Spanish Frames

In AD 711, the Muslims began their conquest of Spain. By the 10th century the southern and central Iberian peninsula was under Islamic control (the north remaining Christian), and only in the 13th century did the Christians begin to reverse this position, with the Reconquista only being completed at the end of the 15th century. The effect on the applied arts was particularly great, and for a long time borders of all sorts often displayed geometrical or Moresque elements, separate from the ornamental vocabulary of the rest of Europe.

Though Spain continually trailed, by a generation or so, the stylistic evolution of the rest of Europe, Gothic architectural forms gradually appeared and were merged with Islamic elements. Frames, likewise, were slow to change, retaining a Romanesque style modified by Moorish sensibilities. Due to the influence of the Catholic Church and the expansion of Italian Renaissance influence throughout Spain, the retable altarpiece appeared as the Spanish equivalent to the Italian Aedicula. Their love for opulence began to influence the retable with a purely Spanish sentiment toward extravagant decoration, evolving from simple forms into immense architectural structures.

As trade with the Italians and Dutch advanced in the early 16th century, a variety of style cues were drawn in and transformed according to the design judgment of the regional craftsmen. Distinct Spanish characteristics during this period include dramatic contrasts of polychromy and gilding, frequent use of silver leaf and deep volumetric carving.

In the late 16th century, wealth poured into Spain from her colonies and Phillip II celebrated by planning the Palace of the Escorial, designed in a sober Italianate style by Juan Bautista de Toledo and Juan de Herrera. Here at last, Spain belatedly found its Renaissance style. It is a monument to Roman clarity and simplicity of form. The Herrera designed moulding frames, with their geometric decoration based on cassetta motifs with Moorish interpretation, illustrate this newfound restraint. As Mannerist interpretations to the Herrera design progressed, contours to the outline and ornamental features such as gemstones appeared.

Spanish frames of the 17th century seemed to marry the chunky gilded carving of elaborated Herrera designs with the black and gold of a Dutch ebonized frame. With these, a third feature is blended in-rolling forms of acanthus foliage. Here, Spanish, northern European and Italian influences are merged on the wide border of stained wood, combining the Spanish desire for decoration with the sobriety of the contemporary mood. These expressive leaf-trimmed frames embody one of the most ubiquitous and recognizable of Spanish styles.