This paper analyses an outstanding case in the field of historic Spanish carpentry. Built in the sixteenth century, the five-panel wood coffered ceiling in the church of Santa Maria del Rio in Castroverde de Campos (Zamora, Spain) shows a Renaissance layout with polygonal coffers. It combines Hispano-Islamic technological heritage with some innovative features, including singular disposition of timber, duplicity of structures and unorthodox carpentry joints. Furthermore, convex coffers are introduced among traditional concave ones giving it a marked Mannerist appearance. The likely double role of the author as designer and contractor explains the relevance of prefabricated elements in the construction process of the ceiling, since this effort for modulation and systematization rationalizes procedures and reduces labour costs.
Cabo et al. (Sun,) studied this question.