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Plateresque

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New Cathedral of Salamanca(1513-1733) in the Plateresque made city ofSalamanca,Castile and León,Spain
Hospital of the Catholic Monarchs(1501-1511), inSantiago de Compostela,Galicia,Spain

Plateresque,meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" (platabeingsilverinSpanish), was anartisticmovement, especiallyarchitectural,developed inSpain and its territories,which appeared between the lateGothicand earlyRenaissancein the late 15th century, and spread over the next two centuries. It is a modification of Gothic spatial concepts and an eclectic blend ofMudéjar,FlamboyantGothic andLombarddecorative components, as well as Renaissance elements ofTuscanorigin.[1]

Examples of thissyncretismare the inclusion of shields and pinnacles on facades, columns built in the Renaissance neoclassical manner, and facades divided into three parts (inRenaissance architecturethey are divided into two). It reached its peak during the reign ofCharles V, Holy Roman Emperor,[2]especially inSalamanca,but also flourished in other such cities of theIberian PeninsulaasLeón,Burgos,Santiago de Compostela,also in the territory ofNew Spain,which is nowMexico,and inBogotá.[1][2]

Plateresque has been considered down to current times a Renaissance style by many scholars. To others, it is its own style, and sometimes receives the designation ofProtorenaissance.[3][4]Some even call itFirst Renaissancein a refusal to consider it as a style in itself, but to distinguish it from non-Spanish Renaissance works.[5]

The style is characterized by ornate decorative facades covered with floral designs, chandeliers,festoons,fantastic creatures and all sorts of configurations.[2]The spatial arrangement, however, is more clearly Gothic-inspired. This fixation on specific parts and their spacing, without structural changes of the Gothic pattern, causes it to be often classified as simply a variation of Renaissance style.[6]In New Spain the Plateresque acquired its own configuration, clinging tightly to its Mudéjar heritage andblending with Native American influences.[2]

In Spain its development is most remarkable in the city of Salamanca although examples are found in most regions of the country.

In the 19th century with the rise ofhistoricism,the Plateresque architectural style was revived under the name ofMonterrey Style.[7]

Etymology[edit]

The termPlateresquecame from the silversmith trade.Diego Ortiz de Zúñigaused it for the first time, applying it to the Royal Chapel of theCathedral of Sevillein the 17th century.[1][2]

Problems of geographical area and consideration as Style[edit]

Altar plateresque of theCistercian monastery of Santa María del Salvador,inCañas,La Rioja,Spain
Plateresque tomb of the Saint Juan de Ortega, next to another tomb of late Gothic style, in theConvento de Santa Dorotea(15th century), inBurgos,Castile and León, Spain

Traditionally Plateresque has been considered a style exclusively "Spanish", a term also applied to architecture in the Spanish territories held by theSpanish Crownbetween the 15th and 17th centuries. But by the mid-20th century this geographical connotation was questioned under the arguments of several authors, especiallyCamón Aznar(1945) and Rosenthal (1958), who defined Plateresque generically as a unitary amalgam of elements – Gothic, Muslim, and Renaissance. Aznar does not regard it as a style properly denoted as Renaissance, and Rosenthal emphasizes its association with certain buildings in other European countries, mainly France and Portugal, but also Germany and others.[3][5][8]

This problem highlights the imprecision of the name Plateresque and the difficulties inherent in using it to describe productions from a period of confusion and transition between styles, especially since they are characterized by decorative profusion suggesting an attempt to disguise the failure of Spanish architects to develop new structural and spatial ideas. It has even been suggested that this problem could be solved by identifying what is called Plateresque as the replacement of Gothic decoration with grotesques inspired by the works of the ItalianSebastiano Serlio.[9]

Any persuasive argument, however, must admit that the Plateresque or Protorenaissance was an artistic movement that responded to the demands of the ruling classes of imperial Spain, which had just completed theReconquistaand begun the colonization of the Americas. The Spanish were developing a consciousness of their growing power and wealth, and in their exuberance launched a period of construction of grand monuments to symbolize these with what are now considered national treasures.

Features[edit]

Spanish Plateresque[edit]

Typical Plateresque facades, like those ofaltarpieces,were made as carefully as if they were the works ofgoldsmiths,and decorated as profusely. The decoration, although of various inspirations, was mainly of plant motifs, but also had a profusion of medallions, heraldic devices and animal figures, among others. Plateresque utilized a wealth of materials: gold plates oncrestsand roofs, vases, etc. There is evidence of morepolychromeworks at the conclusion of the first third of the 16th century, when there appeared heraldic crests of historical provenance and long balustrades, to mention one kind of less busy decoration.[10]

The proliferation of decoration for all architectural surfaces led to the creation of new surfaces and subspaces, which were in turn decorated profusely, such asnichesandaediculas.[11]

Italian elements were also being developed progressively as decoration:rustications,classicalcapitals,Romanarchesand especially grotesques.[12]

PlateresqueConvento de San MarcosinLeón,Castile and León,Spain,built between 1537 and 1715.

