CULTURE

This era was also known as the Golden Age:

Golden Century Characteristics:

• The ideological values of those who controlled power are exalted.

• The absolute monarchy and the counterreformist church.

• Look for dramatic and theatrical effects, because when addressing a village of scarce culture, the message had to be simple in its content.

• The dominance of the counterreformist religious mentality against the advances of Protestantism.

• In artistic manifestations will dominate realism, pain, drama whose purpose is to awaken feelings and emotions among people.

Literature:

• Novel: A very important writer was Miguel de Cervantes, he wrote El Quijote in 1605. Another was Quevedo who wrote El Buscón.

(Miguel de Cervantes)

• Baroque Poetry: there was a wide display of popular and cult forms: Góngora, Lope de Vega or Quevedo.

(Lope de Vega)

• The theater will play a wide range of themes: burlesque, tragedies, comedies. Among the most important authors were Lope de Vega, Tirso de Molina and Calderón de la Barca.

(Calderón de la Barca)

• The scenarios will be comedy pens for popular themes. They were made in the palaces and gardens for the courtly representations and in the churches and temples.

Art:

• Architecture: the poverty of materials will prevent large constructions but this will be compensated by too many sets in works such as the Plaza Mayor of Madrid or Salamanca.

                                                        (Plaza Mayor of Madrid)

                                                         (Plaza Mayor of Salamanca)

• Sculpture: the religious theme and the works in wood and marble are fundamental. Authors such as Pedro de Mena, Juan Martinez, Gregorio Fernandez, Alonso Cano, etc. with their works will express a way of living religiosity.

(Gregorio Fernandez)

• Painting: it will be a century of great brilliance. Painters like Zurbarán, Veláquez, Murillo, Ribera ...

(Murillo)

(Velázquez)