View source for Spanish Baroque architecture

{{short description|Architecture of the Baroque era in Spain and its former colonies}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2018}}
[[Image:Royal Palace of Madrid 02.jpg|thumb|320px|[[Royal Palace of Madrid]] (1738–1892)]]
'''Spanish Baroque''' is a strand of [[Baroque architecture]] that evolved in [[Spain]], its [[List of provinces of Spain|provinces]], and former [[Spanish Empire|colonies]].

== History ==
The development of the style passed through three phases. Between 1680 and 1720, the Churriguera popularized [[Guarino Guarini|Guarini]]'s blend of [[Solomonic column]]s and [[Composite order]], known as the "supreme order". Between 1720 and 1760, the Churrigueresque column, or [[estipite]], in the shape of an inverted cone or obelisk, was established as a central element of ornamental decoration. The years from 1760 to 1780 saw a gradual shift of interest away from twisted movement and excessive ornamentation toward a neoclassical balance and sobriety. 

In contrast to the art of Northern Europe, the Spanish art of the period appealed to the emotions rather than seeking to please the intellect. The [[Churriguera]] family, which specialized in designing altars and retables, revolted against the sobriety of the Herreresque classicism and promoted an intricate, exaggerated, almost capricious style of surface decoration known as the [[Churrigueresque]]. Within half a century, they transformed [[Salamanca]] into an exemplary Churrigueresque city.

==In Spain==
[[Image:Plaza Mayor de Madrid 02.jpg|thumb|[[Plaza Mayor de Madrid|Plaza Mayor]] in Madrid]]
As [[Italian Baroque architecture|Italian Baroque]] influences penetrated across the [[Pyrenees]], they gradually superseded in popularity the restrained classicizing approach of [[Juan de Herrera]], which had been in vogue since the late sixteenth century. As early as 1667, the façades of [[Granada Cathedral]] (by [[Alonso Cano]]) and [[Jaén Cathedral]] (by [[Eufrasio López de Rojas]]) suggest the artists' fluency in interpreting traditional motifs of Spanish cathedral architecture in the Baroque aesthetic idiom.

In [[Madrid]], a vernacular Baroque with its roots in [[Herrerian]] and in traditional brick construction was developed in the [[Plaza Mayor de Madrid|Plaza Mayor]] and in the Royal [[Buen Retiro Palace]], which was destroyed during the [[Peninsular War|French invasion]] by Napoleon's troops. Its gardens still remain as {{Lang|es|[[Parque del Buen Retiro, Madrid|Parque del Buen Retiro]]|italic=no}}. This sober brick Baroque of the 17th century is still well represented in the streets of the capital in palaces and squares.

[[Image:Caravaca de la Cruz castle column.JPG|thumb|left|upright|[[Estipite]] in the [[Basilica of Vera Cruz]] in Caravaca de la Cruz]]

Three of the most eye-catching creations of Spanish Baroque are the energetic façades of the [[University of Valladolid]] ([[Diego Tome]] and [[Fray Pedro de la Visitación]], 1719), the western façade (or Fachada del Obradoiro) of the [[Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela]] ([[Fernando de Casas Novoa|Fernando de Casas y Novoa]], 1750), and the [[Hospicio de San Fernando]] in [[Madrid]] ([[Pedro de Ribera]], 1722), whose curvilinear extravagance seems to herald [[Antonio Gaudí]] and {{lang|ca|[[Modernisme]]}}. In this case as in many others, the design involves a play of tectonic and decorative elements with little relation to structure and function. The focus of the florid ornamentation is an elaborately sculptured surround to a main doorway. If we remove the intricate maze of broken pediments, undulating cornices, stucco shells, inverted tapers and garlands from the rather plain wall it is set against, the building's form would not be affected in the slightest. However, Churrigueresque Baroque offered some of the most impressive combinations of space and light with buildings like [[Granada Charterhouse]] (sacristy by [[Francisco Hurtado Izquierdo]]), considered to be the apotheosis of Churrigueresque styles applied to interior spaces, or ''[[El Transparente]]'' of the [[Cathedral of Toledo]] by [[Narciso Tomé]], where sculpture and architecture are integrated to achieve notable light dramatic effects.{{opinion|date=January 2024}}

