Research on the origin of the balcony grilles of Sta. Cruz

The Academia del Partal is an association of academic professionals in monumental restoration created in 1992. The first issue of the magazine “Papeles del Partal” was published in 2002. In 2025, number 16, this article is included. Ventura Rodríguez's design in this grilles is taken from d'Aviler's treatise Cours d'Architecture qui comprend les ordres de Vignole avec des Commentaires, les figures & descripctions de les plus beaux Bâtiments in the 1750 edition. The mimicry is surprising, especially when the architects had enormous prestige, not because they were copyists, but because any of them knew very well, with respect to the world of grillework, the way and manner, both of its design, its layout and its construction.
It is unthinkable to attribute to the negligence of Ventura Rodríguez the fact that, because he did not design new balconies, he was going to execute a locksmith as it appeared in a treatise of years before. Thus, Ventura's attitude can only be conceived as a tribute to d'Aviler, a French architect for whom he must have felt enormous sympathy, given the parallel of their lives, both in their training and in their professional careers and, finally, in recognition and social ascent. Augustin-Charles d'Aviler (1653-1701), who became the king's architect, was trained in all the new institutions of his time. From 1672 he was a distinguished disciple of François Blondel at the Cours d'architecture enseigné à l'Académie royale d'architecture.
In 1674 he obtained a pension to continue his studies at the Academy of France in Rome, founded in 1666. In 1684 he was hired as a draughtsman by the administration of the King's Buildings. From this date he spent two years writing his Cours d'architecture.
Appointed architect to the king of the province of Languedoc in 1693, he carried out numerous commissions in various cities of the Midi. The appearance in 1691 of the "Course of Architecture" was an immediate success and was quickly followed by reprints (1694, 1695, 1696), plagiarism (Amsterdam, 1693, 1694 and 1699) and a German translation (1699).