Juan de Arphe y Villafañe

At the same time, he was an architect and a sculptor, and worked as an engraver and creator of woodcuts, as well as being the assayer of a mint in Segovia. Arphe-Villafañe wrote several books of which the best known was his Varia comesuracion para la escultura y arquitectura. Each of the four books which comprised the work focused on one of Arphe-Villafañe's subjects of expertise: • The first book discussed geometry in brief, and gnomonics at great length. • The second book focused on the anatomy of the human body. • The third book contained many illustrations of animals, and the text described quadrupeds and birds. • The fourth book talks solely on architecture and closely related subject matters. All of the books contained many woodcuts, some full page, with others mixed with the text. He was a close friend of Don José Velázquez de Medrano, a silversmith raised to the ranks of the finest "sculptors of silver and gold" who were shaped by Juan de Arphe y Villafañe.

Juan de Arphe y Villafañe is recorded as goldsmith, artist, sculptor and gnomonist. Identity and origins. The authorities additionally record the headings Juan De Arfe Y Villafane, Ioan de Arphe Villafañe, Juan de Arfe, Juan Arfe y Villafañe and Juan Arfe Villafañe. His recorded language was Spanish.