Term used from the late 18th century to denote the most exuberantly ornamental phase of Spanish architectural decoration, lasting from c. 1675 to c. 1750. The term derives from the CHURRIGUERA family, the principal exponents of the style, who worked mostly in Salamanca. The origins of the style, however, can be traced back to the painter and sculptor ALONSO CANO, who was a pioneering exponent of a highly ornamental style that began to characterize much Spanish art at the end of the 17th century. Most important in the propagation of the style were a number of sculptors, wood-carvers, cabinetmakers and carpenters who began to be highly influential in the field of architecture at this time, much to the chagrin of the more classically-minded specialist architects, such as Juan de Herrera. These sculptors and other craftsmen were chiefly responsible for the design and construction of the ephemeral structures built for coronations and other celebrations around this time. These were generally made of wood or cloth, allowing all manner of capricious and bizarre experiments with ornamentation. Some of these Baroque experiments were later taken up and applied in stucco or brick to such architectural elements as façades, walls, vaults, doors and cupolas and in sculptural ensembles such as retables, for example at the church of S Esteban, Salamanca (see RETABLE, fig. 2).

• Churrigueresque
  • Churriguera
  • Ecuador, §III, 1: Architecture: Colonial period, 1534–1822
  • Mexico, §III, 1(ii): Baroque, Churrigueresque and Neo-classical architecture, c 1670–c 1870
  • Spain, §IV, 3(ii): Sculpture, c 1600–c 1750: High Baroque and Rococo
  • architecture
    • Santiago de Compostela, §1(i): Cathedral architecture