User:Kansas Bear/College of Our Lady of Antiqua

The College of Our Lady of Antigua is located in the town Lugo by Monforte de Lemos (Spain), in the Ribeira Sacra. Built in the Herreriano, school of Our Lady of Antigua is often known as El Escorial  Galicia, being a of the few manifestations of this style in this community.

Is forever linked to the figure of its founder, Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro, perhaps the last great ecclesiastical prince of the Renaissance in Spain, Archbishop of Seville and great benefactor of  Monforte as well as patron of the arts.

The college was Real Seminario de Estudios until 1773 when a University was established, displaying up to seven chairs in a time when it was not yet established in the province. Originally run by the Jesuits, their order of expulsion from Spain, through the Pragmatic Sanction of 1767 led to the elimination of any existing symbol to remember your stay in the country, something which can be seen by looking at the blank space left his shield after being removed from the altarpiece of Francisco de Moure. It is now run by the Parents Escolapios, since 1873.

Heritage == ==

The church has an impressive in size and beauty, altar of wood, carved by Francisco de Moure, could not be done in life and was completed by his son. On one side of the altar, it is possible to observe a praying statue of Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro, created by John of Bologna, and highly regarded for its perfection and uniqueness. The statue, located on the remains of Cardinal, is confronted with a picture of Our Lady of Antigua. It was found that after the painting was another tomb, and various studies revealed that it was the mother of the Cardinal.

The school has two cloisters, and appears to be incomplete in its west wing. It also has an important art gallery, which highlights several Greco. Foremost among these is a masterly San Francisco, which seems to wonder about life and death while holding a skull. According to critics and experts, is a work of such high quality that meets or even exceeds that of the known specimens of the same subject, constituting one of the crowning achievements of El Greco. The San Lorenzo is also a very popular work, being one of the few devotional paintings done by the painter on his arrival in Toledo, where it was purchased Rodrigo de Castro  during his time in  Inquisition. Other works include five works of the painter Mannerist Andrea del Sarto, "St. Margaret of Cortona", "St. Agnes", "St. Catherine of Alexandria", "San Pedro" and "San Juan Bautista". The painting "The Adoration of the Magi" by Van der Goes is only a copy, since it was sold in 1913 to Staatliche Museen in Berlin by one million two hundred thousand pesetas allowing completion of the works of the school. The gallery is complete with two works by the School of Compostela, "Death" and "Doomsday", and an anonymous portrait of Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro. The museum also has several incunabula and manuscripts, among them a copy is incomplete, theBook of bird hunting,tried to falconry by Pedro López de Ayala during his captivity in Portugal, as well as personal belongings of the cardinal.

It should be noted also the monumental staircase, built from 1594 and 1603. Located in the east wing, and its design is particularly interesting because it is built on three arches, without apparent support, that support thirteen, nine thirteen steps each. The ladder is held because of a carefully calculated play of forces. Their steps are also worthy of note to be carved from a single piece of granite of high quality. On the ground you can see the drawing of the projection of the staircase, drawn for its construction.

In outline, the effects of 1755 Lisbon earthquake, which cracked the dome of the college, and toppled several wings of angels that flank the great dome cracked, and damaged the monumental staircase, which led to the occasion for specialists to study the clever play of forces that maintains "airin. The consequences of the cataclysm can still observe today.