SACCHETTI, Giovanni Battista

After the Madrid Alc�zar and most of its interior had been destroyed by fire in 1734, the construction of a new palace (the Palacio Real) became a major objective. In 1735, Philip V commissioned Filippo Juvarra to prepare plans for the new building. He produced a scheme for a monumental complex larger than Versailles in size, to be situated outside the city. The project was never realized, partly because of Juvarra’s death. His successor, Giovanni Battista Sacchetti, altered Juvarra’s plans and built the present palace, a closed four-wing edifice with internal courtyard and corner pavilions, which remained true to the tradition of the Spanish ‘alc�zar’.

The structure of the fa�ades combined elements of French and Italian court architecture: from a high square base which forms the ground floor and mezzanine, the three storeys of state apartments rise behind the giant columns and pilasters. An overhanging entablature concealing two further storeys completed the massive structure, designed to be viewed from a distance. The internal layout followed the contemporary French design.

In spite of the efforts to give the Palacio Real a contemporary exterior, its origin as a fortress were still very much evident. Up to the present day it still dominates the Manzanares valley, and has little direct connection with the city.

The picture shows the principal fa�ade on the Campo del Moro.

After the Madrid Alc�zar and most of its interior had been destroyed by fire in 1734, the construction of a new palace (the Palacio Real) became a major objective. In 1735, Philip V commissioned Filippo Juvarra to prepare plans for the new building. He produced a scheme for a monumental complex larger than Versailles in size, to be situated outside the city. The project was never realized, partly because of Juvarra’s death. His successor, Giovanni Battista Sacchetti, altered Juvarra’s plans and built the present palace, a closed four-wing edifice with internal courtyard and corner pavilions, which remained true to the tradition of the Spanish ‘alc�zar’.

The structure of the fa�ades combined elements of French and Italian court architecture: from a high square base which forms the ground floor and mezzanine, the three storeys of state apartments rise behind the giant columns and pilasters. An overhanging entablature concealing two further storeys completed the massive structure, designed to be viewed from a distance. The internal layout followed the contemporary French design.

In spite of the efforts to give the Palacio Real a contemporary exterior, its origin as a fortress were still very much evident. Up to the present day it still dominates the Manzanares valley, and has little direct connection with the city.

The picture shows the principal fa�ade on the Plaza de las Armas.

From 1720 on, palaces became the subject of intense activity in Spain. The outmoded Spanish palaces were seen as inadequate for the needs of the new Bourbon dynasty. La Granja was the first major project undertaken by the Bourbon kings.

The hunting lodge of the Castilian kings, situated in the mountains, served as summer residence for the Hyeronymite order from the fifteenth to the early eighteenth century. Philip V acquired the land in 1720 and started the project. After several stages, the garden fa�ade was completed in 1736, built by Giovanni Battista Sacchetti (1690-1764) from Juvarra’s plan. This fa�ade is completely overtaken by the Roman Baroque. Four giant columns in the central pavilion and a subtly graduated row of giant pilasters adjacent to them give the fa�ade a ceremonial power that had not been seen before in Spanish palace architecture. The park layout was placed in the hands of French garden designers and sculptors.