\paperw4260 \margr0\margl0 \plain \qj\li105\ri105 \f1 \b RENAISSANCE AND BAROQUE\par
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\ATXul1024 Plateresque\b0 \ATXul0 \par
Plateresque is the term used to describe the
Spanish architectural style of the first half of the sixteenth century, characterized by the variety and richness of its ornamentation and by its sumptuous and exuberant forms, sometimes inconsistent with each other. In it, in fact, the influence of the
Italian Renaissance is superimposed on local \b \cf4 \ATXht175 Gothic\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 and \b \cf4 \ATXht174 MudΘjar\b0 \cf0 \ATXht0 style of Arabo-Hispanic art. The origin of the term lies in the decorative richness of the architecture of the time: \i
platero\i0 (from \i plata\i0 , or ôsilverö) means jeweler in Spanish.\par
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\b \ATXul1024 Baroque \par
\b0 \ATXul0 The baroque style, which reached the peak of its expression in the seventeenth century, coincided in Spain with a time of renewed ac
cord between the nobility and the Catholic church. The palaces and religious buildings constructed in this period share an accentuated taste for decoration and for intensification of the effects of light, color, and movement. Of particular importance in
this period was the \i retablo\i0 , or retable, an altarpiece with a wooden structure, often on a large scale, in which scenes from sacred history were represented using a wide variety of decorative elements.\par
