Convento de las Dueñas

The Convento de las Dueñas in Salamanca in the eponymous province of Castile -Leon of the Spanish autonomous region is a Dominican convent, which was founded in the 15th century. The cloister, is regarded as the architect Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, has an extraordinary sculptural decoration Plateresque. 1921, the monastery as a historic monument ( Bien de Interès Cultural ) was told.

History

The founding of the monastery is occupied by a document from the year 1419, in which it is referred to as the Monasterio de Santa María de la Consolation de las Dueñas. This Juana Rodríguez confirmed the donation of her palace and this building belonging to the Sisters of the Dominican Order, who established a monastery for noble ladies ( duenas ). The palace had Juana's first husband erected, a converted Jew and grandfather of Isaac Abrabanel, adopted the name Juan Sánchez de Sevilla and had served John I of Castile as treasurer. This palace Little remains as a brick of brick, hufeisenbogiger doorway Mudejar on the upper floor of the cloister. Another door frame was rediscovered in 1963 and is on display on the ground floor in a wing of the cloister. Also a part of a paneled ceiling has been preserved.

Other donations, including by the Catholic Monarchs in the 16th century enabled the construction of the monastery church and the cloister. For over 400 years the cloister of the monastery belonged to the exam and the public was not accessible. It is open for visits only since 1962.

Abbey

Built in the Gothic style church has a single nave and is covered by a groined vault. The altars of baroque period.

The plateresque portal of the church is Juan de Álava, a student of Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón attributed. It is divided into three zones. The lower zone is framed by two, decorated with elaborately carved capitals and pilasters overlying beams. In the center opens a round arch, which is manned with arabesques and reliefs of animal and human heads. In the side, surmounted with canopies niches figures were originally set. The middle zone is framed by two slender columns and entablature with a frieze of angels' heads. It is pierced by an arcade in the center of which a statue of the Madonna and Child stands. The medallions of the arcade spandrels represent the Apostles Peter and Paul dar. side volutes are mounted and two coats of arms cartridges, each of which contains the right the coat of arms of the Dominican Order. The top section forms a shell that is held by cherubs.

Cloister

The cloister is built on an irregular pentagon and has two floors. The galleries on the lower floor are supported by slender columns, which are connected by segmental arches. The columns are decorated with elaborate capitals, where most foliage is shown with small heads of humans, animals or mythical creatures. The spandrels are provided with 23 medallions. Fifteen medallions have male busts, eight female busts put dar. clothes, hairstyle and facial expression of Portaitierten are imaginative and elaborated in great detail.

The upper floor has no arches, the ceiling is supported by an architrave, which rests on the pillars of the upper galleries. These are equipped with double the number of columns as the ground floor. The capitals are carved with an exuberant, rich decor figure, seem to be involved in the angels, dragons and mythical creatures in scary gestures in a fight with grotesques and decorated. About the capitals extends to the exterior and on the insides of a frieze of medallions, in which alternately persons, flowers and coat of arms of the Dominican Order is presented. In addition to martyrs who hold their instruments of torture or palm branches in their hands, you can see monks who are recognized by their habit, young women, wildly gesticulating warriors and saints, his hand raised in blessing. The Apostle Peter is shown with his keys, Moses with the Tablets of the Law, King David playing on the harp. The two medallions with the Archangel Gabriel and Mary are reminiscent of the Annunciation, another medallion depicts the Virgin Mary holding the infant Jesus in her arms. The sculptor who created the sculptural decoration, is not known.

Sculpture of the upper floor

Capital of the upper floor

Capital of the upper floor