The Basilica Pontificia de San Miguel (formerly San Justo), which today we headed walking on this pleasant April morning, it is nestled in San Justo Street, corner with Puñoenrostro in the heart of Old Madrid, within walking distance of Plaza Mayor. I have interest in visiting, because I read somewhere that this is one of the greatest religious buildings of Madrid and an authentic eighteenth-century architectural jewel of the Villa.
Before the visit, and following con mi práctica habitual, he procurado acopiar los datos pertinentes para conocer cual es su
Historia
Coinciden las fuentes consultadas en señalar que la de San Justo y Pastor, antecedente del templo actual, era una de las diez parroquias que había intramuros de Madrid, tal como figuran nombradas en el Apéndice 1º al Fuero de Madrid de 1202. Según Tormo “ eran pequeñas, pero sus campanarios eran románicos, mas típico el de San Justo, de tres pisos de a dos ventanas cada uno a los cuatro lados ” 1 . De San Justo hay noticia de a vote in San Pedro in 1438 and held the royal crest on its roof 2. Also known by the parish, which over the centuries, the parish remained the prominence it deserved as one of the oldest church in Madrid, carried out during the sixteenth century reforms and improvements in its decoration 3 .
This early church was closely related to another parish was very close to San Miguel de octo 4 standing beside the wall and solar which is now the San Miguel market rejuvenated . In 1790 there was a fire in the Plaza Mayor and the results was affected by this temple San Miguel whose parochialism passed temporarily, until the restoration work completed at San Justo was not the original Romanesque church, demolished in the late seventeenth century, but, as we shall see, a sumptuous church drawn in 1738 by architect Italian Giacomo Bonavia, commissioned by the Cardinal Infante Don Luis de Borbón y Farnese, archbishop of Toledo and occupied the site of the old cemetery.
The church of San Miguel to which we have not referred to in the preceding paragraph, was demolished in the early nineteenth century and the parish went back to San Justo, which was renamed "San Justo and San Miguel "San Miguel happened until later, a chapel Leganitos Street and in 1891 a new church to be built across the street from General Ricardos in Carabanchel, which continues (the parish church of San Miguel Archangel .)
Returning to San Justo, in 1892 the temple was given to the Apostolic Nuncio papal church status, compensation for the downing in 1885 of the Italian hospital church of the Carrera de San Jerónimo, old institution that belonged to the Italian colony of Madrid. The Nuncio was given to the Redemptorist Fathers, order founded in the eighteenth century by St. Alphonsus Liguori, and having as sole to San Miguel, at the express wish of the Holy See that the Saints might consider children as a cult more local and less universal. The parish church of San Justo, then went to the monastery church of Saint Anthony of Discalced Carmelite religious, better known by the name of Wonderland where she continues (is the present parish church of Nuestra Senora de las Maravillas and Santos Justo y Pastor in the Plaza del Dos de Mayo).
The temple was saved from the destruction of civil war and since 1959 belongs to Opus Dei who made considerable reform work of the architect José Antonio Iñiguez Herrero, who removed the side chapels and confessionals windows replaced, reduced the richly decorated and built a crypt beneath the church. 5
La (1930) Basílica Pontificia de San Miguel, Temple of the Apostolic Nuncio in Spain, was declared a Historical Artistic Monument of national character by Royal Decree 2407/1984 of 28 November 1984 (BOE of 5 February 1985).
The building and its architect
As indicated above, the present temple was sent built and financed, at least in part, by the Cardinal Infante Don Luis de Borbón y Farnese, Archbishop of Toledo between 1734 and 1754 (date to be secularized marriage to Maria Teresa of Vallabriga and Rozas). As the Cardinal-Infante was a child (born in 1727) is to assume that the orders were given his tutor the marquis of Scotti, interpreting the wishes of the queen mother, Elizabeth Farnese.
The first draft of the new building that occupied the space of the old San Justo and adjacent cemetery was made by Theodore Ardemans 6, (which denies Maria Elena Gomez Moreno, who writes "there is neither Shadow Ardemans intervention plans or would it be to San Millán? "') 7 but the final draft was in the hands of the Piedmontese architect Giacomo Bonavia (1700-1760).
Giacomo (or Santiago) Bonavía had arrived in Spain in 1731, from Piacenza, called by Felipe V to build the theater of the Buen Retiro. In Turin, Bonavia had the opportunity to meet and study the architecture of Guarino Guarini (1642-1683) who was a priest teatino, mathematician and writer. Two years before embarking on the path of San Justo, Bonavia published " Architettura civile" collection of writings and projects Guarini, a book whose influence was great in the development of European Baroque 8.
