Juan Gómez de Mora

Juan Gómez de Mora was an architect of the Spanish Baroque. He was born in Cuenca in 1586, the son of the famous pintor de cámara Don Juan Gómez in the court of Philip II. His uncle was Francisco de Mora, an architect who designed many buildings in the capital of the sixteenth century. Juan Gómez de Mora became Philip III’s favourite architect and worked on the reforms of the royal palace, the Alcázar in Madrid. The works of Juan Gómez de Mora are characterized by their symmetry, a reflexion of the influence of the style inaugurated by Juan de Herrera in the construction of the palace-monastery of El Escorial. However, he also embraces new decorative elements, making him one of the most important architects of Baroque Madrid. His works include the Plaza Mayor of Madrid and the convent of the Encarnación  (Incarnation) in the same city. He died in 1648.

Read more:

• A. Bonet Correa, El plano de Juan Gómez de Mora de la Plaza Mayor de Madrid en 1636, in «Anales del Instituto de Estudios Madrileños», 9 (1973), pp. 15-53.
• M. Agulló Cobo, Documentos para la biografía de Juan Gómez de Mora, in «Anales del Instituto de Estudios Madrileños», 9 (1973), pp. 55-80.