Renaissance square header with pseudo-hemispherical cross vault in Santiago parish church in Orihuela (Alicante)

Abstract

Jerónimo Quijano was one of the illustrious architects emphasized during the Full Renaissance in Spain. His work in the Santiago parish church in Orihuela (Alicante) includes the Renaissance main chapel of central plant and attached to the preexisting gothic nave. Stresses its upper vault of four double intercrossed and distorted arches. Being double, the severies of the central surface are reduced and it gains in stability. At the same time, it has a complicated geometry by joining square and sphere: a pseudotruncated vault (it is spherical only to inner arches) and the lateral severies of the vault are adapting to the square plant. This involves the fusion of the Classical antiquity with the Hispano-Muslim tradition. By reference thereto, will be discussed briefly the Benavides Chapel in Baeza (Jaén), a building of Andrés Vandelvira. It poses a big space of square shape, covered by a heavy truncated vault and reinforced by four simple intercrossed arches.

Keywords

• renacimiento
• estereotomía
• bóveda
• resistencia
• arcos revirados
• arcos entrecruzados