Herrera, Juan de (c. 1530–1597)

The El Escorial monastery and palace in Sierra de Guadarrama, Spain was built in 1563–84. It became the centre of the Spanish Empire ruled by Philip II.

Spanish architect who built El Escorial (beginning in 1572). It was there he developed the plain and austere style for which he is remembered, known as desnudo (‘bare’) or desornamentado (‘unornamented’). His style found many imitators in Spain and its South American colonies.

Herrera was born in Mobellán and educated at Valladolid, after which he travelled with Philip II to Flanders and Italy (1547–51). During this time Herrera indulged his primary interest in the sciences, but also became familiar with the ideals of contemporary Italian artists. In 1563 he was appointed assistant to Juan Bautista de Toledo (died 1567), the court architect in charge of the building of the Escorial. After Bautista's death Herrera was able to impose his own distinctive style on the plans drawn up by Bautista.

Herrera also designed a palace at Aranjuez in 1569 and the exchange at Seville in 1582, both of which were executed in his characteristic simplified manner. Later, in his role as royal inspector of monuments, he worked on but did not complete the cathedral at Valladolid in 1585. His style was copied by his successors in the post of royal architect and others, and he had many imitators throughout Spain, though there was also a reaction against the severity of his style, a love of rich ornament being a recurrent feature of Spanish architecture.

He also amassed a notable library of mathematical and scientific books, invented navigational instruments, and founded the academy of mathematics at Madrid in 1582.