THE GOLDEN AGERenaissance art in Spain

What were the

characteristics of

Renaissance

art??

GOLDEN AGE (El Siglo de Oro)

• Most thriving period of Spanish

culture.

• 16th & 17th centuries:

Renaissance

Baroque

QUEVEDO LOPE DE VEGA

RENAISSANCE ARCHITECTURE

• Inspired by Italian models.

• 3 periods:

Plateresque (1st 1/3 of the 16th Cent.)

Purist (2nd 1/3 of the 16th Cent.)

Herrerian (3rd 1/3 of the 16th Cent.)

PLATERESQUE

• INSIDE: Gothic forms.

• OUTSIDE: Renaissance

decorations

(medallions, shields,

grotesques)

• Abundant & detaileddecoration like the

work of a silversmith

(“platero”)

Church of San Esteban (Salamanca)

Façade of the University of Salamanca

Hospital de Santa Cruz(Toledo)

PURIST

• It becomes more

pure, simple &

proportional (as

Italian Renaissance):

Classical building elements

(semicircular arches, barrel

vaults, pediments, classical

orders…)

Less decoration, but bigger

decorative elements.

More interest in proportion, balance & symmetry.

Puerta de Bisagra (Toledo)

Palacio de Carlos V (Alhambra, Granada)

Façade of the University of Alcalá de Henares

Alcázar (Toledo)

Catedral de Granada

HERRERIAN (or Escurialense)

• Reign of Felipe II

• Very austere decoration (due to the historical

context: Counterreformation), simple forms.

• Slate roofs topped wih pyramids crowned with

spheres.

• Name derives from the architect who built El

Escorial: Juan de Herrera.

Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Madrid)

• 1563-84. Madrid (new capital city).

• Symbol of the hegemony of the Spanish Empire.

•

• Conmmemorates the Spanish victory over the french at the

battle of San Quintín (10 agosto 1557: festivity of San

Lorenzo).

• Several parts: palace / monastery / church / “panteón” (mausoleum)

Patio de los Reyes.

Church

&

“Panteón” (mausoleum)

RENAISSANCE SCULPTURE

• Unique style, different to

the rest of Renaissance art

in Europe.

• Polychromed wooden

sculptures for altarpieces

& “pasos procesionales”: Religious topics depicted in a

dramatic way

Realism & expression of feelings

Italian

Renaissance

VSSpanish

Renaissance

Alonso

Berruguete

El sacrificio de Isaac San Sebastián San Jerónimo

La Piedad

Juan de

Juni

La PiedadRetablo del Santo

Entierro

(catedral of Segovia)

“La virgen de los cuchillos” & “Nuestra Señora de las Angustias”

(Valladolid)

RENAISSANCE PAINTING

• Main outstading figure:

EL GRECO: Came from Crete.

Worked most of his life in

Toledo.

Mixes influences of

byzantine art

(symbolism of

byzantine icons),

italian art (technique),

spirituality of Spanish

Catholicism.

Religious topics, setting out the

ideas of the

Counterreformation (rejected

by the Protestants):

• Cult of Saints & virgin

• Value of good deeds (merits) to

achieve salvation.

Elongated figures & complex

postures.

Elaborate compositions.

Powerful, bright & unreal lights.

Cool colours (blue, grey,

green, violet…).

EL MARTIRIO DE SAN MAURICIO

THE TRINITY

(La Trinidad)

THE ASSUMPTION OF THE VIRGIN

(Asunción de la Virgen)

THE DISROBING OF CHRIST

(El Expolio)

THE ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS

(La adoración de los pastores)

EL ENTIERRO DEL CONDE ORGAZ

• Leyenda sobre un caballero toledano, el Señor de Orgaz, durante cuyo funeral descendieron milagrosamente San Esteban y San Agustín para enterrarlo, en agradecimiento por su ayuda para la construcción de templos y monasterios.

• Cuadro dividido en dos partes claramente separadas por una línea horizontal de cabezas: abajo la tierra y arriba el cielo.

ABAJO: una larga serie de personajes vestidos de negro, retratos de personalidades toledanas contemporáneas (autorretrato de El Greco, su hijo, alcalde de Toledo…) asisten al milagro. Sobre este fondo negro destacan las ricas vestiduras de los santos y la armadura del difunto.

ARRIBA: en un fondo celestial, Cristo Juez, la Virgen y San Juan Bautista reciben el alma del señor de Orgaz, que en forma de niño translúcido es llevada por un ángel. A los laterales, San Pedro (con las llaves), santos, apóstoles, bienaventurados, entre los que se reconoce a Felipe II