The decoration had specific meanings and can not be read as merely decorative; thus laurels, military shields and horns-of-plenty were placed in the houses of military personnel. In a similar vein, Greek and Roman myths were depicted elsewhere to represent abstract humanist ideals, so that the decorative became a means to express and disseminate Renaissance ideals.[11]

Plataresque implemented and preferred new spatial aspects, socaustrales,or stairs of open boxes, made their appearance.[13]However, there were few spatial changes with respect to the Gothic tradition.

American Plateresque[edit]

Convent of San Mateo Apóstol y Evangelista(1535-1567)[14]inAtlatlahucan,Morelos,Mexico,is a Plateresque Gothic church that is a World Heritage Site by UNESCO[15]

In the Americas, especially in today's Mexico, various indigenous cultures were in certain stages of development that can be considered Baroque when the Spanish brought with them the Plateresque style. This European phenomenon mixed symbiotically with local traditions, so that pure Gothic architecture was not built in the Americas, but the Plateresque mixed with Native American influences, soon evolving into what came to be called American Baroque.[16]

History[edit]

The Plateresque style follows the line ofIsabelline,where decorative elements of Italianate origin combine with Iberian traditional elements to form ornamental complexes that overlay the Gothic structures. We can speak of Plateresque that retains Gothic forms as a basis until 1530. After that date, although it continued to be used and Plateresque ornaments were still evolving, it became part of an architecture that was beginning to incorporate Renaissance ideas. In 1563, with the start of construction of themonastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial,the Renaissance architecture was purified through the interventions ofJuan de Herrera,which ended the splendor and spread of the Plateresque in the Iberian Peninsula.[3]But in Mexico it was not forgotten, leading to aNeo-Plateresquestyle in the 18th century.

In any case the Plateresque, considered or not as a style, and whether exclusively Spanish or more broadly European, represents the transition between Gothic and Renaissance styles.

Isabelline Style (15th century)[edit]

Main articles:Isabelline styleandManueline

In the 15th century a tendency to decorate with flamboyance began to develop in theCrown of CastilefromFlemish,Islamic and Castilian architecture, which received the name ofIsabelline Gothicbecause most of the construction was done at the command ofIsabella I of Castile.These ornaments, which were of progressive complexity, did not influence the internal structure of the buildings.

Something similar happened in the same period in Portugal, resulting in what became known as theManuelinestyle.

Plateresque Gothic (late 15th century–1530)[edit]

Facade of theCity Hall of Sevillebuilt in the 15th century, it is one of the first Plateresque-style buildings made in Spain. InSeville,Andalusia,Spain

A movement began in late 15th century Spain to disguise Gothic buildings with florid decoration, especially grotesques, but the superficial application of this principle did not change the spatial qualities or architectural structure of those buildings. This process began when the Renaissance arrived inSpainand architects began copying Renaissance architectural features without understanding the new ideas behind them, that is, without letting go of medieval forms and ideas.

Many of the Plateresque buildings were already built, to which were added only layers of Renaissance ornamentation, especially around openings (windows and doors), and in general, all non-architectural elements, with some exceptions.[11]

Although the appellation 'Plateresque' is usually applied to the act of superimposing new Renaissance elements on forms governed by medieval guidelines in architecture, this trend is also seen in the Spanishpaintingandsculptureof the time.[13]

Plateresque Renaissance (1530–1560)[edit]

Palacio de Monterrey (1539–1559),Salamanca,Castile and León, Spain, it was a building much admired and imitated in the nineteenth century in Spain, giving rise to the so-called Monterrey or Neoplateresque style.

This is the period in which the Renaissance had taken hold on theIberian Peninsula,although it had not yet reached its peak there. That event occurred with the amendments byJuan de HerreraandPhilip II of Spainto the design of themonastery of El Escorial,whose construction began in 1563.

By that time the decoration, though still profuse, is completely within Italianate parameters and applied to buildings designed according to the logic of Renaissance ideas.

Revival in Spain: 19th & 20th-century Monterrey Style or Neo-plateresque[edit]

ThePalacio de Correos(b. 1902–1907) inMexico City,Mexico, is an important example of Neoplateresque in the Americas.

The Monterrey oneo-plateresque style[es]arose in the 19th century. It was named after thePalacio de MonterreyinSalamanca,a plateresque building built in 1539. Widely admired among 19th-century architects, it was profusely imitated across Spain, with the new imitations spawning a newhistoriciststyle, the neoplateresque.[17]

The style survived until the early 20th century, featured in national and regional 'revivals'. It spread widely, and though not accepted in the critical circles of academia, some examples can be found on theGran VíaofMadrid.[18][19]

In Mexico there was also a new iteration of Plateresque which spread to the Southwestern United States, beginning in the first half of the 18th century.[20]This Neo-plateresque is not to be confused with that of Spain at the end of 19th and early 20th centuries, the so-called Monterrey style.

Examples[edit]

Plateresque architects and artists[edit]

PlateresqueConvento de San Esteban(1524-1610) inSalamanca,Castile and León, Spain

Plateresque buildings, architectural elements, and other works[edit]

The Colonial Plateresque styleColegio Mayor de San Bartolomé,built between 1604-1622, inBogotá,Colombia.

