Juan Batista Villalpando (1552 - May 22, 1608) was a Spanish priest born to a Serphardic family, a scholar, mathematician, architect, and a member of the Jesuits. He was born in Cordoba; very little is known of his early life and education. He joined the Jesuits in 1575, for whom he served primarily as an architect. (He had studied the field with Juan de Herrera, Philip II's architect.) During his time he designed a number of buildings, including the Cathedral in Baeza. After his ordination, however, he focused on a study of the exegesis of the Old Testament. In 1596 he completed Jerónimo del Prado's commentaries on Ezekiel (this work brought him under suspicion of heresy, but he was found innocent.) Among his works on Ezekiel were reconstructions both of Solomon's Temple and Jerusalem overall, which caught the eye of many mapmakers and illustrators and stayed in circulation for centuries. His depictions were in no way archaeological or based even on contemporary visit, but were based on his interpretation of Biblical text following the assumption that the buildings were drawn according to geometrical law, and based on divine order.



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