ILLUSTRATION IN SPAIN: ORIGINS, CHARACTERISTICS, REPRESENTATIVES - HISTORY - 2025

The Enlightenment in Spain was an intellectual movement that developed throughout the 18th century and intended to completely abandon ignorance through study and knowledge. Such an enlightened movement occurred mainly in the elite of societies, but it affected both directly and indirectly all of Spain.

One of the differences that characterizes the Spanish Enlightenment from the other European intellectual movements was its religious condition. The enlightened had the thought that reason and religion were works of God; the Creator was responsible for such illumination.

Juan Comba García, via Wikimedia Commons

The Spaniards of the time trusted that the Crown should be the engine of enlightened ideas, as well as maintain control over the issues developed.

Although an important part of Spanish society came together to develop Enlightenment thinking, most of the country remained attached to traditional ideas, illiteracy, and economic backwardness.

The change of thought on the part of minority groups led them to a struggle of ideologies against the Catholic Church. Despite this, they maintained their religious beliefs. They even tried to apply reforms to the church so that it could adapt to change, but the clergy made it impossible for them to be applied correctly.

origins

The Bourbons in Spain

After the death of the last Habsburg monarch, Charles II, the French Bourbons claimed the throne of Spain. Carlos II died in the year 1700, without children who could inherit the throne of Spain. It was for this reason that the War of the Spanish Succession was fought between the House of Bourbon and the House of Asturias.

After 15 years of war, in which the great European powers were also involved, the Bourbons were victorious. His triumph meant the establishment of a new monarchical regime in Spain, at the hands of the Bourbons themselves.

The Bourbons were charged with establishing a series of reforms to revitalize what had been lost and damaged during the end of the Habsburg era.

The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment in France had a strong impact on Spain. The Bourbon monarchy had numerous instruments to control cultural production and prohibited those practices that were not in accordance with its interests.

Carlos III and the Spanish enlightened monarchy

Carlos III, son of Felipe V, was the successor of Fernando VI. He occupied the throne after the death of his brothers Luis I and Fernando VI. Carlos III had thirteen children; one of them was Carlos IV, who succeeded his father on the throne of Spain.

Carlos III was one of the key pieces to establish the enlightened movement in Spain. Since he took the crown, he was in charge of modernizing Spanish thought through an enlightened program capable of applying reforms to education.

For the new king, it was essential that the movement be regulated by the state, both in the social and ecclesiastical fields.

With the expulsion of the Jesuits, the monarchy took the opportunity to carry out reforms in education, based on the discipline of science and research. In 1779, the Estudios de San Isidro was created in Madrid as a modern high school center; the universities were submitted to the tutelage of the royal patronage.

characteristics

The academy

The new ideas of the enlightened age emerged from social gatherings, academies and in public spaces. Universities were the first to enter this new intellectual world; everything that involved education quickly transformed to the new thought of Enlightenment.

The nobility and clergy not only participated in the intellectual renewal, but in all social sectors that were interested in improving the human condition of the country.

An example of this is the Economic Societies of Friends of the Country, an organization whose purpose was to spread new ideas and knowledge in scientific, philosophical and technical areas throughout the entire illustrated period.

At the beginning of the 18th century, with the arrival of the Bourbon dynasty, other institutions were created to promote intellectual research. In addition, the National Library, the Royal Academy of History and the Royal Spanish Academy were inaugurated.

Subsequent years, other specialized institutions in medicine, philosophy and physics were opened.

The science

At the end of the 18th century, institutions were founded in order to promote scientific knowledge in Spain, such as the Royal Botanical Garden in Madrid. In the colonial zone of Mexico, the Crown founded the School of Mines, in order to learn more about the extraction of silver in which Spain was so interested.

During the reign of Carlos III, several scientific expeditions were carried out within Spain with local professionals and foreign scientists such as Alexander Von Humboldt.

After a few years, a significant number of Spanish scientists extended their expeditions in order to analyze the botany of colonial regions such as parts of Peru, Chile, New Spain and New Granada. The knowledge obtained from the expeditions was destined to the archives of the Royal Botanical Garden.

Art during Illustration

During the stay of the Bourbons, various decorations were made in the palace with French and Italian tendencies. Later, with the arrival of King Carlos III, some vaults inside the palace were decorated with paintings of expressionless features. An example is the work of Rafael Mengs, entitled The triumph of the dawn.

A number of renowned painters worked with Mengs. One of the most important was Francisco de Goya, who evolved from Rococo painting, towards Neoclassicism and later to pre-Romance painting, during the Enlightenment period.

During the reign of Felipe V, the Royal Palace of Madrid was built and it was at that time of the Enlightenment that the most relevant architects in Spain began to emerge. In the time of Carlos III, several modifications were made to the royal palace, such as the main staircase.

