) documentary 'El Escorial, a Rock of Spain' which was part of the process of using and abusing**** Spanish history and culture to promote tourism and white wash his regime's tainted past) nor is it a guide to the artwork or treasures it contains although elements of both those themes are present in the book. As Escorial has acquired over the centuries a symbolic meaning of what Spain is, usually in a negative sense though as mentioned there has been a great deal of equally inaccurate use of it by more recent catholic/conservative writers, Kamen's book spends a great deal of time stripping away these interpretations to try and get back at what Philip's real intentions and plans were. Inevitably once the historical/symbolic interpretations and misrepresentations are removed the building, in a sense, is revelled to have no 'meaning' in the broad philosophical/representational sense. Even its role as dynastic pantheon is shown to be not Philip's intention but that of his successors. Sometimes discovering something has no special meaning or role, after centuries of being told otherwise, is all the more fascinating.
This book easily stands by itself but if read in conjunction with Kamen's other works it is even more enlightening and full of fascinating information.
*To say the El Escorial is of course a tautology and a pretty silly one at that.
**And in popular culture of which the 2007 British film 'Elizabeth: the Age of Gold' is a prime example (though I will admit it is a marvellous work of cinema).
***Even reputable historians like Norman Davies and Rosemarie Mulcahy have written egregious and cliched nonsense.
****For example the appropriation of flamenco as essentially Spanish while suppressing its gypsy roots and the innumerable historical fantasies that were the price for supporting the film 'El Cid' with Charlton Heston and Sophie Loren with thousand of conscript army members as extras.
Before saying anything about this book I must praise Professor Kamen because he is a superb historian and if only more academic historians would write like him then far more 'real' history might be read. He has gone into the archives and come back with astounding discoveries and insights (while admitting that a vast amount of Phillip II letters and papers have yet to be examined, by him or any other scholar) which reveal a different more complex, varied and interesting story. that doesn't mean he is seeking to glorify Philip, he has as little time for the bombastic historiography of 'unchanging, rock like glorious catholic Spain' as he does for the prejudices of thee long lived 'black legend school' of history**. Discovering historical truth, or at least demolishing historical untruths, is never easy***, but always rewarding for both reader and author and is as a part of his overall historical writing on Spain and Philip II that this book dazzles.
Having said that it is important what this book is not. It is not architectural history, though it is a book about the creation of a major building (the tag 'eighth wonder of the world' to describe Escorial owes its currency to a Franco era (1964) documentary 'El Escorial, a Rock of Spain' which was part of the process of using and abusing**** Spanish history and culture to promote tourism and white wash his regime's tainted past) nor is it a guide to the artwork or treasures it contains although elements of both those themes are present in the book. As Escorial has acquired over the centuries a symbolic meaning of what Spain is, usually in a negative sense though as mentioned there has been a great deal of equally inaccurate use of it by more recent catholic/conservative writers, Kamen's book spends a great deal of time stripping away these interpretations to try and get back at what Philip's real intentions and plans were. Inevitably once the historical/symbolic interpretations and misrepresentations are removed the building, in a sense, is revelled to have no 'meaning' in the broad philosophical/representational sense. Even its role as dynastic pantheon is shown to be not Philip's intention but that of his successors. Sometimes discovering something has no special meaning or role, after centuries of being told otherwise, is all the more fascinating.
This book easily stands by itself but if read in conjunction with Kamen's other works it is even more enlightening and full of fascinating information.
*To say the El Escorial is of course a tautology and a pretty silly one at that.
**And in popular culture of which the 2007 British film 'Elizabeth: the Age of Gold' is a prime example (though I will admit it is a marvellous work of cinema).
***Even reputable historians like Norman Davies and Rosemarie Mulcahy have written egregious and cliched nonsense.
****For example the appropriation of flamenco as essentially Spanish while suppressing its gypsy roots and the innumerable historical fantasies that were the price for supporting the film 'El Cid' with Charlton Heston and Sophie Loren with thousand of conscript army members as extras.
May 26, 2018
A book about every aspect of The Escorial palace in Spain, from its conception to its modern reception. The book is also the story of Spanish royal power (not as absolute as legend has it, apparently), and the author takes pains to counter a lot of myths about the purpose of the building and about Philip II, its creator. I have to confess I skim read, but it's fascinating and exhaustive. It's very much an academic book, which drops you into the middle of what are probably unfamiliar arguments if you're not immersed in Spanish historiography (for example on whether or not the Escorial was imperial propaganda), and as a result the author can come off as querulous. I still liked the book, though. One myth it busts is the still-popular image of Philip II as a grim, monkish figure, shut up in his aescetic quarters near the Basilica. Picture him instead releasing an elephant and a rhino into the cloister (p. 134). I hope I have a chance to visit some day.
February 15, 2013
Absolutely brilliant...
Kamen is one of the most talented historians writing on the XVI century Spain and european history.
Kamen is one of the most talented historians writing on the XVI century Spain and european history.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews