Francisco Sabatini. (Palermo, 1721 – Madrid, 1797). AArchitect and military engineer at the service of the monarchs Carlos III and Carlos IV, he was a capital figure in the second half of the Spanish eighteenth century and particularly in the city of Madrid.
Trained at the Academy of San Lucas in Rome, he was a disciple of the great Neapolitan architect and engineer Luigi Vanvitelli, under whose orders he later worked in Naples and with whose daughter he would later marry, already living in Madrid.
In 1659 Carlos de Borbón inherited the throne of Spain under the name of Carlos III and among his Italian court he chose Sabatini as a military engineer and architect, leaving the two great figures of the moment, Vanvitelli and Ferdinando Fuga, in Naples, whose influences were decisive. in the work of Sabatini.
In Madrid the new monarch disenchanted with the Royal Palace, whose work was almost finished; he fired his architect, Juan Bautista Sachetti, and replaced him with Sabatini at the head of the Palace Office with the mission of remodeling its exterior appearance and conditioning its interior. Sabatini rearranged the façade, directed the installation and decoration of the interior of the palace (projecting, among other elements, a new main staircase), expanded the building to the south with two new wings (of which only one of them was completed) that they would give rise to the current Patio de Armas; he planned an extension to the north (never carried out) and built the royal stables at the northern end of the palatial enclosure, with a capacity for five hundred horses.
With Sabatini, the Palace Office accumulated powers far beyond the work of the New Palace to extend to the reorganization of its surroundings (among whose works the Palace of the Secretaries of State stands out, which today is partially preserved and serves as the headquarters of the Center of Political and Constitutional Studies), to the various Royal Sites, and to the city of Madrid itself.
Among the first commissions of Carlos III are the tombs of Fernando VI and Bárbara de Braganza in the church of the Salesas Reales. He almost immediately designed and directed the works of the Customs House, a monumental building on Calle de Alcalá that today is occupied by the Ministry of Finance. At the same time he carried out one of the fundamental projects of the Carolino reign: the Sewerage Instructions, paving stones and court cleaning, consisting of the installation of major and minor water drainage pipes in houses, pipes and cesspools, as well as paving of sidewalks and streets that would give the city dignity and, above all, public hygiene.
A fundamental project in the new enlightened mentality that was invading both the court and the intellectuals of the kingdom, was the construction of a large General Hospital on the outskirts of the city, next to Atocha street, which would reorganize and renovate the hospital structure from the city. The works, begun by the military engineer José de Hermosilla in 1758, were taken over by Sabatini in 1769, who is the author of the plans and drawings that we know of, without today knowing exactly to what extent the paternity of the ideas belongs to one or another engineer. Excessively ambitious for a time of growing economic crisis, the work lasted beyond Sabatini's death and his original project was barely a third built. However, after a long life of effective use, the building is preserved and today it serves as the headquarters of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.
That peripheral area of the city, the Salón del Prado from Atocha to Recoletos and the area near the Retiro Palace, was concentrating the efforts of the great architects of the time in Spain: José de Hermosilla, Ventura Rodríguez, Sabatini and Juan de Villanueva. Sabatini made the plans of the Royal Botanical Garden and designed its Royal Gate and its fence, as well as a chemical laboratory building that would not be realized. At the entrance to the city on the road to Alcalá, Sabatini would build what would eventually become one of the city's most iconic architectures: the Puerta de Alcalá. In a similar way and with a similar intention, although of lesser proportions, it “opened” the other end of the city with the Puerta de San Vicente as the most recognizable example of a whole landscaping project, an urban walk and the path from the Royal Palace to El Pardo.
His work for the Royal Sites was incessant and varied. In addition to minor but abundant work on conditioning, fencing, repairing ponds and pipelines in the Casa de Campo, the expansion of the El Pardo palace (which he doubled in size, and in which he directed an extraordinary decorative project of its interiors, stands out). ) and carried out an urban project for its population; and the enlargement of the Aranjuez palace, from whose main façade he extended the two large wings that provide the front of the palace with monumentality and give rise to the large entrance plaza.
The immense work developed by Sabatini includes, finally, architecture, interior design and furniture pieces (stone benches in the gardens of Aranjuez, tapestry decoration in the rooms of El Escorial, etc.), rehabilitation and consolidation of buildings, and the abundant works of civil and military engineering. Among the latter, the layouts and adaptation of roads stand out, especially those that communicated to the Royal Sites, the construction of the San Gil Cavalry Academy (or Leganitos, demolished in 1906 - 1910, located in what is now the Plaza de Spain) the Walonas de Leganés guards barracks (current Carlos III University) and innumerable military projects throughout the kingdom such as the port of Santander, the defensive structure of the city of Manila, the fortification of Cavite, the new city of Guatemala, And a long etcetera.
He also developed an abundant work of rehabilitation and construction of religious architecture, especially of temples and religious communities hosted by the royal patronage. Among many other works, the main altarpiece of the Cathedral of Segovia, that of the disappeared Madrid church of San Felipe Neri, his project and direction of works for the Chapel of Venerable Palafox in the cathedral of Burgo de Osma, and his intervention in the church and convent of San Francisco el Grande in Madrid, of which, among other elements, he designed and built its monumental façade and towers.
