JUNI, Juan de
(b. 1506, Joigny, d. 1577, Valladolid)

Antigua Altar

1545-62
Polychrome wood
Cathedral, Valladolid

Juan de Juni received the commission for the Antigua altarpiece in 1545 and he finished it in 1562. (It was installed in Valladolid Cathedral in 1922.) Juni tried to produce a classical work in an architectural framework - the firt he ever used. Taken separately, the Corinthian columns, entablatures, and niches are based on the classical Italian arrangement, but the general organization, the relationship between the different parts, the proportions of the niches, and above all the importance given to sculpture are closer to Mannerism.