Spain Art / Culture Profile

Spain's long history of artistic achievements shows a variety of cultural influences. In the south, Spanish culture reflects the long period of Moorish occupation. Of the surviving Moorish buildings, one of the most famous is the Alhambra palace. a lot of churches were built in styles combining Moorish and Christian elements.

Spanish painters have fashioned several outstanding works, a lot of which deal with religious subjects. In the 16th century, the religious mysticism of Spain was represented in the works of El Greco, a Greek painter who worked in Spain. Well-known painters of the 17th and 18th centuries include Diego Velzquez and Francisco de Goya y Lucientes. In the 20th century, Pablo Picasso, an originator of Cubism, was outstanding.

The Prado in Madrid is one of the world's great art museums. Other well-known museums are in Barcelona and Toledo. Cave paintings of Cro-Magnon man, which are among the oldest art in the world, are at Altamira in northern Spain.

Music and dance diverge from one region to another, with flamenco being the most widely known. Other notable Spanish dances are the bolero and the fandango. The castanets and guitar are popular instruments. Andrs Segovia won international fame as a classical guitarist, Pablo Casals as a cellist.