
Art
We’ll begin with Spanish painting of the Romanesque period, noting the use of frescoes and wooden altar panels and the role they played in the religious life of people in the Middle Ages. We’ll also look at the wonderfully rich miniatures in many Medieval manuscripts, such as the Cantigas de Santa María (Songs to Holy Mary) ca 1280, compiled and probably written by the Castilian king, Alfonso X. If you want to know what life was like in the Middle Ages –how people dressed, what they did—this is where you’ll find some answers.
As we move more into the 15th century, certain individual painters stand out, but it is in the 16th and 17th centuries –Spain’s Golden Age—that Spanish painting really comes into its own. Like Spanish literature of the same period, Spanish painting seems to mirror Spain’s imperial greatness, but the question is how and why. What did the great painters of this period –e.g. El Greco, Velázquez, Zurbarán, Murillo--
Like literature, Spanish painting suffered a decline in the 18th century, until the appearance of one of the giants of art, Francisco de Goya. Did a change of royal dynasty have anything to do with the lack of notable Spanish painters?
Fashion
The elegant life of the eighteenth century was lived among mirrors that reflected the immediate, and some would say ephemeral, radiance of fashion.
Architecture
Baroque (17th-18th c.)
The overall effect of the baroque is to lighten the appearance of structures and add movement of line and vibrancy to the static look of the classical Renaissance. Soon the Churriguera family of architects and their contemporaries gave rise to the overly ornate, sumptuously decorated Churrigueresque style.
Madrid's Plaza Mayor is the classic example of the restrained early baroque. Churrigueresque masterpieces include Granada's Monasterio Cartuja and Salamanca's Plaza Mayor. The baroque was largely used to embellish existing buildings, such as the fine, ornate facade on Catedral de Santiago de Compostela.
Neoclassical (18th-19th c.)
By the middle of the 18th century, Bourbon architects began turning to the austere simplicity and grandeur of the classical age and inaugurated the neoclassical style.
The primary neoclassical architect, Ventura Rodríguez (1717-85), designed the facade of Pamplona's Cathedral and Madrid's grand boulevard of the Paseo del Prado. On that boulevard is one of Spain's best neoclassical buildings, the Museo del Prado.
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