Felipe Bigarny

He gained great prestige working in various parts of Spain which led to his becoming the master sculptor and carver of the Burgos Cathedral.

[1] There he executed the technically precise reliefs of the main retrochoir of the cathedral, which led to further contracts and a lifelong career in Spain.

In 1499 Bigarny designed the basic structure of the main altarpiece of the Toledo Cathedral,[2] for which he was contracted by Cardinal Archbishop Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros.

[4] In those same years, he also made sculptures of Saints Augustine, Barbara, Gregory, Jerome, John the Baptist and of the Assumption for the altarpiece of the University of Salamanca.

He next began plans for the chapel of the Sanctuary of the Palencia Cathedral, making it clear that although most of the work would be done by others in his studio, he personally would sculpt the faces and hands.

The first of these, Gregorio Pardo, born 1517, was the only one to follow in his father's career,[1] collaborating with him toward the end of his life and continuing Bigarny's studio in the Archdiocese of Toledo.

In that same chapel, between 1523 and 1526 they created, for the main altarpiece, the figures of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, considered one of the most beautiful works of the Spanish Renaissance.

No later than 1534, Bigarny had also executed the recumbent sculptures in the chapel of Pedro Fernández de Velasco, 2nd Count of Haro and his wife.

Aware of his fame and prestige in the city, Bigarny took permanent residence in Burgos, first in a building in the San Juan neighborhood and then in a distinguished house next to the Casa de la Moneda.

Artistic similarities suggest that the tomb of canon Diego Bilbao and an altarpiece in the parish of Cardeñuela Riopico are also by Bigarny.

In 1534 he sculpted the tomb of Pedro Manso, bishop of Osma, for the Monastery of San Salvador de Oña.

The largest number of Bigarny's works are in Burgos, where he lived a long portion of his life, and in Toledo, where he had his most prominent studio.

The poor quality of the stone for the sculptures of the Burgos Cathedral has resulted in grave damage over the years, though more in the Apostles executed by Simón de Colonia and his studio than in Bigarny's work.

Bigarny designed and executed the alabaster tomb of the canon Gonzalo de Lerma in the Chapel of the Presentation (1524).

José Martí y Monsó in a study on the art and architecture of Haro and Casalarreina argued against the likelihood of Bigarny or his studio having worked on the monastery, and present-day specialists generally agree with that verdict.

He proposed a design for the tower of the Church of the Assumption of Our Lady in Santa María del Campo, but it was not the one selected.