Bonavia's art, writes Burns, " is a fad" Rococo, which results in the plant, with concave and convex curves in the nave, transept and on the same facade and the vaults "alternative forms of arches and vaults blade makers left by their capricious ways. The result of this amazing cross vaults, is one of the most charming rococo designs of guariniana school whose history can be the church of Santa Maria Divine Protection of Lisbon and the Church of Carmine, Turin Juvara Filippo (1678-1736).
The first stone of the new church was laid on September 20, 1739. Bonavia built the vault and much of the temple, pillars, side chapels and walls, all in stone berroqueña. The continuation of the works of San Justo was commissioned from 1743 to Virgil Rabaglia, Sacheti assistant architect, author of the draft Riofrio palace and the coliseum of Peral, who completed the temple in two years, topping the front and doing the works of a decorative nature inside. Antonio Rusca finished the chapel, sacristy and dependencies between 1745-46.
Exterior 9
Outside the walker immediately called the superb facade of the church that seems warped in a convex way to get more closely match the front. The two small towers enhance the convexity and makes the building can be projected upwards from different points of Madrid, located in a lower level. This arrangement of convex façade is rare in the rest of Spain (except in the Church of San Ildefonso Segovia and the Santuario de la Virgen Peregrina Pontevedra, remember) and only in the Madrid Baroque .
note the front, leaning on the wall of the recently opened public library Iván de Vargas. This is a typical front curtain, all of it executed in granite alternating with brick panels. Appears vertically structured, divided into three sections.
The first note is the large door, framed by a rich lintel with dried apricots. At its top is a relief with the martyrdom of Saints Justo and Pastor Children, designed by Nicholas Carisana, a sculptor who only know what it says Cean Bermudez 10 , Philip V in 1744 was appointed director of the preparatory meeting for the establishment of the Royal Academy of San Fernando and executed works for the parish. At the sides, the side sections separated by Doric pilasters, niches housed in two stone statues representing the Virtues of Charity right in the act of breastfeeding a child and having another at his side and left the Fortaleza, leaning against a column. These works, something worn by Roberto Michel (1720-1786), a sculptor known much more than the last, of French origin but active in Spain since 1740 and which are due, among other works, the two lions in the popular fountain of Cibeles.
The second body, the center is a window, topped by a simple curved pediment and the side sections, separated by Ionic pilasters, two virtues, the work of that Carisana to Right Faith, veiled, holding the chalice with the host and accompanied by a child and the other side of Hope, holding an anchor. Carisana is also the large coat of arms of Cardinal Infante and angels holding the metal cross on top. On either side the two towers turrets topped by bulbous type covers, perhaps influence in Central Europe.
Interior
Inside is accessed via a curved stairway that accentuates the grandeur of the surroundings. Do not hesitate to trim the cover rococo writing connoisseurs who has superb hardware and beautiful wooden swing relief.
The first impression the visitor receives is magnificent in all its orders. Creates this feeling its Latin cross plan, consisting of a large central nave, the type of games, with six side chapels, three on each side and the curious arrangement stream of the pillars that support the vault of the nave where the game is marked concave convex relations by alternating arcs and elliptical cross bows with others, as noted above. All this feeling is accentuated by the lavish decoration with stucco to imitate marble and gold, complemented by the rich decorative program of the paintings in the vaults indistinct due to the loss of sharpness and the drawing.
However, with the help of the relevant documentation 11, will tour the paintings of the vaults: From the choir area at the foot of the temple, to the presbytery. At the end of the church in the choir, show a representation of Calvary. In the lunettes following representations of the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah, the work of Gustavo Hastoy, Basque painter whose life and work there are few records. In the pan to the center of the ship, the Apotheosis of Kids Santos Justo y Pastor (1745) of Bartholomew Rusca, Italian painter who worked in Spain, mainly in the actual site of 1745. In the spandrels that support the dome recess, also own, personified by holy Virtues: Strength (Santa Barbara), Virginity (Santa Cristina) and Innocence (St. Agnes). In the fourth pendentive angels appear. Grisaille on central chapels with representations of Judith with Holofernes' head in the right side and Jacob and Rebecca on the left. Following papal attributes. Lunettes The following are the prophets Daniel and Isaiah, also of Hastoy. In the area of \u200b\u200bthe crossing and on the side altars in grisaille paintings with scenes from the Old Testament: the explorers of the Promised Land they bring a great bunch and Ruth picking in the fields of Boaz. On the dome supported by the scallops which shows the four evangelists, paintings of Velazquez Gonzalez brothers, as well as the central painting depicting the scene of the martyrdom of the saints, children, and subsequent apotheosis, being received into heaven. On the same appear grisaille with representations of the strength and faith. In the shell of the scene of the children choir and Pastor Just before the proconsul Dacian (after 1752). On either side of the archangels older paintings: even hand, Barachiel, Gabriel and Jehudiel, on the other, Rafael, Uriely Seatiel, each with its attributes.