The [[Royal Palace of Madrid]] and the interventions of [[Paseo del Prado]] (''Salón del Prado'' and ''Alcalá'' Doorgate) in the same city, deserve special mention. They were constructed in a sober Baroque international style, often mistaken for neoclassical, by the kings [[Philip V of Spain|Philip V]] and [[Charles III of Spain|Charles III]]. The [[Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso]] in [[Segovia]] and the [[Royal Palace of Aranjuez]] in [[Aranjuez]] are good examples of Baroque integration of architecture and gardening, with noticeable French influence (La Granja is known as the "Spanish Versailles"), but with local spatial conceptions which in some ways display the heritage of the Moorish occupation.

[[Image:Transparent at the Cathedral of Toledo (2).JPG|thumb|upright|''[[El Transparente]]'' of the [[Cathedral of Toledo]]]]

In the richest imperial province of 17th-century Spain, [[Spanish Netherlands|Flanders]], florid decorative detailing was more tightly knit to the structure, thus precluding concerns of superfluity. A remarkable convergence of Spanish, French and Dutch Baroque [[aesthetics]] may be seen in the [[Abbey of Averbode]] (1667). Another characteristic example is the Church of St. Michel at [[Leuven|Louvain]] (1650–70), with its exuberant two-storey façade, clusters of half-columns, and the complex aggregation of French-inspired sculptural detailing.

Six decades later, the architect [[Jaime Bort y Meliá]] was the first to introduce [[Rococo]] to Spain ([[Cathedral of Murcia]], west façade, 1733). The greatest practitioner of the Spanish Rococo style was a native master, [[Ventura Rodríguez]], responsible for the dazzling interior of the [[Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar]] in [[Zaragoza]] (1750).

==In Spanish America==

[[Image:Taxco Santa Prisca.jpg|thumb|left|The façade of the [[Church of Santa Prisca de Taxco]] (1751–58) bristles with Mexican [[Churrigueresque]] ornamentation.]]

In the north, the richest province of 18th-century [[New Spain]] – Mexico – produced some fantastically extravagant and visually frenetic architecture known as Mexican Churrigueresque. This ultra-Baroque approach culminates in the works of [[Lorenzo Rodriguez]], whose masterpiece is the [[Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral#Tabernacle|Sagrario Metropolitano]] in [[Mexico City]] (1718–69). Other fine examples of the style may be found in the remote silver-mining towns. For instance, the Sanctuary at [[Ocotlán, Tlaxcala|Ocotlán]] (begun in 1745) is a top-notch Baroque cathedral surfaced in bright red tiles, which contrast delightfully with a plethora of compressed ornament lavishly applied to the main entrance and the slender flanking towers ([http://www.college.emory.edu/culpeper/BAKEWELL/images/ocotlan-ch.jpg exterior], [http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/bevans/Art454L-58-Tlaxcala/F00006.JPG interior]). The [[Church of Santa Prisca de Taxco]] (1758), and San Martín at San Luis Potosí (1764) are other excellent examples of Churrigueresque in Mexico. 

The true capital of Mexican Baroque is [[Puebla, Puebla|Puebla]], where a ready supply of hand-painted figurines ([[talavera (pottery)|talavera]]) and vernacular gray stone led to its evolving further into a personalised and highly localised art form with a pronounced Indian flavour. There are about sixty churches whose façades and domes display glazed tiles of many colours, often arranged in Arabic designs. Their interiors are densely saturated with elaborate gold leaf ornamentation. In the 18th century, local artisans developed a distinctive brand of white stucco decoration, named "alfeñique" after a Pueblan candy made from egg whites and sugar.

