Spanish Golden Age

The Spanish Golden Age (Siglo de Oro ˈsiɣlo ðe ˈoɾo, "Golden Century") is a period of flourishing in arts and literature in Spain, coinciding with the political rise of the Spanish Empire under the Catholic Monarchs of Spain and the Spanish Habsburgs. The greatest patron of Spanish art and culture during this period was King Philip II (1556–1598), whose royal palace, El Escorial, invited the attention of some of Europe's greatest architects and painters, such as El Greco, who infused Spanish art with foreign styles and helped create a uniquely Spanish style of painting. The period is associated with the reigns of Isabella I, Ferdinand II, Charles V, Philip II, Philip III, and Philip IV, when Spain was at the peak of its power and influence in Europe and the world. The start of the Golden Age can be placed in 1492, with the end of the Reconquista, the voyages of Christopher Columbus to the New World, and the publication of Antonio de Nebrija's Grammar of the Castilian Language. It roughly ended with the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 that ended the Franco-Spanish War of 1635 to 1659. Some extend the Golden Age up to 1681 with the death of the Pedro Calderón de la Barca, the last great writer of the age. It can be divided into a Plateresque/Renaissance period and the early part of the Spanish Baroque period. The period covered the work of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote de la Mancha and Spain's most prolific playwright, Lope de Vega, wrote around a thousand plays during his lifetime, of which over four hundred survive to the present day. Diego Velázquez, regarded as one of the most influential painters of European history and a greatly respected artist in his own time, was patronized by King Philip IV and his chief minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares. Some of Spain's greatest music is regarded as having been written in the period. Such composers as Tomás Luis de Victoria, Cristóbal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero, Luis de Milán and Alonso Lobo helped to shape Renaissance music and the styles of counterpoint and polychoral music, and their influence lasted far into the Baroque period which resulted in a revolution of music.

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Related concepts (4)

Luis de Góngora

Luis de Góngora y Argote (born Luis de Argote y Góngora; lwis ðe ˈɣoŋɡoɾa; 11 July 1561 – 24 May 1627) was a Spanish Baroque lyric poet and a Catholic prebendary for the Church of Córdoba. Góngora and his lifelong rival, Francisco de Quevedo, are widely considered the most prominent Spanish poets of all time. His style is characterized by what was called culteranismo, also known as Gongorismo. This style apparently existed in stark contrast to Quevedo's conceptismo, though Quevedo was highly influenced by his older rival from whom he may have isolated "conceptismo" elements.

Spanish Golden Age

Lope de Vega

Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (ˌloʊpeɪ_di_ˈveɪɡə , ˈfeliɣs ˈlope ðe ˈβeɣaj ˈkaɾpjo; 25 November 1562 - 27 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. His reputation in the world of Spanish literature is second only to that of Miguel de Cervantes, while the sheer volume of his literary output is unequalled, making him one of the most prolific authors in the history of literature.