(b Madrid, 21 March 1664; d Madrid, 2 March 1725). Architect, draughtsman, sculptor and designer. He was the eldest son of José Simón de Churriguera. In 1690 he was appointed assistant draughtsman to José del Olmo, who was Maestro Mayor of royal construction. In 1693 he executed the retable in S Esteban, Salamanca (see §1 below). Churriguera’s mastery as a draughtsman is evident from his many extant drawings. In 1700, having unsuccessfully sought the post of Aparejador Primero for the royal works, he lost interest in royal commissions and thereafter worked exclusively for private clients, notably the banker and businessman Juan de Goyeneche. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14), following the death of Charles II (1700), José Benito apparently supported the cause of the pretender, Archduke Charles of Austria (later Emperor Charles VI); in 1711 his property was confiscated, and he lived briefly in exile in Barcelona.

Part of the Churriguera family

• Churriguera, José Benito de
  • Churriguera
  • Churriguera: (1) José Benito de Churriguera, §1: Retables
  • Churriguera: (1) José Benito de Churriguera, §2: Architecture
  • Mexico, §III, 1(ii): Baroque, Churrigueresque and Neo-classical architecture, c 1670–c 1870
  • architecture
    • Catafalque
    • Spain, §II, 3: Architecture, c 1600–c 1750
    • Villanueva: (1) Diego de Villanueva
  • collaboration
    • Frame, §VIII, 5(ii): Spanish Baroque: Development
  • groups and movements
    • Churrigueresque
  • patrons and collectors
    • Dominican Order, §III: Patronage
  • pupils
    • Churriguera: (3) Alberto de Churriguera
  • retables
    • Coello, Claudio, §1(ii): 1679–93
    • Madrid, §II, 2: Art life and organization, 1700 and after
    • Retable, §1(iii): Spain, 17th and 18th centuries
    • Salamanca, §1(ii): History and urban development, 1218 and later
    • Spain, §IV, 3(ii): Sculpture, c 1600–c 1750: High Baroque and Rococo
    • Stucco and plasterwork, §III, 10(i)(h): Western world, 1400–1850: Spain, Portugal & Latin America