That's how it was...Exhibition: Ventura Rodríguez. Architect of the Enlightenment

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From December 20, 2017 to May 27, 2018. Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando.

On the occasion of the third centenary of the birth of Ventura Rodríguez, a fundamental figure in the history of Spanish architecture of the XNUMXth century, the Community of Madrid, through the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, organized this exhibition together with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, with the special collaboration of the National Library of Spain. The exhibition constituted an effort to publicize the exciting figure of this architect and his time in order to delve into all facets of Ventura's artistic production and knowledge of the architect's personality and the complex historical period in which he played a leading role.

Making of exhibition "Ventura Rodríguez. Architect of the Illustration"

Ventura Rodríguez. Illustration Architect

Ventura Rodríguez Tizón

Ventura Rodríguez (Ciempozuelos, 1717 - Madrid, 1785), is considered one of the most important and influential architects of 18th-century Spain. Ventura was trained in the works of the Royal Sites under the orders of the Italian Filippo Juvarra and Giovanni Battista Sacchetti, especially in the project for the Royal New Palace of Madrid, where he was appointed as the first eyeliner. Throughout his life he perfected a personal style, representative of the synthesis of his baroque and academic convictions, which is recognized in his work spread throughout the Spanish geography with numerous designs that cover a wide variety of architectural typologies, both civil and religious .

It had an overflowing activity, with dozens of projects for both Madrid and other cities, from Santiago de Compostela to Barcelona or Toledo, from Valladolid to Jaén or Malaga. Some were built and others were only in "dreams", frustrated projects that failed to materialize and that, despite this, have served as a reference to the history of Spanish architecture.

The formation of Ventura Rodríguez as an architect covered all the fundamental principles of the art of building and, if Sabatini introduced the Italian currents and with them a new dimension of the urban public space, and Juan de Villanueva made the adaptation to the country of the European models that advocated by a neoclassical instrumentalization, Ventura combined Roman and French influence with the genuine heritage of Spanish architecture.

He knew in depth the architecture and the language of the Italian masters, especially those who maintained an activity of the first order in Baroque Rome, becoming a master of Baroque architecture in the Spain of the mid-1748th century. Cultivated personage, great scholar and possessor of an extraordinary library, he became Academic of Merit of the Accademia di San Luca in Rome, without having left Spain, for which he presented in XNUMX a cathedral project that was a synthesis of his Baroque convictions and academic.

Ventura Rodríguez addressed all areas of his profession: he designed palaces, villas and showed a special dedication to civil works, including ephemeral architectures, ornaments and fountains with special urban significance, as occurs in the Paseo del Prado in Madrid.

He developed numerous projects and constructions, being during the reign of Fernando VI an outstanding figure at the service of the architecture of the Crown. Replaced by the figure of Sabatini during the reign of Carlos III, he turned to the service of the town of Madrid as a senior teacher of the City Council, since he occupied from 1764 until the end of his life; working also for the Council and the Chamber of Castile and as director of the Architecture room of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, in addition to being open to commissions from individuals.

Ventura Rodriguez. Illustration Architect

Ventura Rodríguez's work is present throughout the national territory with such outstanding examples as the Holy Chapel of the Basilica of the Virgen del Pilar in Zaragoza, the facade of the Pamplona Cathedral, the Transparent Cathedral of Cuenca or the convent of Filipino Augustinian Fathers in Valladolid. In the Community of Madrid, the architect left a mark of his elegant style in numerous buildings and corners, with emblematic works such as the Cibeles, Apollo and Neptune fountains in the Paseo del Prado, the church of San Marcos or the palace of the Infante Don Luis de Borbón in Boadilla del Monte.

The exhibition took place in the Temporary Exhibition Hall of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando between the 20 of December of 2017 and the 8 of April of 2018, an emblematic space for the architect that was linked to the institution since its origins . It was structured in five major chronological and, at the same time, thematic sections, which offered a vital tour from its formation period and its first projects, the reign of Ferdinand VI and the works with influence of the Roman Baroque, the most complex years of work already once fortunate under the reign of Carlos III, until his final career, reaffirmed not only with the positions he already had but, fundamentally, in his relationship with the infant Don Luis de Borbón and his personal circle composed of artists and intellectuals, from Goya to Luis Paret.

The exhibition brought together more than 150 magnificent original pieces, some of them unpublished or never exhibited, from national and international institutions, and private collections distributed in five exhibition modules. Works, among which could be highlighted, the canvas El infante Don Luis Antonio de Borbón by Francisco de Goya; the plan and elevation of the Holy Chapel of the Basilica del Pilar in Zaragoza, made by Ventura Rodríguez between 1750 and 1753; the portrait of the architect executed in 1794 by Zacarías González Velázquez; or the Ornato in the Puerta del Sol on the occasion of the entry of Carlos III in Madrid, in 1760, attributed to Lorenzo Quirós and dated around 1760-1763.

The exhibition had a large audiovisual display, through which part of the projected and unbuilt work of Ventura Rodríguez was recreated for the first time, specifically the project presented by the architect in 1748 to enter the Accademia di San Luca Roca, around a cathedral that was a synthesis of his baroque and academic convictions.

In this way, the exhibition covers the entire work of Ventura who, until his last days, was a cartoonist of great skill and sensitivity, as well as the author of numerous designs that cover a wide variety of architectural typologies, both civil (palaces, cemeteries, squares, fountains and bridges) as religious (temples, convents, altars and transparent).

Delfín Rodríguez, professor at the Complutense University of Madrid was the curator of the exhibition, whose museological design has been done by the architect, Juan Pablo Rodríguez Frade.

The exhibition was accompanied by an extensive program of guided tours, aimed at bringing the figure of Ventura Rodríguez to all types of audiences.