Trained at the Academy of San Lucas in Rome, he was a disciple of the great Neapolitan architect and engineer Luigi Vanvitelli, under whose orders he later worked in Naples and with whose daughter he would later marry, already living in Madrid.
In 1659 Carlos de Borbón inherited the throne of Spain under the name of Carlos III and among his Italian court he chose Sabatini as a military engineer and architect, leaving the two great figures of the moment, Vanvitelli and Ferdinando Fuga, in Naples, whose influences were decisive. in the work of Sabatini.
In Madrid the new monarch disenchanted with the Royal Palace, whose work was almost finished; he fired his architect, Juan Bautista Sachetti, and replaced him with Sabatini at the head of the Palace Office with the mission of remodeling its exterior appearance and conditioning its interior. Sabatini rearranged the façade, directed the installation and decoration of the interior of the palace (projecting, among other elements, a new main staircase), expanded the building to the south with two new wings (of which only one of them was completed) that they would give rise to the current Patio de Armas; he planned an extension to the north (never carried out) and built the royal stables at the northern end of the palatial enclosure, with a capacity for five hundred horses.
With Sabatini, the Palace Office accumulated powers far beyond the work of the New Palace to extend to the reorganization of its surroundings (among whose works the Palace of the Secretaries of State stands out, which today is partially preserved and serves as the headquarters of the Center of Political and Constitutional Studies), to the various Royal Sites, and to the city of Madrid itself.
Among the first commissions of Carlos III are the tombs of Fernando VI and Bárbara de Braganza in the church of the Salesas Reales. He almost immediately designed and directed the works of the Customs House, a monumental building on Calle de Alcalá that today is occupied by the Ministry of Finance. At the same time he carried out one of the fundamental projects of the Carolino reign: the Sewerage Instructions, paving stones and court cleaning, consisting of the installation of major and minor water drainage pipes in houses, pipes and cesspools, as well as paving of sidewalks and streets that would give the city dignity and, above all, public hygiene.
A fundamental project in the new enlightened mentality that was invading both the court and the intellectuals of the kingdom, was the construction of a large General Hospital on the outskirts of the city, next to Atocha street, which would reorganize and renovate the hospital structure from the city. The works, begun by the military engineer José de Hermosilla in 1758, were taken over by Sabatini in 1769, who is the author of the plans and drawings that we know of, without today knowing exactly to what extent the paternity of the ideas belongs to one or another engineer. Excessively ambitious for a time of growing economic crisis, the work lasted beyond Sabatini's death and his original project was barely a third built. However, after a long life of effective use, the building is preserved and today it serves as the headquarters of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.
That peripheral area of the city, the Salón del Prado from Atocha to Recoletos and the area near the Retiro Palace, was concentrating the efforts of the great architects of the time in Spain: José de Hermosilla, Ventura Rodríguez, Sabatini and Juan de Villanueva. Sabatini made the plans of the Royal Botanical Garden and designed its Royal Gate and its fence, as well as a chemical laboratory building that would not be realized. At the entrance to the city on the road to Alcalá, Sabatini would build what would eventually become one of the city's most iconic architectures: the Puerta de Alcalá. In a similar way and with a similar intention, although of lesser proportions, it “opened” the other end of the city with the Puerta de San Vicente as the most recognizable example of a whole landscaping project, an urban walk and the path from the Royal Palace to El Pardo.
His work for the Royal Sites was incessant and varied. In addition to minor but abundant work on conditioning, fencing, repairing ponds and pipelines in the Casa de Campo, the expansion of the El Pardo palace (which he doubled in size, and in which he directed an extraordinary decorative project of its interiors, stands out). ) and carried out an urban project for its population; and the enlargement of the Aranjuez palace, from whose main façade he extended the two large wings that provide the front of the palace with monumentality and give rise to the large entrance plaza.
The immense work developed by Sabatini includes, finally, architecture, interior design and furniture pieces (stone benches in the gardens of Aranjuez, tapestry decoration in the rooms of El Escorial, etc.), rehabilitation and consolidation of buildings, and the abundant works of civil and military engineering. Among the latter, the layouts and adaptation of roads stand out, especially those that communicated to the Royal Sites, the construction of the San Gil Cavalry Academy (or Leganitos, demolished in 1906 - 1910, located in what is now the Plaza de Spain) the Walonas de Leganés guards barracks (current Carlos III University) and innumerable military projects throughout the kingdom such as the port of Santander, the defensive structure of the city of Manila, the fortification of Cavite, the new city of Guatemala, And a long etcetera.
He also developed an abundant work of rehabilitation and construction of religious architecture, especially of temples and religious communities hosted by the royal patronage. Among many other works, the main altarpiece of the Cathedral of Segovia, that of the disappeared Madrid church of San Felipe Neri, his project and direction of works for the Chapel of Venerable Palafox in the cathedral of Burgo de Osma, and his intervention in the church and convent of San Francisco el Grande in Madrid, of which, among other elements, he designed and built its monumental façade and towers.
