Isabelline style

Facade of the Colegio San Gregorio , Valladolid

San Jeronimo el Real , Madrid

Facade of the monastery of San Juan des los Reyes , Toledo

The term Isabelline Style (also Isabelline Gothic ) is used in the architecture of Spain to summarize buildings or parts of buildings from the reign of the Catholic Kings ( Isabella of Castile (r. 1474–1504) and Ferdinand of Aragón (r. 1479–1516)). It developed from the Spanish form of the Flamboyant style , sometimes referred to as the Florido style . The Isabelline style is considered to be an eclectic mixed style and a transition style between the late Gothic and the Renaissance ; some also see it as an early phase of the Plateresque style .

Architecture and building ornamentation

In a characteristic Isabelline architecture, elements of architectural ornamentation are the best way to identify the peculiarity of the style. Of particular note here are: the frequent use of flamboyant forms from the Flemish late Gothic period, of keel arches and jagged arches, e.g. Some with hangers , and - more rarely - of Muqarnas forms from Moorish or Mudejar art. Figures and especially heraldic shields were also popular. The personal coat of arms and name symbols of yoke ( yugo ) for Ysabella and bundles of arrows ( flechas ) for Fernando are particularly striking .

The allusions to classical antiquity in Spain are little more than literary elements, unlike in Italy, where the presence of Roman buildings was much greater and the Gothic was in a way adapted to local classical tastes. Until the 1530s and even later in Spanish architecture, the Gothic renaissance did not catch on. Lo Romano was the Renaissance style, classic, emotional, bombastic and Italian. For them, modernism was Gothic, which was structurally rational, pragmatic and effective, a typically Spanish style.

The Isabelline style has no clear hierarchy of the components, the individual ornament fields or the represented figures. Large areas (especially on portal facades) are covered with decorative elements - similar to Moorish art - in horror vacui fashion. Adjacent wall areas, however, remain completely unadorned.

Similar facade designs and décor concepts can be found a good two centuries later in the art conception of the Churrigueresque style and the colonial baroque (cf. Santa Prisca (Taxco) , San Francisco Javier (Tepotzotlán) , Il Sagrario (Mexico City) ).