Alexandre-Mathieu Sureda Chappron (1815, Palma de Mallorca - 1889, Madrid[1]) was a Spanish architect. He worked under the name Alejandro Sureda and is considered "the main populariser of French architectural models amongst the Spanish aristocracy".[1]

Life

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He was the son of Bartolomé Sureda y Miserol (1769–1850) and his French wife Thérèse Louise de Sureda. He studied in the Paris studio of Henri Labrouste between 1836 and 1840.[1] After his return to Spain, he was made an architect by the Academia de San Fernando in 1850.[1] From 1851 to 1868 he held the post of deputy royal architect, only losing his post upon the Glorious Revolution.[1] Between 1871 and 1873, he was involved in the works on the Teatro Apolo in Madrid,[2] and between 1874 and 1884 he was chief architect in the redesign of the Museo del Prado, improving the interior and subdividing the Flemish and Spanish rooms.[3] Between 1857 and 1872[1] he led the restoration of the Castle of Belmonte, Cuenca by Empress Eugenia de Montijo.[3] This is the first example of restoration according to Viollet le Duc's criteria in Spain.[4]

In 1883 he began construction of a palace for the Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa, marqués de Cerralbo, with later additions such as the belvedere-pavilion in 1891[5] designed by Luis Cabello Asó and his son Luis Cabello Lapiedra.[6] Better known as the museo Cerralbo, it was declared a Monumento Histórico Artístico in 1962.[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Sazatornil Ruiz, Luis y Frédéric Jiméno (2014). El arte español entre Roma y París (siglos XVIII y XIX): Intercambios artísticos y circulación de modelos, pp. 108-12. Casa de Velázquez. - Google Books. Accessed 1 July 2015.
  2. ^ Fernández Muñoz, Ángel Luis y Pedro Navascués Palacio (1988). Arquitectura teatral en Madrid: del corral de comedias al cinematógrafo, p. 159. El Avapiés. On Google Books. Accessed 1 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b Prado site - biography of Sureda. Accessed 1 July 2015.
  4. ^ "SUREDA Y CHAPPRÓN, ALEJANDRE". institutoestudiosmadrileños.es (in Spanish).
  5. ^ «Historia del edificio.» Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. Accessed 1 July 2015.
  6. ^ Arias González, Luís (2013). Gonzalo de Aguilera Munro, XI Conde de Alba de Yeltes (1886-1965): vidas y radicalismo de un hidalgo heterodoxo, p. 40. Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca. Google Books Accessed 1 July 2015.
  7. ^ Arquitectura de los Museos Estatales: «Palacio del marqués de Cerralbo.» Archived 2015-07-02 at the Wayback Machine Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. Accessed 1 July 2015.