Salamanca - University - Main Front

The original building (1415-33) was relatively plain; then in 1534 it was given its present facade with its lavish profusion of Plateresque ornament - the unsurpassed masterpiece of that style in Spain. Above the two doorways are three registers of finely carved panels separated by pilasters. At first floor level, in the center of the facade, is a medallion with likenesses of the Catholic Monarchs; above this is the coat of arms of Charles V, flanked by the double-headed imperial eagle and the eagle of St John; and above this again is the Pope, surrounded by cardinals, with figures of Venus, Priam and Bacchus to the right and Hercules, Juno and Jupiter to the left. On the right-hand pilaster in the first register, above a skull, can be seen a frog, regarded by students as a bringer of good luck.