Plateresque Revival[edit]

In theSpanish Colonial Revival architecturestyle centuries later, it was differentiated from the earlier and plainerMission Revival stylewith the additional refinement of Plateresque andChurrigueresquedetailing.Bertram GoodhueandCarleton WinslowSr. studiedSpanish Colonial structuresin Mexico before designing the1915 Panama–California ExpositioninSan Diego, California,that introduced this style to the United States and subsequent widespread popularity. In Mexico there are other examples, such as thePalacio de Correos de Mexico.InCubathere is theHavana Central railway station,and inGuatemalathere is theNational Palace of Culture.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcBozal, Valeriano;Art history in Spain: From the origins to the Enlightenment,pp. 157, 165. Ed Akal (1978).ISBN978-84-7090-025-9.
  2. ^abcdeArellano, Fernando;The Hispanic American Art,pp. 13–14. Ed. Universidad Católica Andrés (1988).ISBN978-980-244-017-7.
  3. ^abcArias de Cossío, Ana María;The Art of the Spanish Renaissance,pp. 90–91. Ed. Encuentro (2009).ISBN978-84-7490-909-8.
  4. ^Marías, Fernando;The 16th century: Gothic and Renaissance,p. 24. Ed. Silex Ediciones (2002).ISBN978-84-7737-037-6.
  5. ^abAlonso Ruiz, Begoña;Late Gothic architecture in Castile: los Rasines,p. 23. Ed. University of Cantabria (2003).ISBN978-84-8102-304-6.
  6. ^Bendala Galán, Manuel;Manual of the Spanish art,p. 416. Ed. Silex Ediciones (2003).ISBN978-84-7737-099-4.
  7. ^Bendala 2003, p. 739
  8. ^Nieto Alcaide, Víctor Manuel; Morales, Alfredo José; Checa Cremades, Fernando;Renaissance architecture in Spain, 1488–1599,p. 60. Ed. Cátedra (1989).ISBN978-84-376-0830-3.
  9. ^abBassegoda Nonell, Juan;History of the architecture,p. 224
  10. ^Quesada Marco, Sebastián;Dictionary of Spanish culture and civilization,p. 64. Ed. Akal (1997).ISBN978-84-7090-305-2.
  11. ^abcÁvila, Ana;Images and symbols in the Spanish painted architecture (1470–1560),pp 80–83. Ed. Anthropos (1993).ISBN978-84-7658-417-0.
  12. ^Amorós, Andrés, y Camarero, Manuel;Annotated Anthology of the Spanish literature: history and texts: 16th century,p. 183. Ed. Castalia (2006).ISBN978-84-9740-125-8.
  13. ^abMarías, Fernando;El siglo XVU: Gothic and Renaissance,p. 163. Ed. Silex Ediciones (1992).ISBN978-84-7737-037-6.
  14. ^"Ex Convento Agustino".rosademaria.wordpress.
  15. ^"Earliest 16th-Century Monasteries on the Slopes of Popocatepetl".World Heritage Centre website.
  16. ^Carpentier, Alejo;Márquez Rodríguez, Alexis; y García Carranza, Araceli;Recovered steps: Essays of Theory and Literary Criticism,p. 37. Ed. Fundación Biblioteca Ayacucho (2003).ISBN978-980-276-354-2.
  17. ^"Tres grandes palacios entre el patrimonio incalculable de la Casa de Alba".Antena 3.November 1939.
  18. ^Navascués Palacio, Pedro, y Alonso Pereira, José Ramón;La Gran Vía de Madrid.Ed. Encuentro (2002).ISBN978-84-7490-667-7.
  19. ^Of San Antonio Gómez, Carlos;The Madrid of the, 98: architecture for a crisis. 1874–1918,p. 132. Ed. Community of Madrid, Ministry of Education and Culture (1998).ISBN978-84-451-1485-8.
  20. ^Zuno Hernández, José Guadalupe;History of the arts in the Mexican Revolution,vol. 2, p. 41. Ed. National Institute of Historical Studies of the Mexican Revolution (1967).
  21. ^Fernando Chueca Goitia;Ars Hispaniae: Architecture of the 16th century.Ed. Plus-Ultra (1953).
  22. ^Camón Aznar, José;La arquitectura plateresca.Ed. Instituto Diego Velázquez (1945).
  23. ^abcAguado Bleye, Pedro, y Alcázar Molina, Cayetano;Manual of History of Spain: Christian Monarchs. House of Habsburg (1474–1700),p. 1064. Ed. Espasa-Calpe (1963).
  24. ^Soldevila, Ferrán;History of Spain, vol. 3.Ed. Ariel (1999).
  25. ^Rivas Carmona, Jesús;The retrochoir of spanish cathedrals: a study of an architectural typology,p. 93. Ed. Editum (1994).ISBN978-84-7684-572-1.
  26. ^Bozal, Valeriano;History of the Art in Spain. From Goya to the present day,p. 67. Ed. Akal (1991).ISBN978-84-7090-027-3.
  27. ^Bueno Fidel, María José;Architecture and nationalism: Spanish pabillions in the 19th century universal expositions,cap. 6. Ed. University of Málaga and Colegio de Arquitectos (1987).
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