- Architecture of the Spanish Renaissance
Renaissance architecture was that style of
architecture which evolved firstly inFlorence and thenRome and other parts ofItaly as the result ofHumanism and a revived interest in Classical architecture. It was part of the general movement known as theRenaissance which spread outwards from Italy and effected many aspects of scholarship and the arts.In
Spain , the Renaissance began to be grafted to Gothic forms in the last decades of the15th century .The style started to spread made mainly by local architects: that is the cause of the creation of a specifically Spanish Renaissance, that brought the influence of South Italian architecture, sometimes from illuminated books and paintings, mixed with Gothic tradition and local idiosyncrasy. The new style is called
Plateresque , because of the extremely decorated facades, that brought to the mind the decorative motifs of the intricately detailed work ofsilversmith s, the “Plateros”. Classical orders and candelabra motifs ("a candelieri") combined freely into symmetrical wholes.As decades passed, the Gothic influence disappeared and the research of an orthodox classicism reached high levels. Although Plateresco is a commonly used term to define most of the architectural production of the late XV and first half of XVI, some architects acquired a more sober personal style, like
Diego Siloe andRodrigo Gil de Hontañón . Examples include the facades of theUniversity of Salamanca and of theConvent of San Marcos in León.From the mid16th century , under such architects asPedro Machuca ,Juan Bautista de Toledo andJuan de Herrera there was a much closer adherence to the art of ancient Rome, sometimes anticipatingManierism . An example of this is thepalace of Charles V inGranada built by Pedro Machuca. A new style emerged with the work of Juan Bautista de Toledo, and Juan de Herrera in theEscorial : the Herrerian style, extremely sober and naked, reached high levels of perfection in the use of granite ashlar work, and influenced the Spanish architecture of both the peninsula and the colonies for over a century.List of notable structures
* El
Escorial (byJuan Bautista de Toledo andJuan de Herrera )
*University of Salamanca (unknown architect)
* New Cathedral ofSalamanca (by Juan de Álava and others)
* Palace of Monterrey in Salamanca (byRodrigo Gil de Hontañón )
* Arzobispo Fonseca College in Salamanca (byDiego de Siloé , Juan de Álava and R. G. de Hontañón)
* Convent of San Esteban in Salamanca, (by Juan de Álava and R. G. de Hontañón)
* Palace of Guzmanes in León (by R. G. de Hontañón)
* Hospital de la Santa Cruz in Toledo (by Enrique Egas and Alonso de Covarrubias)
* Hospital Tavera, in Toledo (by Bartolomé Bustamante)
* Hospital Real, in Granada (by Enrique Egas)
*Palace of Charles V in Granada (by Pedro Machuca)
* Cathedral of Granada (by Juan Gil de Hontañón, Enrigue Egas and Diego de Siloé)
*Jaén Cathedral (by Andrés de Vandelvira)
* Cathedral ofBaeza (by Vandelvira)
*Vázquez de Molina Square inÚbeda (by Vandelvira)
* Town Hall inSevilla (byDiego de Riaño )
* University ofAlcalá de Henares (by Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón and others)
* Hostal de los Reyes Católicos ofSantiago de Compostela (by Enrique Egas)
*Texas Tech University 's main campus, located in Lubbock,Texas , features Spanish Renaissance architectureee also
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Spanish Renaissance References
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