Plateresque and Churrigueresque in the Hispanic World

Spanish art historiography of the late 1700s (Eugenio Llaguno y Amirola and Juan Agustín Ceán Bermúdez), favored Juan de Herrera’s sixteenth-century classical architecture and Bourbon-era architects Ventura Rodríguez and Juan de Villanueva. The latter architects were credited with restoring canonical models and shaping a national artistic narrative that informed many historical and modern writers.

This historiography castigates other ornamental architectural styles—particularly the Plateresque and Churrigueresque—that developed in the early 1500s and after the mid-1600s. These ornate styles were considered decorative fantasies and their designers, particularly Francisco Hurtado Izquierdo, José Benito de Churriguera, and Pedro de Ribera in the 1700s, labeled as “heretics.” In juxtaposition, early American architects viewed Spanish architecture in a linear fashion, recognizing that Herrera’s work responded to existing ornamental styles, and his “pure Classicism” gave way to Churriguera’s ornamental creations. While vilified in Spain, the Plateresque and the work of Churriguera were appreciated in America, and Herrera criticized for adopting an “unrooted” style deemed “out of key with the Spanish character,” unlike the ornamental styles that preceded or post-dated it.

Few modern English-language scholars have reconsidered this historiography. Similarly, studies in Spanish have focused on regional production, albeit with unequal focus. Thus, the Plateresque and the Churrigueresque along with their transoceanic manifestations remain understudied—a lacuna this session aims to address.

This panel examines the Plateresque and Churrigueresque through textual analyses and studies of their relationship to the Hispanic world’s built environment, including architectural, sculptural, and ephemeral elements. The organizers seek papers that deepen our understandings of the Plateresque and Churrigueresque styles and their significance in early modern Spanish and Spanish colonial architecture.

Topics

Proposals may address:

• Plateresque and Churrigueresque historiographies and taxonomies
• Influence of other cultures and their technologies
• Intersection of race and built environment, sensorial studies, and digital humanities
• Methodologies concerning the Plateresque and Churrigueresque in the broader Iberian world or within a critique of the Vasarian model of early modern historiography.

How to apply

1. Abstracts must be under 300 words.
2. The title cannot exceed 65 characters, including spaces and punctuation.
3. Abstracts and titles must follow the Chicago Manual of Style.
4. Only one abstract per conference by an author or co-author may be submitted.
5. A maximum of three (3) authors per abstract will be accepted.
6. Please attach a two-page CV in PDF format.

Submit your abstract and view the call for papers (PDF).