Spain Artist. Spanish Art is the art of Spain. While an important contributor to Western art and producing many famous and influential artists Spanish art has often had distinctive characteristics and been assessed somewhat separately from other European schools. These differences can be partly explained by the Moorish heritage in Spain, and through the political and cultural climate in Spain during the Counter-Reformation and the subsequent eclipse of Spanish power under the Bourbon dynasty. The early Iberians have left many remains; northern-western Spain shares with south-western France the region where the richest Upper Paleolithic art in Europe is found in the Cave of Altamira and other sites where there are cave paintings made between 35,000 and 11,000 BC. The Rock art of the Iberian Mediterranean Basin is from the eastern side of Spain, probably dating from about 8000-3500 BC, and shows animal and hunting scenes often developed with a growing feeling for the whole composition of a large scene. Portugal in particular is rich in megalithic monuments, including the Almendres Cromlech, and Iberian schematic art is stone sculpture, petroglyphs and cave paintings from the early metal ages, found all over the Iberian peninsula, with both geometric patterns, but also a higher usage of simple pictogram-like human figures than is typical of comparable art from other areas. The Casco de Leiro, a late Bronze Age gold ritual helmet, may relate to other golden hats found in Germany, and the Treasure of Villena is a huge hoard of geometrically decorated vessels and jewellery, perhaps from the 10th century BC, including 10 kilos of gold. Iberian sculpture before the Roman occupation reflects the contacts with other advanced ancient cultures who set up small coastal colonies, including the Greeks and Phoenicians; the Sa Caleta Phoenician Settlement on Ibiza has survived to be excavated, where most now lie under large towns, and the Lady of Guardamar was excavated from another Phoenician site. The Lady of Elche possibly represents Tanit, but also shows Hellenistic influence, as do the 6th century Sphinx of Agost and Biche of Balazote. The Bulls of Guisando are the most impressive examples of verracos, which are large Celtiberian animal sculptures in stone; the 5th century BC Bull of Osuna is a more developed single example. Some decorated falcata, the distinctive curving Iberian sword, have survived, and large numbers of bronze statuettes used as votive offerings. The Romans gradually conquered all of Iberia between 218 BC and 19 AD. As elsewhere in the Western Empire, the Roman occupation largely overwhelmed native styles; Iberia was an important agricultural area for the Romans, and the elite acquired vast estates producing wheat, olives and wine, with some later emperors coming from the Iberian provinces; many huge villas have been excavated. The Aqueduct of Segovia, Roman Walls of Lugo, Alcántara Bridge, and the Tower of Hercules lighthouse are among a number of well-preserved major monuments, impressive remains of Roman engineering if not always art. Roman temples survive fairly complete at Vic, Évora, and Alcántara, as well as elements in Barcelona and Córdoba. There must have been local workshops producing the high-quality mosaics found, though most of the better free-standing sculpture was probably imported. The Missorium of Theodosius I is an important Late Antique silver dish that was found in Spain but was probably made in Constantinople. The Christianized Visigoths ruled Iberia after the collapse of the Empire, and the rich 7th century Treasure of Guarrazar, probably deposited to avoid looting in the Muslim Conquest of Spain, is now a unique survival of Christian votive crowns in gold; though Spanish in style, the form was probably then used by elites across Europe. Other Visigothic art in the form of metalwork, mostly jewellery and buckles, and stone reliefs, survives to give an idea of the culture of this originally barbarian Germanic people, who kept themselves very largely separate from their Iberian subjects, and whose rule crumbled when the Muslims arrived in 711. The jewelled crux gemmata Victory Cross, La Cava Bible and the Agate Casket of Oviedo are survivals from the 9-10th century of the rich Pre-Romanesque culture of the Asturias region in north-western Spain, which remained under Christian rule; the Santa María del Naranco banqueting house overlooking Oviedo, completed in 848 and later surviving as a church, is a unique survival in Europe. The Codex Vigilanus, completed in 976 in the region of Rioja, shows a complex mixture of several s