Biography

Juan de Vera was a tile maker based in Toledo, probably originally from La Vera, near Plasencia, where in the mid-sixteenth century the ceramist Juan Flores (Jan Floris) settled upon his arrival from Flanders and carried out various commissions for King Philip II. Of Juan de Vera we preserve documentary news between 1578 and 1595. References that allow us to recognize his work as a ceramist during the aforementioned reign. In fact, he worked on various royal commissions, such as the ceramic ornamentation of El Escorial and the Alcázar of Segovia. This is evidenced by several letters addressed to Fray Antonio de Villacastín, director of the works at El Escorial, one dated October 13, 1578, in which he accompanied the shipment of earthenware and 6000 tiles for the monastery and court residence. In this letter he wrote about the difficulties he had experienced, since his wife had died, and he had also been ill, in spite of which he hoped to continue receiving orders from the Crown. In another letter dated October 7, 1593, besides accompanying the shipment of new pieces for the works of El Escorial, he mentioned the important number of tiles sent to the Alcázar of Segovia. In another missive of October 15, 1593, he spoke again of the tiles made for the Alcázar of Segovia. He also supplied tiles to the Fresneda palace. There are also documented different payments to Vera, the last one dated 1595 (Ray, A., 1982; Malo Cerro, M., 2001, pp. 142-143).

Bibliography

• MALO CERRO, Mónica (2001): Azulejería en Castilla y León. De la Edad Media al Modernismo. Tesis Doctoral. Universidad de Valladolid, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid.
• RAY, Anthony (1991): "“Sixteenth century pottery in Castilla: a documentary study”", vol. mayo, en Burlington Magazine.
• RAY, Anthony (1992): "Juan de Vera, Azulejero de Toledo”", vol. 28, nº 143-151, en Toletum. Boletín de la Real Academia de Toledo.