[Sidenote: Sculpture and the lesser arts.]
The transitional character of the age was nowhere more clear than in the various forms of art. The principal architectural style was a combination of late Gothic with early Renaissance features, which, because of its exuberantly decorative character, was called plateresque, for many of its forms resembled the work of _plateros_, or makers of plate. Structurally there was a mingling of the two above-named elements, with a superimposition of adornment marked by great profusion and richness,--such, for example, as in the façade of the convent of San Pablo of Valladolid. At the same time, edifices were still built which were more properly to be called Gothic, and there were yet others predominantly representative of the Renaissance, characterized by the restoration of the later classical structural and decorative elements, such as the slightly pointed arch, intersecting vaults, columns, entablatures, pediments, and lavish ornamentation. Sculpture displayed the same manifestations, and became in a measure independent of architecture. Noteworthy survivals are the richly carved sepulchres of the era. Gold and silver work had an extraordinary development not only in articles of luxury but also in those for popular use, and as regards luxury the same was true of work in rich embroideries and textures.
The contest between the Flemish and Italian influences on Spanish painting resolved itself decidedly in favor of the latter, although a certain eclecticism, the germ of a national school, made itself apparent in the works of Spanish artists. Characteristics of a medieval type still persisted, such as faulty drawing, color lacking in energy and richness, a sad and sober ambient, and a disregard for everything in a painting except the human figures. Like sculpture, painting began to be dissociated from architecture, and was encouraged by the purchases of the wealthy. It was not yet the custom to hang paintings on the walls; they were kept in chests or otherwise under lock and key except when brought out for temporary display. Music, employed principally in song as the accompaniment of verse, enjoyed a favor comparable with that of the plastic arts.