Art:Spanish Golden Age

Short description: Period of flourishing in arts and literature in Spain

Royal Site of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. Built between 1563 and 1584 by order of King Philip II, it is the largest Renaissance building in the world.

The Spanish Golden Age (Spanish: Siglo de Oro es 'Golden Century') was a period of intense artistic, literary, and intellectual flourishing in Spain that broadly coincided with the political rise of the Spanish monarchy under the Catholic Monarchs of Spain and the Spanish Habsburgs. The period is generally associated with the reigns of Isabella I, Ferdinand II, Charles V, Philip II, Philip III, and Philip IV, during which Spain became a leading political and military power.

The Golden Age is conventionally considered to have begun in 1492, a year often treated as a turning point in Spanish history because it saw the completion of the Reconquista, Christopher Columbus's voyages, the establishment of the Inquisition, and the publication of Antonio de Nebrija's Grammar of the Castilian Language. Its political phase is often regarded as having ended in 1659 with the Treaty of the Pyrenees, which marked the decline of Spanish hegemony in Europe, although the period is commonly understood to have continued in cultural terms until 1681, the year of Pedro Calderón de la Barca's death.

The era was characterized by extensive royal, aristocratic, and ecclesiastical patronage, which supported literature, painting, architecture, music, and theatre. Major artistic and cultural projects, including El Escorial, contributed to the formation of a distinctive Spanish court and religious culture. The period encompassed the Plateresque and Renaissance styles and extended into the early Spanish Baroque. It produced many of the best-known figures in Spanish cultural history, including Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Luis de Góngora, Francisco de Quevedo, Diego Velázquez, and composers such as Tomás Luis de Victoria and Francisco Guerrero.

Overview

The realms of Philip II of Spain

The Spanish Golden Age began after the union of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, which brought stability following years of conflict. After the conquest of Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain) and the expulsion of the Jews, the various Christian kingdoms under the Catholic Monarchs of Spain unified into a single state. This era saw a flourishing of literature and the arts in Spain. The most significant patron of Spanish art and culture during this time was King Philip II (1556–1598).

The Defence of Cádiz Against the English oil on canvas by Francisco de Zurbarán

During this period, Philip II's royal palace, El Escorial, known in its own time as the eighth wonder of the world, attracted some of Europe's greatest architects and painters, including El Greco. These artists introduced foreign styles to Spanish art, contributing to the development of a uniquely Spanish style of painting.

The start of the Golden Age can be placed in 1492, with the end of the Reconquista, the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the New World, the expulsion of Jews from Spain, and the publication of Antonio de Nebrija's Grammar of the Castilian Language. Amongst scholars of the period, it is generally accepted that it came to an end around the time of the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), that concluded the Franco-Spanish War of 1635 to 1659. Others, however, extend the Golden Age up to 1681 with the death of Pedro Calderón de la Barca, the last great writer of the age. Generally, it is divided into a Plateresque/Renaissance period and the early part of the Spanish Baroque period.

The Spanish Golden Age spans the work of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote de la Mancha; and of Lope de Vega, Spain's most prolific playwright, who wrote around 1,000 plays during his lifetime, of which over 400 survive to the present day. Lope de Vega, Luis de Gongora, Quevedo, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and many other prominent poets attended the famous Medrano Academy (also known as the Poetic Academy of Madrid) established by Sebastián Francisco de Medrano in 1616.

Diego Velázquez, regarded as one of the most influential painters of European history and a greatly respected artist in his own time, was patronized by King Philip IV and his chief minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares.

What is widely acknowledged as some of Spain's greatest music was written during this period. Composers such as Tomás Luis de Victoria, Cristóbal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero, Luis de Milán and Alonso Lobo helped to shape Renaissance music and the styles of counterpoint and polychoral music. Their influence lasted long into the Baroque period, resulting in a revolution of music.

Painting

Toledo by El Greco

Diego Velázquez

Las Meninas (1656, English: The Maids of Honour) by Diego Velázquez

Diego Velázquez was born on June 6, 1599, in Seville, to parents of minor nobility and was the eldest of six children. Widely regarded as one of Spain's most important and influential artists, he became a court painter for King Philip IV and gained increasing demand across Europe for his portraits of statesmen, aristocrats, and clergymen. His portraits of the King, his chief minister the Count-Duke of Olivares, and the Pope showcased his belief in artistic realism and a style comparable to many of the Dutch masters. Following the Thirty Years' War, Velázquez met the Marqués de Spinola and painted his famous Surrender of Breda (1635), celebrating Spinola's victory at Breda in 1625. Spinola was impressed by Velázquez's ability to convey emotion through realism in both his portraits and landscapes, the latter of which became a lasting influence on Western painting. Velázquez's friendship with Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, a leading Spanish painter of the next generation, ensured the enduring influence of his artistic approach.

Velázquez's most famous painting is the celebrated Las Meninas (1656, Prado Museum in Madrid) in which the artist includes himself as one of the subjects.

Francisco de Zurbarán

The Birth of the Virgin by Francisco de Zurbarán

The religious element in Spanish art gained prominence in many circles during the Counter-Reformation. The austere, ascetic, and severe works of Francisco de Zurbarán exemplified this trend in Spanish art, alongside the compositions of Tomás Luis de Victoria. Philip IV actively patronized artists whose views aligned with his perspectives on the Counter-Reformation and religion. The mysticism in Zurbarán's work, influenced by Saint Theresa of Avila, became a defining characteristic of Spanish art in subsequent generations. Influenced by Michelangelo da Caravaggio and the Italian masters, Zurbarán dedicated himself to an artistic expression of religion and faith. His paintings of St. Francis of Assisi, the Immaculate Conception, and the Crucifixion of Christ reflected a significant aspect of seventeenth-century Spanish culture, set against the backdrop of religious conflict across Europe. Zurbarán diverged from Velázquez's sharp realist interpretation of art and, to some extent, drew inspiration from the emotive content of El Greco and earlier Mannerist painters. Nevertheless, Zurbarán respected and maintained the lighting and physical nuance characteristic of Velázquez's style.

It is unknown whether Zurbarán had the opportunity to study Caravaggio's paintings; nonetheless, he adopted Caravaggio's realistic use of chiaroscuro. The painter who may have had the greatest influence on his characteristically severe compositions was Juan Sánchez Cotán. Additionally, polychrome sculpture—which had reached a high level of sophistication in Seville by the time of Zurbarán's apprenticeship and surpassed that of the local painters—served as another important stylistic model for the young artist. The work of Juan Martínez Montañés is particularly close to Zurbarán's in spirit.

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

The Virgin of the Rosary (1675–80) by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo began his art studies under Juan del Castillo in Seville. The city's great commercial importance at the time ensured that he was also subject to influences from other regions, which enabled him to become familiar with Flemish painting. His first works were influenced by Zurbarán, Jusepe de Ribera and Alonso Cano, with whom he shared a strongly realist approach. As his painting developed, however, his more important works evolved into a polished style that suited the bourgeois and aristocratic tastes of the time, especially his Roman Catholic religious works.

In 1642, at the age of 26, he moved to Madrid. While there, it is highly likely that he became familiar with the work of Velázquez and that he viewed the work of Venetian and Flemish masters in the royal collections; the influence of both can be seen in the rich colors and softly modeled forms of his later work. Murillo returned to Seville in 1645, where in the same year he painted 13 canvases for the monastery of St. Francisco el Grande. This proved a boost to his reputation. Following the completion of a pair of pictures for the Seville Cathedral, he began to specialize in the themes that brought him his greatest successes: Mary and the Child Jesus, and the Immaculate Conception.

Other significant painters

• Luis de Morales
• José de Ribera
• Juan Sánchez Cotán
• Juan van der Hamen
• Francisco Ribalta
• Juan de Valdés Leal
• Juan Carreño de Miranda
• Claudio Coello

Sculpture

Main altarpiece of the Toledo Cathedral by Felipe Bigarny

Sculptors of the Renaissance

• Alonso Berruguete
• Felipe Bigarny
• Damià Forment
• Juan de Juni
• Bartolomé Ordóñez
• Diego de Siloé

Sculptors of the Early Baroque period

• Alonso Cano
• Gregorio Fernández
• Juan Martínez Montañés
• Pedro de Mena
• Juan de Mesa

Architecture

Palace of Charles V

Panoramic view of the lower level patio of the Palace

El Escorial

The library of El Escorial

El Escorial is the historical residence of the king of Spain. It is one of the Spanish royal sites and functions as a monastery, royal palace, museum, and school. It is located about 45 kilometres (28 mi) northwest of the Spanish capital, Madrid, in the town of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. El Escorial comprises two architectural complexes of great historical and cultural significance: El Real Monasterio de El Escorial itself and La Granjilla de La Fresneda, a royal hunting lodge and monastic retreat about five kilometers away. These sites have a dual nature; that is to say, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, they were places in which the temporal power of the Spanish monarchy and the ecclesiastical predominance of the Roman Catholic religion in Spain found a common architectural manifestation. El Escorial was at once, a monastery and a Spanish royal palace. Originally a property of the Hieronymite monks, it is now a monastery of the Order of Saint Augustine.

