Spanish Art: The Early Renaissance

The term renaissance, literally meaning rebirth, was a great revival of classical philosophy an art that began in the Italian town of Florence. In the fourteenth century, when it all began included this movement of extreme originality in aesthetics, although the four past centuries were simply based on classical inspiration. The fifteenth century brought what is now called the Early Renaissance; its first constructions by the Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi, in which it established a high standard for the Renaissance. Materials and colors were kept minimal, and important structures were emphasized in gray. Spaces thoughtfully composed, its parts and their interrelationships were artfully articulated. The first half of the sixteenth …show more content…
Spanish style was influenced not only by the characters of Spain’s component regions, but by relationships with foreign countries and their customs, geography and climate and religion. The most dramatic and most lasting influence from abroad came from the Moors, Islamic people from North Africa who conquered most of Iberia in A.D. 711 and who maintained a degree of control there until 1492. Two f the world’s great religions, Islam and Christianity, have dominated the history of Spain, and much Spanish history is the record of their violent struggles against each other. Spanish art combines both influences. It all began with work done by the Moors, mostly in southern Spain, after their arrival from North Africa in 711. Moorish design in Spain shared many of the characteristics we saw in Islamic design, but it was naturally influenced by its Spanish setting. Some of the elements of this architecture are at relevant terms and then at specific examples of the style. The chief focus of Moorish buildings was invariably on the interior, exterior surfaces in the other hand were blank, plain, and …show more content…
Some have seen this plain brown wrapper approach as a form of security, hiding interior treasures from the view of potential thieves. Others have seen it as a part of a dating from the desert tents of nomadic Arabs, blank canvas tent flaps exposed to the sun, sand, and wind, but tent interior filled with luxurious hangings, beautiful rugs, and colorful cushions. Moorish buildings and their interiors share some elements not generally found elsewhere. Among these are horseshoe arch, its name explains itself. Ogee arch, an S shaped curve both sides of the arch have combinations of convex and concave sections, mostly used in Christian architecture of the middle ages throughout Europe. And lastly the scalloped arch, or also called the multifoil arch, a series of small curves within the main curve of the arch. Scalloped arches are mostly seen in the Mughal architecture of India, mosques and also in secular buildings and even Christian ones. While the moors in southern Spain were building their elegant palaces and impressive mosques, the Christians in northern Spain were building in a style closely related to the Gothic work we have seen north of the Pyrenees. Two major expressions of the style were castles and