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Plateresque

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Plateresque

 

(literally, suggestive of silver plate), an architectural style of the Spanish Renaissance. The plateresque style, which arose at the end of the 15th century, had at its basis elaborate architectural ornament. It is distinguished by attention to detail and a two-dimensional, “rug-like” character. Plateresque ornament played no structural role. It was used first with late Gothic forms and later with Renaissance forms. The early plateresque style, which characterized the work of the architects J. Guas, S. de Colonia, and E. de Egas, combined Gothic and Mudejar motifs. Late plateresque ornament, for example, that of the architects A. de Covarrubias, D. de Riaño, and others from the 1530’s, was marked increasingly by such Italian Renaissance motifs as garlands and medallions. Also prevalent were classical elements that lent a certain discipline without disturbing the general impression of festive decorativeness. In the late 16th century the plateresque style was superseded in most regions by the ascetically severe estilo desornamentado, or Herreran style.

REFERENCE

Camón Aznar, J. La arquitectura plateresca, vols. 1–2. Madrid, 1945.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
It originated a significant cardiac city-room or Agora, a sort of rectangular court in which the urban fabric is expanded in order to make more visible the described plateresque fagade, (which is probably the most divulged icon of the whole Spanish Universities).
His pupils began by imitating Andalusian artists like Alonso Cano and Pedro de Mena, combining Catholic and indigenous imagery and producing a mixture of the European baroque and Plateresque with the more rigid indigenous style.
Carnero delights in describing the Plateresque tracery of the marble, the 'petalos', the 'ramas', or the 'senos vagamente esteriles de las Parcas diluidas en rigidos ramos de volutas y frutos'.
Our architecture is equally baroque: rococo, churrigueresque, plateresque, and other hybrid textures compete against each other for space and recognition in the very same cathedral or monastery.
Banister Fletcher refers to the 'Plateresque' of the Renaissance architecture in Spain.
These ornate edifices, topped by a monumental cathedral, incorporate all the architectural styles of the colonial period including Gothic, Herreriano, Neo-Classical, Plateresque and Renaissance.
An eccentric accent for its day is to be seen in the Casa de las Ventanas de Hierro (House of the Iron Windows), which has one of the most original baroque facades, combining Plateresque and gothic elements.
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