Architecture in Spanish Baroque Literature

Abstract

A striking aspect of the Baroque imagination was its fondness for architectural motifs. A multitude of religious, philosophical, and technical works were configured as imaginary theatres, fortresses, courts, temples, hospitals, or plazas; others masqueraded as descriptions of real cathedrals, palaces, or cities, but moralized the buildings as hieroglyphs of divine wisdom or regal power; while literary works made abundant use of architectural allegories to embody ideas (Saavedra Fajardo's city of ink, Gracián's museum of knowledge, Quevedo's ruined castle of desengaño, etc.). This article traces how the patently 'constructed' nature of such metaphysical conceits sprang from the world-view of melancholy desengaño.