Spanish Golden Age

The Spanish Golden Age (Spanish: Siglo de Oro, Golden Century) a period of flourishing in arts and literature in Spain, coincides with the political rise and decline of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty.

El Siglo de Oro does not imply precise dates and is usually considered to have lasted longer than an actual century.

It begins no earlier than 1492, with the end of the Reconquista (Reconquest), the sea voyages of Christopher Columbus to the New World, and the publication of Antonio de Nebrija's Gramática de la lengua castellana (Grammar of the Castilian Language).

Politically, it ends no later than 1659, with the Treaty of the Pyrenees, ratified between France and Habsburg Spain.

The last, great writer of the period, Pedro Calderon de la Barca, dies in 1681, and his death usually is considered the end of El Siglo de Oro of Spain, (the golden century) in the arts and literature.The Habsburgs, both in Spain and Austria, are great patrons of art in their countries.

El Escorial, the great royal monastery built by King Philip II of Spain, invites the attention of some of Europe's greatest architects and painters.

Diego Velázquez, regarded as one of the most influential painters of European history and a greatly respected artist in his own time, cultivates a relationship with King Philip IV and his chief minister, the Count-Duke of Olivares, leaving us several portraits that demonstrate his style and skill.

El Greco, another respected artist from the period, infuses Spanish art with the styles of the Italian renaissance and helps create a uniquely Spanish style of painting.

Some of Spain's greatest music is regarded as having been written in the period.

Such composers as Tomás Luis de Victoria, Francisco Guerrero, Luis de Milán and Alonso Lobo help to shape Renaissance music and the styles of counterpoint and polychoral music, and their influence lasts far into the Baroque period which results in a revolution of music.

Spanish literature blossoms as well, most famously demonstrated in the work of Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote de la Mancha.

Spain's most prolific playwright, Lope de Vega, writes possibly as many as one thousand plays during his lifetime, of which over four hundred survive to the present day.

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