We approach the sanctuary or chapel, presided over by a large picture of Alejandro Ferrant, dated in 1897, funded by Leo XIII, " asking for the artist devoted very small amount" (Tormey) and representing the Archangel Michael, the Victorious, overcoming the devil (formerly seems that there was another box representing José del Castillo Kids Saints Justo and Pastor). On the canvas two angels with phylacteries, the sculptor Pedro Hermoso Granada (1763-1830). Above them a medallion with the figure of the Eternal Father, the González Velázquez brothers, renowned fresco of the churches of Madrid, XVIII. A canvas sides of San Miguel are two separate medallions with busts of Christ and the Virgin, also Pedro Hermoso. Inside the chapel there stands side paths, made of wood, in rococo style. The pulpit also is eighteenth.
The tour of the temple we will, as usual on the side of the Epistle (right) from the toe area. The first chapel has a neoclassical altarpiece, like almost everyone in the church, but after the reform of the late 50 / 60, the images have been replaced, with little success, in windows of large shops, in this case, with the figure of Christ Pantocrator surrounded by angels and two confessionals, very common element throughout the temple.
The next chapel is that of the Brotherhood of the Holy Christ of Faith and Forgiveness, Mary Immaculate, Mother of the Church and Archangel San Miguel (for short the "Students") which has its own page http://www.losestudiantes.org/ Downtown, a neoclassical altarpiece Rodríguez Ventura did? paired with large columns that has a bas-relief above the Annunciation altarpiece, flanked by angels and at its center, one of the most beautiful pictures of the church, the Holy Christ of Faith and Forgiveness, formerly called Light, Luis Salvador Carmona (1708-1767), the great sculptor Castilian "morbid modeling and serene expression" 12 . At the bottom is a picture of dress of Mary Immaculate, Mother of God, the imager Seville Juan Manuel Miñarro contemporary (1995-6). These images procession on the evening of Palm Sunday. The next chapel on this side has, as the first window (with a choir of angels) and confessional. On the sides, in niches, sculptures of San Joaquin and Santa Ana, the eighteenth century.
We cruise the area on this side. Powerfully calls attention to a large altarpiece of columns and Corinthian capitals to the Virgin of the Assumption and Coronation Glorious production size of the XVIII Workshop Granada, surrounded by groups of angels modern. Must be very miraculous image as a hand, on a stand and having at under a beggar, there is a book of prayers for use by the faithful in these leaves, mostly with poor handwriting, their prayers to the Virgin to help them solve their family problems, health or work. I have read over some of these prayers and is very curious: " for domestic workers, to be good ", " to help me with the girl that I love " etc. spent before the altar to get to the Gospel side. On this side of the cruise is another great altarpiece similar to the previous effigy St. Joseph and Child, contemporary, (1996) by Agustin de la Herran, carved in walnut.
Retracing our steps, on the side of the Epistle to the feet, the first chapel follows the familiar pattern of window (group of angels adoring the cross) and confessional.
The following is the chapel dedicated to San José María Escrivá de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei 
. The statue of the saint express, walnut, is also Agustín de la Herran (1996). A metal plaque inserted into the wall says saint's relationship with the church founded (apparently his first Mass here in 1927, when there was founded the Work and returned to hold another in 1960, when the Opus Dei was already a powerful organization.) In this same chapel, on both sides, within niches, burial urns paths of General Manuel Luis de Orleans, Count (not Duke) of Charnie, in 1740 he was governor of Ceuta and his father Juan Luis of Orleans, who in time, was governor general of Oran and Mazalquivir spaces.
. The statue of the saint express, walnut, is also Agustín de la Herran (1996). A metal plaque inserted into the wall says saint's relationship with the church founded (apparently his first Mass here in 1927, when there was founded the Work and returned to hold another in 1960, when the Opus Dei was already a powerful organization.) In this same chapel, on both sides, within niches, burial urns paths of General Manuel Luis de Orleans, Count (not Duke) of Charnie, in 1740 he was governor of Ceuta and his father Juan Luis of Orleans, who in time, was governor general of Oran and Mazalquivir spaces. The last chapel on this side has a window (the Archangel Gabriel to the young Tobias) and two confessionals .