[[Image:San Francisco de Lima (pixinn.net).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Monastery of San Francisco, Lima|Monastery of San Francisco de Asís]], Lima, 1673]]

The combination of the Native American and Moorish decorative influences with an extremely expressive interpretation of the Churrigueresque idiom may account for the full-bodied and varied character of the Baroque in the American colonies of Spain. Even more than its Spanish counterpart, American Baroque developed as a style of stucco decoration. Twin-towered façades of many American cathedrals of the seventeenth century had medieval roots and the full-fledged Baroque did not appear until 1664, when the Jesuit shrine on Plaza des Armas in [[Cusco]] was built. Even then, the new style hardly affected the structure of churches.

The [[Andean Baroque|Peruvian Baroque]] was particularly lush, as evidenced by the monastery of San Francisco in [[Lima]] (1673), which has a dark intricate façade sandwiched between the yellow twin towers. Followed the model of [[Il Gesù]] (also the case of the Jesuit [[Basilica and Convent of San Pedro, Lima]], provincial "mestizo" (crossbred) styles emerged in [[Arequipa]], [[Potosí]] and [[La Paz]]. In the eighteenth century, the architects of the region turned for inspiration to the [[Mudéjar]] art of medieval Spain. The late Baroque type of Peruvian façade first appears in the Church of Our Lady of Mercy, [[Lima]] (1697–1704). Similarly, the ''Iglesia de La Compañia'', [[Quito]] (1722–65) suggests a carved altarpiece with its richly sculpted façade and a surfeit of [[Solomonic column]].

==Gallery==

<gallery class="center" widths="180px" heights="120px" >
File:Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico City 2015 03.jpg|The [[Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral]] (1573–1813)
File:Salamanca - Plaza Mayor (13347610863) edited.jpg|[[Plaza Mayor, Salamanca]] (1729–1755), [[Alberto Churriguera|Alberto]] and Manuel de Lara Churriguera. [[Andrés Garcia de Quiñones]]  designed the city Hall.
Image:Catedral de Santiago de Compostela agosto 2018 (cropped).jpg|''Obradoiro'' façade of the [[Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela]]
Image:Palacio de San Telmo (1681-1796).jpg|[[Palace of San Telmo]] (1681–1796), by [[Leonardo de Figueroa]]
Image:València, Museo Nacional de Cerámica Palacio Marques Dos Aguas-PM 51835.jpg|[[Palace of the Marqués de Dos Aguas]] (1740) in Valencia. [[Ignacio Vergara]], sculptor
Image:Kathedrale.Murcia.Spanien.JPG|[[Murcia Cathedral|Cathedral Church of Saint Mary in Murcia]] 
File: Catedral, Arquitectura Colonial, Zacatecas (16461248359).jpg|[[Zacatecas Cathedral]] (1752) Mexico
File:Quito-La Compania-01.jpg|[[Church of the Society of Jesus (Quito, Ecuador)|Church of La Compañía]] (1605) Quito, Ecuador
File:StXavier.jpg|[[Mission San Xavier del Bac|San Xavier del Bac]] (1692) Tucson, Arizona
File:Ruínas 1.jpg|[[São Miguel das Missões]] (1735–45) Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
File:Iglesia-La-Compania---Cuzco.jpg|[[Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, Cusco|Church of La Compañia]] (1571) Cusco, Peru
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Spanish Golden Age]]
*[[Spanish Colonial architecture]]
* [[New Spanish Baroque]]
* [[Spanish Baroque ephemeral architecture]]
* [[Andean Baroque]]
* [[Earthquake Baroque]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{cite book |last=Kelemen |first=Pal |title=Baroque and Rococo in Latin America |url=https://archive.org/details/baroquerococoinl01kele |url-access=registration |edition=2nd ed., 2 vol |location=New York |publisher=Dover |year=1967 |isbn=0-486-21699-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Smith |first=Bradley |title=Spain: A History in Art |location=New York |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1966}}

==External links==
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/719165/Latin-American-architecture/277092/Seventeenth-and-18th-century-architecture-in-Ecuador-Colombia-and-Cuba#toc277093 Latin American Architecture] – ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]''

{{Baroque architecture by country}}
{{Architecture of Spain}}

[[Category:Spanish Baroque architecture| ]]
[[Category:Spanish Baroque|Arch]]
[[Category:Baroque architectural styles]]
[[Category:Baroque architecture by country]]