Renaissance art
Renaissance architecture
Plateresque style (1500-1530)
Gothic forms were kept inside buildings, but the outside incorporated Renaissance decorative motifs.
Purist style (1530-1560)
It adopted Renaissance elements in the building structure and enlarged the decorative elements.
Herreriano style (1560-1600)
It is characterised by simple structures, slate roofs and bare decoration.
Renaissance sculpture.
Spanish sculpture follows a unique style, because most pieces were made of wood, and the painted. This is called polychrome sculpture which creates very realistic images.
Most of the themes are religious, and atatues were used for altarpieces and chapels.
Renaissance painting.
Spanish painters were influenced by the Italian masters and their themes were mostly religious. Famous painters are Pedro Berruguete, Vicente Masip, Juan de Juanes, Luis de Morales and El Greco.
El Greco drew elongated figures with complicated postures. They are illuminated with strong light, bright and unreal, and the colours are also peculiar: blues, greys, greens, violets and oranges, with different shades.
The themes are usually religious, inspired by the ideas of the Catholic Counter-Reformation, like the veneration of the saints and the Virgin, that were rejected by the Protestants. He was also an accomplished portrait artist.