At the foot of the temple, inside a small chapel round and framed by a beautiful and stylish showcase of the eighteenth century, there is an image of the Holy Infant Jesus of Grace, anonymous work from the early eighteenth century .
On the grand gallery of the choir, not lost on the splendid Baroque organ, restored in 1995 by the German organ G. Grenzing and who happens to be one of the best in Spain, with a perfect sound, say those who have heard .
As I do not usually go to church without seeing Behind the scenes, this is the sacristy, not normally open to visitors, I dare to go to her, encouraged by a sign that says " pass without calling." Navigating a hallway, I get to a square, with good chests and some interesting old pictures. I immediately called attention to a bust of the Virgin of the school seems to Alonso Cano. Ask an employee, barricaded behind a table, on the size of Santa Librada, Carmona and San Diego of Alcantara (taken earlier by St. Paschal Baylon), Juan Pascual de Mena, praised by Tormo, and the kindly taught, kept in indoor units. Both are excellent, as shown in the photographs, especially of the holy crucified, very similar to that described in the Museum of Valladolid. Missed because they are more visible, I dare to ask a priest there appears, for the cause of this hiding and says it is " liturgical reasons," which 
I can not understand until that, when I got home, I researched on the Internet on the hagiography of the saint, patron of Sigüenza. It turns out that Santa Librada, whose legend is at least curious, is also the patron saint of married women and therefore wrong, as I understand, it is "religiously incorrect" for the liturgy. Can you imagine the queue of faithful who would exposure of the image of the saint in the church, which apparently was, forty years ago. Would in a minor key the cult of Saint Josemaría. 
I forgot to ask about the vault to which, apparently, is accessed from the street by a small side door, and where he was buried the famous musician Luigi Boccherini (1743 - 1805), until in 1927, Mussolini, the Duce, took the remains to Italy for burial in the church of San Francisco, in Lucca, his birthplace.
© Manuel Martínez Bargueño
March, 2011
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NOTES
1. Elías Tormo. " The churches of Madrid. Reissue of the two issues published in 1927. Foreword by Marquis de Lozoya. Notes Maria Elena Gomez Moreno." Institute of Spain, 1972, p. 77.
2. in this primitive church had their burials Pedro Suarez de Toledo, the woodcock, Lagos and Lujanes and a chapel were displayed the arms of Cisneros, the former entailed Villa (Pedro Repid " The streets of Madrid. Afrodisio Aguado, fourth edition, 1981, p. 654.
3. were buried in this parish Quevedo's father and his maternal grandparents and a brother and in the parish are the death certificates of Alonso de Ercilla, father of Miguel de Cervantes, Rodrigo, Francisco Lopez de Zarate, family members of Lopez de Hoyos, Jerome and Francisco de la Quintana and Dr. Godinez http://www.bsanmiguel.es/
4. It was called the Octo "to differentiate it from other parish with the same title that became known as "La Sagra" for being the natives of that region its main parishioners Toledo (Pedro F. Gutierrez and Agustin F. García Martínez Carbajo "Churches of Madrid " Library Editions, 2006 pg. 202).
5. According http://www.monumentamadrid.es/ in the decade of the 60-70 reforms took place in the chancel and the crypt by architects Germain Gamazo Valentin and Jose Garcia-Noblejas Hernandez Martínez-Arcos.
6. According Tormo, projected Ardemans a church similar, but shorter than that came to be made by the architect Giacomo Bonavia (Tormo, op.cit, pg. 78).
7. Elías Tormo, op.cit, pg. 82, note.
8. Ramon Guerra de la Vega. " Madrid. 1700-1800 Architectural Guide", second edition, 1984.
9. A description of the temple art, with comments on the Work can be found in www.bsanmiguel.es/pdf/arte.5.pdf
10. Juan Agustin Cean Bermudez. " Historical Dictionary of the most distinguished teachers of the Fine Arts in Spain I ." Royal Academy of Fine Arts and History. Madrid, 1965, pg. 256.
11. This information I take in most of the book "Churches of Madrid ", op.cit. pp. 205-6.
12. Ramon Moreno Montegudo "old churches Madrid " Ediciones La Librería, 4 th edition 2009, pg. 36.
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