Monastery of St. Jerome (Granada)

The Royal Monastery of St. Jerome (Spanish: Real Monasterio de San Jerónimo de Granada) is a Roman Catholic Hieronymite monastery in Granada, Spain. Architecturally, it is in the Renaissance style. The church, famous for its architecture, was the first in the world consecrated to the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

The monastery was founded by the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon in Santa Fe outside the city of Granada, during the siege of the latter city, the last stage of the Reconquista. The construction of the current buildings in Granada properly began in 1504, and the monastery relocated at that time. The principal architect and sculptor was Diego de Siloé; others involved as architects or sculptors included Jacopo Torni (from Florence), Juan de Aragón, Juan Bautista Vázquez the Younger (Vázquez el Mozo), Pedro de Orea, and Pablo de Rojas, the last three associated with the Granadan school of sculpture.

The Hieronymites are an Augustinian order. The monastery church follows the usual plan for churches of this order, a Latin Cross with an elevated choir at the foot and the altar behind a wide staircase. The mannerist altarpiece of the main chapel is considered the point of departure of Andalusian sculpture as such; it is mainly the work of Pablo de Rojas. The richly decorated Renaissance interior features coffering, scalloping and sculptures, and is a late work of Renaissance humanism. The iconographic program highlights the military and the heroic grandeur of the Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, known as the Gran Capitán ("Great Captain"), who is buried in the crossing with his wife, Doña Maria de Manrique.

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