EARLY MONUMENTS. The earliest ecclesiastical works of the Renaissance period, like the cathedrals of Salamanca, Toledo, and Segovia, were almost purely Gothic in style. Not until 1525 did the new forms begin to dominate in cathedral design. The cathedral at Jaen, by Valdelvira (1525), an imposing structure with three aisles and side chapels, was treated internally with the Corinthian order throughout. The Cathedral of Granada (1529, by Diego de Siloe) is especially interesting for its great domical sanctuary 70 feet in diameter, and for the largeness and dignity of its conception and details. The cathedral of Malaga, the church of San Domingo at Salamanca, and the monastery of San Girolamo in the same city are either wholly or in part Plateresque, and provided with portals of especial richness of decoration. Indeed, the portal of S. Domingo practically forms the whole façade.
FIG. 195.
—DOOR OF THE UNIVERSITY, SALAMANCA.
In secular architecture the Hospital of Santa Cruz at Toledo, by Enrique de Egaz (1504–16), is one of the earliest examples of the style. Here, as also in the University at Salamanca (Fig. 195), the portal is the most notable feature, suggesting both Italian and French models in its details. The great College at Alcala de Heñares is another important early monument of the Renaissance (1500–17, by Pedro Gumiel). In most designs the preference was for long façades of moderate height, with a basement showing few openings, and a bel étage lighted by large windows widely spaced. Ornament was chiefly concentrated about the doors and windows, except for the roof balustrades, which were often exceedingly elaborate. Occasionally a decorative motive is spread over the whole façade, as in the Casa de las Conchas at Salamanca, adorned with cockle-shells carved at intervals all over the front—a bold and effective device; or the Infantada palace with its spangling of carved diamonds. The courtyard or patio was an indispensable feature of these buildings, as in all hot countries, and was surrounded by arcades frequently of the most fanciful design overloaded with minute ornament, as in the Infantado at Guadalajara, the Casa de Zaporta, formerly at Saragossa (now removed to Paris; Fig. 196), and the Lupiana monastery. The patios in the Archbishop’s Palace at Alcala de Heñares and the Collegio de los Irlandeses at Salamanca are of simpler design; that of the Casa de Pilatos at Seville is almost purely Moorish. Salamanca abounds in buildings of this period.
FIG. 196.
—CASA DE ZAPORTA: