Plateresque, meaning "in the manner of a silversmith" (
Plata means
silver in
Spanish), was an
artistic movement, especially
architectural, traditionally held to be exclusive to
Spain and its territories, which appeared between the late
Gothic and early
Renaissance in the late 15th century, and spread over the next two centuries. It is a modification of Gothic spatial concepts and an eclectic blend of Mudéjar,
Flamboyant Gothic and
Lombard decorative components, as well as Renaissance elements of
Tuscan origin. Examples of this
syncretism are the inclusion of shields and pinnacles on facades, columns built in the Renaissance neoclassical manner, and facades divided into three parts (in Renaissance architecture they are divided into two). It reached its peak during the reign of
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, especially in
Salamanca, but also flourished in other cities of the
Iberian Peninsula as
León and
Burgos and in the territory of
New Spain, which is now
Mexico. Plateresque has been considered down to current times a Renaissance style by many scholars. To others, it is its own style, and sometimes receives the designation of
Protorenaissance. Some even call it
First Renaissance in a refusal to consider it as a style in itself, but to distinguish it from non-Spanish Renaissance works.