Philip II of Spain, reacting to the Protestant Reformation sweeping through Europe during the sixteenth century, devoted much of his lengthy reign (1556–1598) and much of his seemingly inexhaustible supply of New World silver to stemming the Protestant tide sweeping through Europe while simultaneously fighting the Islamic Ottoman Empire. His protracted efforts were, in the long run, partly successful. However, the same counter-reformational impulse had a much more benign expression thirty years earlier, in Philip's decision to build the complex at El Escorial.

Plaza Mayor in Madrid

Plaza Mayor built in 1619 during the reign of Philip III.

The Plaza Mayor in Madrid, built during the Habsburg period, is a central plaza in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is located only a few blocks away from another famous plaza, the Puerta del Sol. The Plaza Mayor is rectangular in shape, measuring 129 by 94 meters, and is surrounded by three-story residential buildings having 237 balconies facing the Plaza. It has a total of nine entranceways. The Casa de la Panadería, serving municipal and cultural functions, dominates the Plaza Mayor.

Granada Cathedral

Inner view of Granada Cathedral

Unlike most cathedrals in Spain, construction of this cathedral had to await the acquisition of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada from its Muslim rulers in 1492. While its very early plans had Gothic designs, such as are evident in the Royal Chapel of Granada by Enrique Egas, the construction of the church in the main occurred at a time when Renaissance designs were supplanting the Gothic regnant in Spanish architecture of prior centuries. Foundations for the church were laid by the architect Egas starting from 1518 to 1523 atop the site of the city's main mosque; by 1529, Egas was replaced by Diego de Siloé who labored for nearly four decades on the structure from ground to cornice, planning the triforium and five naves instead of the usual three. Most unusually, he created a circular capilla mayor rather than a semicircular apse, perhaps inspired by Italian ideas for circular 'perfect buildings' (e.g., in Alberti's works). Within its structure the cathedral combines other orders of architecture. It took 181 years for the cathedral to be built.

Subsequent architects included Juan de Maena (1563–1571), followed by Juan de Orea (1571–1590), and Ambrosio de Vico (1590–?). In 1667, Alonso Cano, working with Gaspar de la Peña, altered the initial plan for the main façade, introducing Baroque elements. The magnificence of the building would be even greater if the two large 81-meter towers foreseen in the plans had been built; however, the project remained incomplete for various reasons, including finance.

Granada Cathedral had been intended to become the royal mausoleum for Charles I of Spain, but Philip II of Spain moved the site for his father and subsequent kings to El Escorial outside of Madrid.

Cathedral of Valladolid

Façade of the Cathedral of Valladolid

The Cathedral of Valladolid, like all the buildings of the late Spanish Renaissance built by Herrera and his followers, is known for its purist and sober decoration, with its style being typical Spanish clasicismo, also called "Herrerian". Using classical and Renaissance decorative motifs, Herrerian buildings are characterized by their extremely sober decorations, their formal austerity, and its like for monumentality.

The cathedral has its origins in a late Gothic college that started in the late 15th century. Before becoming the capital of Spain, Valladolid was not a bishopric and thus lacked the right to build a cathedral. Soon enough, though, the Collegiate became obsolete due to the changes of preference during the period, and thanks to the newly established episcopal in the city, the Town Council decided to build a cathedral that would share similar architecture to neighboring capitals.

Significant architects

Renaissance and Plateresque period

• Alonso de Covarrubias
• Juan de Herrera
• Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón
• Pedro Machuca
• Francisco de Mora
• Diego de Riaño
• Hernán Ruiz the Younger
• Diego de Siloé
• Juan Bautista de Toledo
• Andrés de Vandelvira

Early Baroque period

• Domingo Antonio de Andrade
• Eufrasio López de Rojas
• Juan Gómez de Mora

Music

Tomás Luis de Victoria

Contemporary printing of the sheet music for Tomás Luis de Victoria's Officium Defunctorum.

