The Spanish Period

The Spanish Renaissance took place in the 16th century.  This was the most brilliant era in Spanish history.  Like the influence from Greece and Rome, the Italian Renaissance influenced the Spanish and French.  As stated in my Italian Renaissance post, Interior design began to become more of a focus and the Spanish definitely showed that.  Spanish design was very ornamental, colorful, fancy, many woods were used and were geometricians.  There are many famous Spanish palaces that show the Spanish style. 

The Alhambra had many fountains, reflecting pools and gardens. It is an example of Moorish architecture and decoration.

 

  

 



There are more castles in Spain then there are in any other European country.  An example of a castle is the La Mota Castle which was built with concrete walls all faced with brick. 

 

The Cathedral of Seville took inspiration from the Gothic era.  It was the largest cathedral in the world during the 15th century.  There were 80 chapels and they held 500 masses per day.

 

 

There were three styles of the Spanish Renaissance.  The first was the Plateresco Phase which resembled work of a silversmith.  The second phase was the Desornamentado Phase which was a powerful style and had carefully defined proportions.  The third was the Herrera Style.  This was influenced from Italian Renaissance architects and had classic forms, plain surfaces and sparse decorations.

 

Current Applications of Spanish Renaissance Style: