FIGUEROA, Leonardo de
(b. ca.1650, Utiel, d. 1730, Sevilla)

Biography

Spanish architect. He was active in Seville where all his known building are located, featuring yellow or white cut brickwork framed with red, glazed tiles. He favoured Solomonic columns, estípites, elaborately contorted cornices, and much statuary and carved decoration, all mingled in unbridled freedom, with occasional touches of mudéjar ornament.

Examples of his designs include the Hospital de los Venerables Sacerdotes (1687-97) and the Churches of La Magdalena (1691-1709) and San Salvador (1696-1711). He was responsible for the west door of San Telmo, and may have designed the outstandingly ornate and centralized Church of San Luis (1699-1731 - in which influences from Borromini and Rainaldi may be detected). His son, Ambrosio (1700-75), also worked in an ornate Baroque style in Seville (he designed Santa Catalina (1732) ), and his grandson, Antonio Matías (c.1734-c.96), was responsible for the campanile of La Palma del Condado (c.1780).