Francisco Guerrero

Francisco Guerrero, a Spanish composer of the 16th century. He was second only to Victoria as a major Spanish composer of church music in the second half of the 16th century. Of all the Spanish Renaissance composers, he was the one who mostly lived and worked in Spain. Others, e.g., Morales and Victoria, spent large portions of their careers in Italy. Guerrero's music was both religious and secular, unlike that of Victoria and Morales, the two other Spanish 16th-century composers of the first rank. He wrote numerous secular songs and instrumental pieces, in addition to masses, motets, and passions. He was able to capture an astonishing variety of moods in his music, from elation to despair, longing, depression, and devotion. His music remained popular for hundreds of years, especially in cathedrals in Latin America. Stylistically, he preferred homophonic textures rather than Spanish contemporaries. One feature of his style is how he anticipated functional harmonic usage: there is a case of a Magnificat discovered in Lima, Peru, once thought to be an anonymous 18th century work, which turned out to be his work.

Cristóbal de Morales

Regarded as one of the finest composers in Europe around the middle of the 16th century, Cristóbal de Morales was born in Seville in 1500 and employed in Rome from 1535 until 1545 by the Vatican. Almost all of his music is religious, and all of it is vocal, though instruments may have been used in an accompanying role in performance. Morales also wrote two masses on the famous L'homme armé melody, which was often set by composers in the late 15th and 16th centuries. One of these masses is for four voices, and the other for five. The four voice mass uses the tune as a strict cantus firmus, and the setting for five voices treats it more freely, migrating it from one voice to another.

Other significant musicians

• Antonio de Cabezón
• Francisco Correa de Arauxo
• Juan Cabanilles
• Juan del Encina
• Luis Milán
• Luis de Narváez
• Enríquez de Valderrábano
• Diego Pisador
• Alonso Mudarra
• Pablo Bruna

Literature

Cervantes' Don Quixote (1605), original title page

The Spanish Golden Age was a period of remarkable growth in poetry, prose, and drama, driven by Spain's deep engagement with European literary and philosophical currents, particularly its strong connections to Renaissance Italy. A Spanish college in Bologna (1360s) enabled scholars like Antonio de Nebrija to study abroad, while Alfonso V of Aragon transformed Naples into a cultural hub (1442). Spanish intellectuals traveled to Italy, absorbing influences from Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Sannazaro, while Italian scholars were welcomed in Spain. This exchange also revived interest in classical literature (Virgil, Horace, Ovid) and Neoplatonism, enriching Spanish language and thought. Francisco de Medrano, a lyric poet from Seville, is considered one of the best of the Spanish imitators of Horace, comparing favorably in that respect with Luis de León.

Lope de Vega and comedia

Title page of a comedy by Spanish playwright Lope de Vega

A contemporary of Cervantes, Lope de Vega played a key role in shaping Spanish commercial drama, known as comedia, by defining its essential genres and structures throughout the 17th century. All comedia was reviewed by Dr. Sebastián Francisco de Medrano, a commissioner of the Spanish Inquisition, who served as its official censor.

Although he also wrote prose and poetry, Lope de Vega is best remembered for his plays, particularly those rooted in Spanish history. Like Cervantes, he served in the Spanish army and was deeply interested in the nobility. Lope de Vega's vast body of work—ranging from Biblical and classical mythology to legendary and contemporary Spanish history—often incorporated humor, much like Cervantes. He frequently transformed conventional moral plays by infusing them with wit, cynicism, and comedic elements, aiming primarily to entertain the public. His ability to blend morality, comedy, drama, and popular appeal has drawn comparisons to Shakespeare.

As a social critic, Lope de Vega—like Cervantes—challenged traditional Spanish institutions, including the aristocracy, chivalry, and rigid moral codes. His artistic approach contrasted with the religious asceticism of Francisco Zurbarán. His cloak-and-sword plays, which combined intrigue, romance, and comedy, influenced his literary successor, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, who continued the tradition into the late 17th century.

Poetry

This period also produced some of the most important Spanish works of poetry. The introduction and influence of Italian Renaissance verse are apparent perhaps most vividly in the works of Garcilaso de la Vega and illustrate a profound influence on later poets. Mystical literature in Spanish reached its summit with the works of San Juan de la Cruz and Teresa of Ávila. Baroque poetry was dominated by the contrasting styles of Francisco de Quevedo and Luis de Góngora; both had a lasting influence on subsequent writers and even on the Spanish language itself.

Lope de Vega was a gifted poet of his own, and there were a vast quantity of remarkable poets at that time, though less known: Francisco de Rioja, Bartolomé Leonardo de Argensola, Lupercio Leonardo de Argensola, Bernardino de Rebolledo, Rodrigo Caro, and Andrés Rey de Artieda. Another poet was Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, from the Spanish colonies overseas in New Spain (modern day Mexico).

