| |
|
Church of Arroyuelos |
|
Due to the
merely superficial Romanization in certain small areas
and the Visigoth conquest, reaching only a small part of
the land, Cantabria remained, until the 8th century,
isolated from the main Hispanic cultural areas. From this
moment on, the re-settlement drive with people from the
Duero Valley and Mozarabics in the 9th century meant
Cantabria's reincorporation to art history. These
immigrations firmly established Hispanic-Visigothic
standards of living and introduced Christian culture,
with the subsequent foundation of monasteries during the
8th and 9th centuries, such as San Martín de Turieno
(later, Santo Toribio de Liébana), Santa María de Piasa
and Santa Juliana in Santillana del Mar, all of them later renovated. The 9th and 10th century constructions represent
Pre-Romanesque art in Cantabria. The Rupestrian churches
in the area of Valderredible are the first examples of
this period of art in the second half of the 9th century.
They are simple chambers dug out of the rock which are
characterized by their plain building technique and the
incorporation of Hispano-Moorish art features as in the
churches of Arroyuelos and Santa María de Valverde.
Several buildings are constructed with
good dressed stones in the 10th century, presenting a
suitable arrangement of the space, longitudinal plans, a
hierarchy of volumes projecting outwards and the use of
horseshoe Moorish arch and scrolled modillions on the
eaves, as can be appreciated in the churches of San Román del
Moroso and Helguera. These
features appear again in Santa María de Lebeña, except for the plan, which is well
compartmented due to the influence of Asturian art. The
bothanical and geometric décor is introduced to
architecture on capitals and modillions, as well as on
mobile art objects such as the clasp of Santa María
de Hito.
|
|
|
|
