"CS.065 Window" by Denis Baly
 

Preview

image preview

Creator

Denis Baly

Creation Year

1963

Image ID

CS.065

Alternate Identifier

B49.246

Subcollection

CS: Granada

Abstract

Looking towards the Court of the Lions through a portico in the Alhambra at Granada, Spain. About this building, Robert Irwin in his book The Alhambra writes that "Though there is much of technical and historical interest to be said about the Court of the Lions, the first thing to be remarked is that it is, by common consent, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, and there are many who would even go beyond that qualified judgment."

Description

The palace was built in the second half of the fourteenth century in the reign of Muhammad V. The central courtyard is traversed by water-channels with a water fountain in the center. This is in the form a basin below which stand the eponymous twelve stone lions. 124 slender columns establish a harmonious internal rhythm to the building. The Alhambra as a whole is one of the most fantasized monuments of Islamic Architecture, captivating the imagination of a vast number of writers and artists, including Washington Irving and the French author Chateaubriand, to name just a couple. Indeed, some parts of the Alhambra, such as the Court of the Lions, are commonly written about examples of the most beautiful architecture in the world. The palace-complex as it stands today was built mostly in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries under the Nasrid dynasty (1238-1492), in particular by Yusuf I (1333-54) and his son Muhammad V (1354-59, 1362-1391). Out of six royal palaces, only two survive (the Comares palace and the Palace of the Lions). A summer palace called the Generalife (from the Arabic jannat al-arif, ‘the garden of the architect’) is also extant. – SK

Image Notes

Photograph created 1963. Photograph processed September 1963. Formerly catalogued as B49.246, BV.034. Notes written on the slide or index: Window.

Image Format

35 mm slide

Geographic Reference

Granada, Spain

Keywords

Moorish, Muslim, Fourteenth Century, Fifteenth Century, Palace, Stone, Masonry, Stucco, Stucco Carving, Arches, Archway, Window, Inscription, Quranic Inscription, Arabesque, Portico, Tiles, Mosaic

Share

 
COinS
 

Rights Statement

In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted
 
 
BESbswy