Renaissance Art and Architecture in Spain

Abstract

Considering all the historical periods of art in Spain, the Renaissance may be one of the most difficult periods to be defined. This is partly due to the intrinsic difficulty of the universal concept and, especially, to its application to the Spanish context. This is why, up to recent times, European art historiography had not even considered its existence. Fortunately, this situation has changed since the mid-20th century due to the new perspectives from abroad, a profound renewal of our own historiography (more accentuated since the 1970s), and the restoration of Spanish democracy. While the traditional Spanish historiography, characterized by a positivist approach, had focused on biographical aspects and descriptive analyses of works through studies based on geographical areas, the new historiography is more interested in understanding works in their contexts, that is, to perceive them as images coordinated with the cultural, social, and political environments in which they originate. This objective has been achieved through the accelerated translation of representative books and authors proposing innovative methodologies for the history of art in Europe and the Americas since the mid-20th century and the new approaches promoted by foreign historians on the Renaissance in the Iberian Peninsula. This dual situation stimulated local historiography, resulting in a review of traditional historiography and questioning old assumptions conceived in both Spain and other countries. Although the real existence of the Renaissance in Spain has been amply discussed and denied by some experts for a long time, we cannot negate that reality. This issue should be addressed with due attention, highlighting its particularities, and avoiding any derogatory interpretation given when compared with Italy. This new perspective reflects the personality of the Spanish Renaissance and its contributory value to culture in the early modern period, especially its impact on the Americas. Although considered a “peripheral” nation when compared with the Italian “focal” point, Spain offers significant and original differences in certain aspects that are considered essential for the definition of Renaissance such as its intimate connection with humanism or the canonical observation of the language of antiquity. The Spanish Renaissance is characterized by the survival of Gothic and Moorish forms and taste, and periodization, which was adopted later than in Italy, since the classicist language did not consolidate until the cinquecento and lasted until well into the seicento. Finally, the Catholic values of the Spanish monarchy contributed to the religious influence that permeated Renaissance art.