History of Interior Design 1: The Spanish Renaissance

The 16th Century was a wonderful time for Spain. The Spanish royals, Ferdinard and Isabella, led the exploration of the new world, as Columbus traveled the seas and discovered America, giving them the rights to the land. Navigation and trading routes around the world resulted in large amounts of gold and silver bouillon. All of this led their kingdom to be at the height of power in the middle of the century.

Art and architecture of this time were influenced by the Moorish, Early Christian, Medieval, and Italian Renaissance. Italian craftsmen were in great demand, as the created such wondrous buildings and art, other countries asked for their patronage to improve their own countries.

Spain had something special about it, there were two different schools of art that were popular. The Moors from Africa had one design style, while the Spanish Christian groups had another. The Moors were a group whose art included; supreme ornamentalism, naturalistic representation was forbidden, it was color, exuberant, and fancy, and they were expert wood workers. However, in 1607 the Moors were ex-pulsed from Spain, which was a great loss to the world of art and craftsmanship.

Extra Credit: This video explains more about the expulsion of the Moors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMAfXUiLw-c

Architecture:

Alhambra, Granada built in 1354, was the last palace created by the Moors. It has numerous courtyards, with fountains, gardens and reflecting pools.

Exterior of Alhambra

One of the gardens and fountains, using the geometric shapes that the Moors were well known for.

Another Alhambra garden with a reflecting pool.

The Court of Lions

La Mota Castle was built by the noble Christian families. There are more castles in Spain than in any other European country, I think that really says something about the image that these royals wanted to create for themselves.