In addition, other works in the city of Madrid such as the Puerta de Alcalá, the Museo de la Reina Sofía and the Royal Customs House of Madrid; buildings that are preserved to this day.

During the Spanish Enlightenment period, several sculptures were conceived for urban decorum. Francisco Gutiérrez was the author of the Fuente de Cibeles in Madrid and also collaborated in the sculpture of the Puerta de Alcalá.

Literature

Enlightenment thought brought with it a change in literature, particularly in its ideas, which became oriented towards neoclassicism. This sought to keep the classic in vogue; Baroque authors were fought against for possessing twisted rhetoric.

The authors of the Enlightenment era focused on inheriting the style of Greek and Roman culture. Illustrated writers were in charge of imitating authors such as Horacio, Ovidio or Virgilio. This theme was maintained from the reign of Fernando VI until the beginning of the 19th century.

The literary genre that dominated throughout the Enlightenment was the essay, with Benito Feijoo and Gregorio Mayans being the two innovators in the essay field.

On the other hand, the newspaper was a great influence to spread information through publications, both literary and scientific. It also helped to transmit theories and ideas of the moment.

Representatives

Benito Jerónimo Feijoo

Benito Feijoo was one of the first exponents of enlightened rationalist and critical thought. After becoming a Benedict monk, he studied and devoted himself to work as a teacher in various Spanish universities, receiving the name of Master General.

Between 1726 and 1739, he published two of the most relevant works for the enlightened period: the Universal Critical Theater and Erudite and Curious Letters. His criticisms and defenses moved the Spanish culture of the time.

In literature, he was in charge of defending the Spanish classical theater against the new neoclassicist tendency; it was later identified with pre-romancist literature.

All the tests carried out by Fray Benito Freijoo had the intention of putting an end to superstitious ideas. He kept up with the enlightened movement.

Francisco de Goya

Francisco de Goya was a painter and engraver who rose to fame during the rise of the Spanish Enlightenment. Goya always identified himself with Bourbon reformism, revealing himself towards the Enlightenment, banishing past obscurantism from his ideal, but maintaining all the contradictions of the artists of his time.

In all his works he tried to reveal his anticlerical stance. His main clients were people belonging to the Spanish bourgeoisie. On the other hand, he remained faithful to the enlightened party, concerned about education and the productive ideas of the moment.

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos

Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos was an enlightened author of several legal and political works.

Although he stood out for developing works related to poetry and theater, the writings that characterized him as an intellectual were his essays on economics, politics, agriculture and philosophy.

At one of the events of the Royal Academy of History, he gave a speech and called on society to get involved in the enlightened movement, as well as to study world history.

In 1773, he approached poetry with his work entitled Jovino to his friends in Salamanca. This subject was characterized by the presence of neoclassical tendencies, but without leaving behind the ideas of the new enlightened movement.

Plays

The Universal Critical Theater

The Universal Critical Theater was an extensive essay written by Benito Jerónimo Feijoo, from 1726 to 1740. It is made up of a compendium of topics such as philosophy, mathematics, physics, natural sciences, medicine, history, religion, and so on.

It was one of the most relevant and popular works not only in Spain, but throughout Europe during the era of the enlightened movement.

Feijoo's objective based on the work was clear: to end illiteracy in Spanish society, as well as to correct erroneous superstitions and customs. After writing the work, in the time of Fernando VI, he became a councilor of the kingdom.

The honest criminal

The honored delinquent was a work written in prose by the illustrated Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, one of the most important authors of the time.

It was one of the most renowned plays during the 18th century, being one of the best-perceived dramas in Spain. Being a sentimental comedy, it was positioned as a tragicomedy of the typical neoclassical style of the enlightened age.

Sun visor

The parasol was one of Francisco de Goya's paintings delivered to the Royal Tapestry Factory of Santa Bárbara; a royal factory in charge of manufacturing luxury objects for the enlightened of the time. Today, the composition is part of the Prado Museum exhibition.

It was one of the most relevant works in the series of 10 pieces that he created for the factory. Goya's painting achieved a balance between neoclassical art with ideal chromatic effects for the time.

In 1777, the painter gave the series of 10 works to the Prince of Asturias, in order to decorate the royal dining room. This work being the most representative, he entitled El parasol to the series of cartoons for the prince.

References

1. Enlightenment in Spain, Wikipedia in English, (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org
2. Spanish Illustration, Portal Rincón del Castellano, (nd). Taken from rinconcastellano.com
3. Goya and the Spirit of the Illustration, Official Website of the Prado Museum, (nd). Taken from museodelprado.es
4. The Enlightenment, Countryside Studies, (nd). Taken from countrystudies.us
5. Benito Jerónimo Feijoo, Biographies and Lives, (nd). Taken from biografiasyvidas.com
6. Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, Web of Philosophy, (nd). Taken from as.filosofia.net
7. Neoclassicism, Wikipedia in Spanish, (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org