The sepulchre of Juan Martínez Silíceo, cardinal and founder of the Royal College of Noble Maidens, stands out for its neoplateresque style and rich symbolism.
Juan Martínez Silíceo, the cardinal-founder of the Royal College of Noble Maidens, is buried in this tomb of white and grey marble. Born in Badajoz in 1477 and died in Toledo in 1557, he was archbishop and cardinal of the archdiocese of Toledo between 1545 and 1557, being considered one of the great archbishops in the history of this see.
Silíceo, of humble origins, studied in Valencia, Paris and Salamanca, where he was a professor. In 1534, Charles I appointed him preceptor to prince Felipe (the future Felipe II). Subsequently, in 1541 he was appointed bishop of Cartagena and in 1545 archbishop of Toledo. In 1556, Pope Paul IV made him a cardinal. An eminent humanist and mathematician, he was the author of numerous publications.
He wished to be buried “near the schoolgirls”, and so he has rested since his death in a humble wooden box, covered with a black cloth and a miter, until the creation of this magnificent tomb.
The tomb, the work of the sculptor Ricardo Bellver y Ramón (1845-1924), author of “The Fallen Angel” in the Retiro de Madrid, is in the neoplateresque style. This style, also known as plateresque gothic or proto-renaissance, elizabethan or Catholic Monarchs, belongs to the Spanish renaissance that developed in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. It is a decorative mixture of gothic and renaissance styles, characterised by the use of “grotesques”, columns or pilasters decorated with plant elements and fantastic animals.
Ricardo Bellver represents the recumbent figure of the cardinal with magnificent details full of symbolism, at the foot of the tomb, the four christian or cardinal virtues appear sculpted in the corners; Justice, Prudence, Fortitude and Temperance presided over by Charity, in reference to the kindnesses that the maidens should practise.
On the right-hand side, it shows the moment when empress Isabel of Portugal, wife of Charles V, appoints Juan Martínez Silíceo as preceptor to the young prince Felipe of Austria, who would later become Felipe II. This personal relationship between Silíceo and Felipe II explains the change of name of the Colegio de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios to ‘Royal College‘.
The scene on the left-hand side shows Cardinal Silíceo receiving the credentials of a group of schoolgirls dressed in the typical uniform, referring to the beginnings of the college.