Other significant authors

• Juana Inés de la Cruz was a Mexican writer, philosopher, composer, poet of the Baroque period, and Hieronymite nun. She wrote poetry and prose dealing with such topics as love, feminism, and religion. In addition to the two comedies; Pawns of a House (Los empeños de una casa) and Love is but a Labyrinth (Amor es mas laberinto), Sor Juana is attributed as the author of a possible ending to the comedy by Agustin de Salazar, The Second Celestina (La Segunda Celestina).
• Alonso de Ercilla wrote the epic poem La Araucana about the Spanish conquest of Chile.
• Gil Vicente was Portuguese, but his influence on Spanish playwriting was so wide that he is often considered part of the Spanish Golden Era.
• Francisco de Avellaneda was a prolific writer of short comedies and dances.

Other well-known playwrights of the period include:

• Alonso de Castillo Solórzano
• Tirso de Molina
• Agustín Moreto
• Juan Pérez de Montalbán
• Juan Ruiz de Alarcón
• Guillén de Castro
• Antonio Mira de Amescua

Rhetoric

As elsewhere in Europe, Spanish scholars participated in the humanist recovery and theorizing of Greek and Roman rhetorics. Early Spanish humanists include Antonio Nebrija and Juan Luis Vives. Spanish rhetoricians who discussed Ciceronianism include Juan Lorenzo Palmireno and Pedro Juan Núñez. Famous Spanish Ramists include Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas, Pedro Juan Núñez, Fadrique Furió Ceriol, and Luis de Verga. Many other rhetoricians turned to Greek rhetorics from Hermogenes and Longinus which were preserved by Byzantine scholars, especially George of Trebizond. These Byzantine-inspired Spanish rhetoricians include Antonio Lull, Pedro Juan Núñez, and Luis de Granada. There were also many translators of progymnasmata, including Francisco de Vergara, Francisco Escobar, Juan de Mal Lara, Juan Pérez, Antonio Lull, Juan Lorenzo Palmireno, and Pedro Juan Núñez. Another important Spanish rhetorician is Cypriano Soarez, whose rhetorical handbook was a key textbook in the Jesuit Ratio studiorum which was used in Jesuit education throughout the Spanish empire. Diego de Valadés's Rhetorica christiana is the first Western rhetoric published by a native of México. Besides Soarez's De arte rhetorica, the progymnasmata by Pedro Juan Núñez was also published in Mexico City. Examples of Nahua oratory (huehuetlatolli) were collected by Andrés de Olmos and Bernardino de Sahagún.

See also

• History of Spain
• Renaissance
• School of Salamanca
• Spanish Baroque painting
• Spanish poetry
• Black legend (Spain)
• Decline of Spain

Further reading

• Domínguez Ortiz, Antonio (1971). The Golden Age of Spain, 1516-1659. New York: Basic Books Inc.. https://archive.org/details/goldenageofspain00domi. 
• Domínguez Ortiz, A., Gállego, J., & Pérez Sánchez, A. E. (1989). Velázquez . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9780810939066. http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/63259/rec/2. 
• Friedman, Edward H.; Larson, Catherine (1996). Friedman, Edward H.. ed. Brave New Words: Studies in Spanish Golden Age Literature. New Orleans, Louisiana, United States: University Press of the South. ISBN 9781889431130. https://books.google.com/books?id=fTdmQgAACAAJ. 
• Kamen, Henry (2005). Golden Age Spain (2nd ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-4039-3337-9. https://archive.org/details/goldenagespain0000kame_b8j5. 
• Stoichita, Victor I. (1995). Visionary Experience in the Golden Age of Spanish Art. London, UK: Reaktion Books Ltd. ISBN 9780948462757. 
• Thomas, Hugh (2010). The Golden Age: The Spanish Empire of Charles V.
• Weller, Thomas (2011). The "Spanish Century", European History Online, Mainz: Institute of European History.
• Writers of the Spanish Golden Age, Literature, EDSITEment Lesson Plan of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, Sor Juana, The Poet: The Sonnets

External links

• Digitized collection of Spanish Golden Theatre at Biblioteca Digital Hispánica, Biblioteca Nacional de España (National Library of Spain)
• Text search on (untranscribed) images of the BNE Digitized collection of Spanish Golden Theatre.
• Scholarly articles about the Spanish Old Masters and the Spanish golden Age at Spanish Old Masters Gallery