Spanish Renaissance Art: Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting

Architecture (Juan de Alava, Juan Guas, Diego de Siloé, and Diego de Riaño)

There is continuity between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Only in recent times did it approach Italian forms, known as "purism."

Key Features of Spanish Renaissance Architecture:

• Constructive elements:
  • Cruciform pillar: Replaced the column, a fact that flourished in the "purist" period.
  • Tires: Monumental domes and ribbed vaults were built.
  • Arches: A return to the half-point or simple lintel.
• Decoration: More profuse in the Plateresque style.

Three distinct periods are identified:

• Plateresque
• Purist
• Herreriano

Sculpture (Alonso Berruguete and Juan de Juni)

Renaissance sculpture in Spain developed during the 16th century. Some artists traveled to Italy, and Italian and French artists also arrived in Spain.

Characteristics of Spanish Renaissance Sculpture:

• Predominantly religious themes, with profane and pagan themes relegated to a decorative function.
• Preferred material: Polychrome wood.
• Retained a taste for expressive and realistic sculpture.
• Round sculptures were rarer than reliefs, which were necessary for the decoration of altars, choir stalls, and tombs.
• Mastery in the representation of the human figure.

Painting

The primary theme was religious. Only the nobility commissioned mythological paintings, typically by Italian artists. The clientele of Spanish painters was primarily the Church. Gradually, decorative elements of Italian painting were assimilated while remaining faithful to the Flemish technique and taste of the previous century.

Raphael's influence and some aspects of Mannerism are evident, but contacts with Flanders were still maintained. At the end of the century, some influence of Michelangelo and Venetian painting emerged.

El Greco

• Second Stage (Italy): Influenced by Titian, Tintoretto, and some Mannerist painters in terms of color, composition, and the attitudes of figures. Notable work: The Expulsion of the Merchants from the Temple.
• Third Stage (Spain): The most extensive and productive period. El Greco became one of the leading Spanish Mannerists. His compositions are characterized by overlapping scenes at different heights, light that does not come from a definite focus, and unique effects and color. Figures are elongated and majestic, with passionate faces and strong foreshortening.

Notable works by El Greco include:

• The Burial of the Count of Orgaz
• The Crucifixion
• The Coronation of the Virgin
• View of Toledo

His only mythological work is Laocoön and His Sons. El Greco's very personal style, marked by unreal and exalted spirituality, did not have any identified followers or a distinct school.