Charles V Palace

Name: Charles V Palace.
Author: Pedro Machuca.
Year: 1526-1637.
Style: Renaissance Architecture.
Location: Granada(Spain).


INTRODUCTION

Thius is the palace of Charles the V wich was constructed after his wedding in Seville, because the kings loved Andalusia.
The building was made by Pedro Machuca, who was born in Toledo, and was instructed in Italy and many people thinck that he was a disciple of Michelangelo, and also he could learn from Raphael Sanzio and Jacob Florentino. He was well-known because of his techniques which were roman architecture and muslim architecture. One of his other works was The descendant of the Cross (in painting).
At that time Spain was the most powerful country in Europe, because of the recent discovery of America that provided Spain a lot of richness so they could spend it in the culture or in the magnify of the kings in that period, for they to look more powerful and to be more popular.Also the society was experiencing a big change, because many people was getting richer also, so we could say that they were in a good status.

ANALYSIS
This palace is the palace of Charles V, who was one of the most important kings of Spain, and he decided to buid that palace after his marriage(which was in Seville) because they lived in the Alhambra for many time and they were impressed by the way that msulim castle looks like, so they decided to made another palace which nowadays is the musem of Alhambra and Beauty Arts in Granade.
The palace is mainly made of stone and it has two levels, in the lower one you can appreciate the tuscan order, with is totally made of dressed stone and its pilasters have big bronze rings at the top and the bottom.
In the second level you can see that this part is based on jonic, and the hollows are "adintelados".
Also this building is decorated with circular windows called "óculos", that also made more visible the balance and the stability of renaissance.
Its plant is a square with a circular garden in the middle surrounded by colums of the doric period in the first floor and by jonic colums in the second floor.
The were built mainly semicircular arches in all the biulding, and that makes a difference between Spanish and Italian renaissance. Because as we have said in Italy and the rest of Europe, the renaissance started before than in Spain, so we can notice that difference between for example Santa Maria Novella and the Palace of Charles V.
It does not have any vaults or domes.
The square and circular windows are the ones that gives light because they are big and well divided between the two levels.
Its function was the castle that Charles wanted to live, but he could not went there anymore. Nowadays it is the museum of the Beauty Arts.
This building is very important because it represents a period of richness in Spain, and it was a castle of Charles V. It is from the Spanish renaissance, because as you can see it has columns, semi-circular arches, geometric desings and longitudinal and central plans, that are very common in the renaissance.
In this period Charles was very ocuppied because of the wars that appeared with the Reformation and he could not go there again, so the palace was abandoned till it was transformed in a museum.
Another architects that wre important in Spanish renaissance were Diego de Riaño (The Town Hall of Seville) and Juan de Herrera (The Escorial).

CONCLUSION

This palace is very beautiful and it has a lot of details and columns, and also has a lot of history, but in my opinion, the Town Hall of Seville is more beautiful, because it is different from other pieces and other buildings from this period and it seems more pure because of its colours.
But anyway it is a beautiful palace and I would made anything to live there when it was built in Charles V period. Because of the historical contest and all those thing that make this century beautiful and better than our days, even if nowadays a lot of things have improved.