Renaissance architecture reached the Iberian peninsula in the 16th century, ushering in a new style that gradually replaced the Gothic architecture, which had been popular for the centuries.
Gothic forms began to incorporate the classical style of the Renaissance in the last decades of the 15th century. Local architects developed a specifically Spanish Renaissance, bringing the influence of South Italian architecture, sometimes from illuminated books and paintings, mixed with Gothic tradition and local traditions. The new style was called Plateresque because of the extremely decorated façades that brought to the mind the decorative motifs of the intricately detailed work of silversmiths, the "Plateros." Ornamentation included floral designs, chandeliers, festoons, fantastic creatures, and similar configurations. The spatial arrangement of Plateresque, however, is more clearly Gothic-inspired. This fixation on specific parts and their spacing, without structural changes of the Gothic pattern, causes it to be often classified as simply a variation of Renaissance style. A prime example of this decorative style can be seen in the façade of the University of Salamanca.
University of Salamanca façade
The ornate façade of the University of Salamanca is a prime example of the Plateresque style.
From the mid 16th century, under architects such as Pedro Machuca, Juan Bautista de Toledo, and Juan de Herrera, there was a much closer adherence to the art of ancient Rome, sometimes anticipating Mannerism. An example of this is the palace of Charles V in Granada built by Pedro Machuca.
A new style emerged in Spain with the work of Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera in El Escorial, known as the Herrerian style. Herrerian architecture was extremely sober, naked, and particularly accomplished in the use of granite ashlar work. This style influenced the Spanish architecture of both the peninsula and the colonies for over a century.
Monasterio de Uclés, Cuenca, España
The Monastery of Uclés is a prime example of Herrerian architecture.
The floor plan of El Escorial—a palace for the royal family, monastery for their clergy, and burial place for major Spanish monarchs—was designed in the form of a gridiron. It was a design whose origin remains a matter of debate.
El Escorial, plan
The gridiron design of the floor plan of El Escorial has a modular plan, as seen in medieval cathedrals, and geometric symmetry, as seen in classical architecture.
Regardless of the reasons behind the floor plan, its basic components, as well as the general exterior and main façade, conform to the austerity of the Herrerian style, making the structure appear more like a fortress than a palace or monastery. It takes the form of a gigantic quadrangle, which encloses a series of intersecting passageways and courtyards and chambers. At each of the four corners is a square tower surmounted by a spire and near the center of the complex rise the pointed belfries and round dome of the basilica, which are and taller than the rest. As overseer of the construction of El Escorial, Philip II instructed his architects to maintain a sense of simplicity.
Aerial view of El Escorial
The compound of El Escorial contains features that conform to the austerity of Renaissance architecture throughout Europe while also anticipating the Baroque era.
The austerity of the west façade of El Escorial is typical of the classicism that re-emerged during the Renaissance. However, the main entrance, which takes the form of classical temple façades stacked atop another, actually looks forward to an architectural design that would become common during the Baroque era throughout Europe.
Monastery of St. Lawrence, El Escorial, main façade
The double temple façade contains engaged, as opposed to free-standing, columns in the Doric and Ionic orders.