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The Temple Of Solomon: Its
Interpretation By The Jesuit
Fathers During The Early
Seventeenth Century In The Low
Countries.
Piet Lombaerde, Universiteit
Antwerpen
From the end of the sixteenth
century there was a revived
interest by the Jesuit fathers in
the architecture to the Temple of
Solomon. The writings of the
Jesuits were very explicit
regarding the structure,
measurements, and ornaments of the
Temple in the period of the
Counter-Reformation. Although the
first Jesuit churches in the Low
Countries were strongly influenced
by Gothic principles, the Jesuits
tried to introduce after 1600 the
first Early Baroque principles in
the architecture and decoration of
their new churches. The divine
Temple was for them very useful as
a model for a new architecture.
This search for an original and
modern architecture can be compared
with the many interpretations and
descriptions of the Jerusalem
Temple by the Protestants in the
Northern Netherlands.
This paper discusses two important
interpretations by the Jesuit
fathers: the reconstruction of the
Temple by Juan Bautista
Villalpando, who was also involved
in the project of the Escorial; and
the description of the Temple by
Benedictus Arias Montanus.
Villalpando was most appreciated in
the Northern Netherlands for his
description of the Jerusalem
Temple. The introductory text by
Salomon de Bray to the book
Architectura Moderna
(Amsterdam, 1630) and the
theoretical writings of Nicolaus
Goldmann (c. 1658) on the Temple
were also consulted with interest.
Vitruvius was considered the link
between the Old Testament Temple
and current architectural theory.
For this reason Vitruvius’s theory
was integral to new interpretations
on architecture.
The Jesuit Church of Antwerp, built
between 1613-22 by the Jesuit
father François de Aguilón and by
the Jesuit brother and architect
Pieter Huyssens, reflects
contemporary interests in the
Temple. Both Jesuits, with the help
of the famous painter P.P. Rubens,
created a synthesis of the Temple
descriptions of Villalpando and
Montanus. The result was the new
Jesuit Church in Antwerp (St.
Carolus Borromeus Church), the
first Early Baroque construction in
Antwerp.
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