Arciniega, Claudio de (1528–1592)

Claudio de Arciniega (b. before 1528; d. 1592/93), the most important architect of sixteenth-century New Spain. Originally from Burgos, Spain, Arciniega was in the city of Puebla from 1554 to 1558; in 1559, the viceroy, Luis de Velasco, called him to Mexico City and appointed him maestro mayor de las Obras de Cantería de la Nueva España. His 1559 monument commemorating the death of Emperor Charles V is known through an illustrated contemporary publication. In a sober Renaissance style sometimes called purist, it provides some idea of what his many other works, known only through documents, may have been like. Arciniega was involved in most of the important construction projects of his time in Mexico City, including the cathedral (of which he was the first architect), the viceregal palace, and the churches of the principal religious orders. He also was called upon to give opinions about the cathedrals of Puebla and Pátzcuaro, the fortifications of Veracruz, and the mines of Taxco. In Mexico City elements in the cathedral and the facade of the Church of San Antonio Abad are ascribed to him or to his followers.

See alsoArchitecture: Architecture to 1900 .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

George Kubler, Mexican Architecture of the Sixteenth Century (1948).

Manuel Toussaint, Claudio de Arciniega, arquitecto de la Nueva España (1981).

Additional Bibliography

Cuesta Hernández, Luis Javier. "Sobre el estilo arquitectónico en Claudio de Arciniega: su participación en la construcción de los conventos agustinos de Acolman, Actopan y Metztitlán; su papel en la arquitectura novohispana del siglo XVI." Anales del Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas 22: 76 (Spring 2000): 61-88.

                                      Clara Bargellini