Berruguette Alonso

Berruguette Alonso an eminent Spanish painter, sculptor, and architect, was born, according to Palomino, at Parados de Nava, in Castile, in 1480. He studied some time under Michael Angelo. He was the contemporary of Andrea del Sarto. The emperor Charles V appointed him one of his painters, and employed him in many considerable works at Madrid, in the palace of the Prado, and in the Alhambra of Granada, which established his reputation. As a sculptor he was very distinguished. He executed a bass-relief of the Transfiguration in the choir of the Cathedral of Toledo, also a statue of St. Leocadin in that city, and a number of bass-reliefs in the choir of the Church of Sillas. As an architect, he erected the gate of San Martino, at Toledo; the palace of Alcala, belonging to the bishop of Toledo; and a great portion of the Cathedral of Cuenca. He died at Alcala (others say Madrid or Toledo) in 1561 (or 1545). See Spooner, Biog. Hist. of the Fine Arts, s.v.; Chalmers, Biog. Dict. s.v.; Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.