Review of: Olga Bush, Reframing the Alhambra: Architecture, Poetry, Textiles and Court Ceremonial (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2018), The Art Bulletin 100, no. 4 (December, 2018): 106-108. (original) (raw)
Related papers
Sixteenth Century Journal, 2019
This article reexamines the function, decoration, and political and artistic significance of the Torre de la Estufa of Charles V in the Alhambra, a steam room decorated between 1528 and 1539 with topographic landscapes of the conquest of Tunis and paintings of grotesques. Challenging the traditional focus on the tower's debt to the Italian Renaissance, this essay brings attention to its pre-existing Islamic framework, arguing that its overall architectural language, specific decorative elements, and intended function reveal Charles V's will to engage formally and conceptually with the preexisting palace as a means of advancing imperial ideology.
ABSTRACT: During the Reconquista, the appropriation of Hispanic Muslim architecture, as well as the economic and technical requirements resulting from the continuous movement of the borders, gave rise to the Christian reuse of Andalusian constructions. This phenomenon became particularly relevant when it involved significant buildings, such as royal residences and temples. This paper will focus on the successive architectural interventions made in the Aljaferia Palace by Christian royalty during the Middle Ages. The Aljaferia Palace is located in the suburbs of Zaragoza and was originally erected by the taifa ruler Ahmad al-Muqtadir during the second half of the 11th century. Soon after the reconquest of Zaragoza in 1118, the palace started to be used as a royal residence. There is documentary evidence about the extensions and maintenance works carried out in the palace by most of the kings of Aragon, but the purpose and the architectural importance of the interventions by Peter IV (1336-1387) and Ferdinand II (1479-1516) were crucial. The different constructional approaches and the changing attitude towards the building throughout the Middle Ages will be discussed. Furthermore, the Christian works at the Aljaferia and the artistic activity of the whole region were deeply influenced by the remains of the taifa palace. I will argue that the preservation of a great part of the Islamic construction led not just to the reuse of building materials and the acquisition of new techniques, but more importantly to the transfer of an entire visual culture. Link to slides: https://www2.slideshare.net/EstherDoradoLadera/reuse-of-hispanic-muslim-architecture-during-the-middle-ages-christian-interventions-in-the-aljaferia-palace
The Llibre dels Feyts relates the major events occurred during the reign of James I of Aragon. It is written in the form of an autobiography and it focuses on the military campaigns conducted by the king, mainly the conquests of the kingdoms of Majorca, Valencia and Murcia. The architectural heritage seized by the Christian armies during the Reconquista served an essential function in the occupation process, and it became especially significant when it involved symbolically relevant buildings such as temples and palaces. The approach to Hispanic Muslim architecture was strongly conditioned by the religious character of the Reconquista, but the economic and technical requirements resulting from the continuous movement of the borders cannot be neglected. This paper will analyse the role of Hispanic Muslim architecture in the Llibre dels Feyts. Fundamental aspects such as the distribution of properties among the conquerors, the depiction of the aesthetic and structural qualities of Islamic architecture, and its use as a symbol of power will be examined. It will be argued that, in spite of James I's increasing interest in the appropriation of architecture after the conquest of each city, his attitude was far from the systematic approach adopted by other Iberian monarchs at the time. The Estoria de España, for instance, reveals the clear aim of the Castilian king Alfonso X the Wise to establish proper occupation procedures, which would be followed for centuries. Link to slides: https://www2.slideshare.net/EstherDoradoLadera/the-role-of-hispanic-muslim-architecture-in-the-conquests-of-jaume-i-of-aragon-a-study-on-the-llibre-dels-feyts
Re-envisioning the Alhambra : readings of architecture and ornament from medieval to modern
2011
The Alhambra, a medieval Islamic palatine city located in Granada, Spain, is examined in this thesis as the product of material transformations and changing visual perceptions over time. Selected areas of the Nasrid palatial complex (1238-1492) are explored within the context of their production, their later alterations under Christian rule, and in relation to the interpretations of British travellers, historians, designers and enthusiasts throughout the long nineteenth century. Through the formation of individual and collective identities, responses to cultural difference, and an active engagement with the past, the Alhambra grew to become a commemorative monument of multiple and interrelated histories. In addressing the overlapping structural and ornamental layers which make up its form, this study challenges the historiographic limitations of categories such as 'medieval' and 'modern', as well as formal categories such as 'ornament' and 'architecture&#...
This thesis analyzes Plans, Elevations, Sections, and Details of the Alhambra (1836-1842) by British Architect Owen Jones in relation to British conceptions of Spain in the nineteenth century. Although modern scholars often view Jones’s work as an accurate visual account of the Alhambra, I argue that his work is not only interested in accuracy, but it is also a re-presentation of the fourteen-century monument based on Jones’s ideologies and creative faculties. Instead of viewing the Alhambra through a culturally sensitive, historical lens, Jones treated it as an Imaginary Geography, as Edward Said called it, through which he could promote his interests and perspectives. Although there were many British views of Spain in nineteenth-century, this thesis will focus on two sets of seemingly contradictory conceptions of Spain that were especially important to Jones’s visual and ideological program in Alhambra: Spain’s status as both the Catholic and Islamic Other, and its frequent interpretations through both romantic and reform-oriented lenses. Through a closer look at Arabian Antiquities of Spain by James Cavanah Murphy and the illustrations from The Tourist in Spain: Granada by David Roberts, I show the prevalence of these mindsets in nineteenth-century reconstructions of the Alhambra. Then, I compare portions of these works to plates from Jones’s Alhambra to illustrate Jones’s similar adaptation of these perspectives despite the visual peculiarity of his work as a whole.
Roda da Fortuna, 2019
This article examines the role served by Andalusian architecture in the chronicle of James I of Aragon (r. 1213-1276). The autobiographical character of the book and its direct style show the pragmatic approach to Hispanic Muslim architectural heritage seized by Christian armies during the conquest of Al-Andalus. The processes of appropriation and assimilation became especially significant when symbolically relevant buildings such as palaces and temples were involved and had a profound and far-reaching effect in James I's reign and beyond. Aquest article examina el paper de l'arquitectura andalusina a la crònica de Jaume I el Conqueridor (r. 1213-1276). El caràcter autobiogràfic del llibre i el seu estil directe mostren una actitud pragmàtica envers el patrimoni arquitectònic hispanomusulmà ocupat pels exèrcits cristians durant la conquesta d'Al-Andalus. Aquests processos d'apropiació i d'assimilació esdevenien especialment significatius quan hi intervenien edificis simbòlicament rellevants, com palaus i temples, i tingueren efectes de llarg abast més enllà del regnat de Jaume I.