Renaissance art, as a movement that includes both the visual arts and literature, is characterized by a marked sense of proportion and harmony. These principles are inspired by the elements of classical culture (Greece and Rome), where balance and harmony absolutely marked the artistic expression. This idea of balance, careful construction, and simplicity of content translates into a perfectly symmetrical distribution of the elements of the literary work, as in the case of Garcilaso de la Vega. In the same way, Juan Valdés'  writings advocate for natural prose and the selection of a vocabulary on the basis of clarity of meaning. In short, an elegant and tasteful language that escapes from affectation without falling into dryness and roughness.

The Renaissance entered into crisis and gave way to the Baroque style, characterized by an intense fondness for refinement and the regular use of a difficult language full of artifice. The baroque themes are of great complicity and the language evolves either towards a high conceptual condensation (Quevedo's conceptism) or towards an elaborate complexity in expression (Góngora's cultism). In short, the Baroque breaks with the Renaissance balance by writing with absolute freedom and notable distortion of forms, all aimed at amazing and astonishing the reader. Harmony and a sense of proportion give way to a hihgly refined art of persuasion.

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Differences between the Renaissance and the Baroque.

From a sense of proportion to a highly ornate writing style

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