6618 - Sacchetti, Giovanni Battista

Sacchetti, Giovanni Battista Design for the main façade of the Palacio Real in Madrid. Pen in black, washed in gray, graphite, on three joined sheets. 31 x 64.2 cm. Centered at the bottom with a scale and a detailed description of the construction project in Spanish: “Una de las cuatro fachadas del nuevo Real Palacio [...] whose first foundation was laid on April 17, 1738 [...] On the Architecture and Construction by D. Iuan Baptista Saqueti, Piedmontese Architect [...],” signed and inscribed “D. Juan Bapta Saqueti. Arqto y m[aest]ro mayor," dated in the center of the balustrade of the left risalit: "A. DOM. MDCCXXX... [173...]" (last digit illegible). Mark: fleur-de-lis, secondary mark IV. In December 1734, a devastating fire destroyed the Royal Palace (Real Alcázar) in Madrid. Philip V saw this as a welcome opportunity to legitimize the Bourbon dynasty’s claim to power through a new, prestigious building. In 1735, he commissioned the renowned architect Filippo Juvarra, who designed a complex of monumental proportions. Following Juvarra’s sudden death, the project was entrusted to his student Giovanni Battista Sacchetti, who, as maestro mayor de Obras Reales from 1736 to 1760, oversaw the construction of the present-day palace. Architecturally, Sacchetti’s building stands as a paradigm of the dominance of Italian Baroque Classicism in Bourbon Spain during the Enlightenment. Although Sacchetti had mastered Juvarra’s architectural vocabulary and thus ensured artistic continuity in the project, his starting point was not an easy one: The court now demanded that the new palace be erected on the limited grounds of the old Alcázar, which is why the building designed by Sacchetti had to be significantly smaller than Juvarra’s. Sacchetti’s scaled-down plan was nevertheless continually measured against his teacher’s imposing construction project, accompanied by the accusation that the building lacked the necessary magnificence for the residence of a leading European monarchy. Despite all opposition, Sacchetti carried out his plans. The present design drawing represents a significant rediscovery and was previously known only as a copy in the hand of Giovanni Battista Novelli (see Francisco Javier de la Plaza Santiago: Investigaciones sobre el Palacio Real Nuevo de Madrid, Valladolid 1975, Plate LXXVIII, Fig. 1). The plan shows the elevation of the main southern facade facing the Plaza de Armerías. Based on later stages of the design, it can be dated to the initial planning phase around 1738 (see ibid., pp. 104–109). Changes included, among other things, the column order on the piano nobile, where an Ionic order was preferred over the Corinthian order proposed here; furthermore, the access to the park at the southwest corner; and, above all, the design of the central risalit. Sacchetti’s decorative program, for example, still envisaged trophy reliefs on the pillars of the main entrance, modeled after Juvarra’s Palazzo Madama in Turin, which were later discarded. It is noteworthy, however, that the layout and ornamentation of the façade in this early plan already correspond in essence to the architecture executed in the following decades. Additional plans by Sacchetti are housed in the Biblioteca Nacional and the Archivo General de Palacio in Madrid, as well as in the Biblioteca Reale in Turin. - We ask that you request condition reports for the lots, as the condition is usually not indicated in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.