The Study of Nature, Philosophy, and the Royal Library of San Lorenzo of the Escorial

Interpretations of the iconography of the Royal Library of the Escorial have fostered many assessments of the intellectual panorama of late sixteenth-century Spain. This study advances the thesis that once the Royal Library was established in its permanent premises attempts were made to define its i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRenaissance quarterly Vol. 63; no. 4; pp. 1106 - 1150
Main Author Portuondo, María M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge The Renaissance Society of America 01.12.2010
Cambridge University Press
Subjects
Allegory
Arias
Aristotelianism
Aristotle
di Siguenza, Jose
Fresco
Iconography
Libraries
Library collections
Metaphysics
Monasteries
Montano, Benito Arias
Nature
Novels
Philosophy
Renaissance period
Studies
Theology
Spain
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Summary:Interpretations of the iconography of the Royal Library of the Escorial have fostered many assessments of the intellectual panorama of late sixteenth-century Spain. This study advances the thesis that once the Royal Library was established in its permanent premises attempts were made to define its intellectual agenda, and in particular to redirect the study of nature undertaken there in a rather distinct and novel direction. To identify this agenda, this study shuns iconographic interpretation to focus instead on Friar José de Sigüenza's description of the library's frescoes. Once this discourse by the librarian of the Escorial is read independently of meanings that might have been inscribed in the library's iconography and is complemented with insights gleaned from other works by its author and his mentor, Benito Arias Montano, the librarian's description reveals itself to be a manifesto of how the friar thought the study of nature should be undertaken at the Escorial. It entailed a reorientation away from Aristotelian and empiricist approaches and toward the elaboration of a radically new biblist metaphysics.
ISSN:0034-4338
1935-0236
DOI:10.1086/658508