|
The Art of Islamic Spain
Written by Patricia, Countess Jellicoe
Photographs courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Alhambra, site of the first presentation of the
exhibition "Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain," has been
an Orientalist fantasy since.. Washington Irving
rediscovered it for the Western world in his delightful
Tales of the Alhambra, written in 1832. But the 13th-century
citadel and palace complex, set on a hilltop overlooking
Granada, is not only the best known monument of the Muslim
era in Spain, but itself one of that period's greatest
treasures. In this setting, New York's Metropolitan Museum
of Art and the Administration of the Alhambra and Generalife
together have produced a real and provocative new vision of
almost 800 years of Islamic Spain.
 Some 120 pieces of the finest Hispano-Islamic art from
collections in America, Britain, Russia, Sicily, Egypt,
Morocco, Spain and other countries went on display: ivory
and marble carvings, bronze lamps and animals, coins, jewels
and ceremonial swords, superb textiles, ceramics, astrolabes
and the flowing calligraphy of Qur'ans, all restoring a
vivid life to the rich, exotic beauty of the Alhambra's
interiors. The displays were a feat of installation: Nothing
was permitted to touch the exquisite tiled and stuccoed
walls, all cases and lighting standing discreetly free.
The exhibition catalogue presents the history of the various
Muslim dynasties in Spain, from the first Arab conquests in
711 to the fall of the last Muslim kingdom in 1492 - for, in
order to appreciate fully the art assembled in this
exhibition, one should know something of the origins of Al-Andalus,
of the powers and interests at play, of the widespread trade
and travel of Spain's Muslims and the resulting influences
on their arts, and of the ebb and flow of hegemony in the
peninsula, from the early days of Muslim-Christian-Jewish
harmony and mutual tolerance to the final victory of the
reconquista in Granada.
Some say the Arab conquest of the Iberian Peninsula began
with an invitation: According to one account, the Umayyad
governor of North Africa, Musa ibn Nusayr, was asked to aid
the opponents of a Visigoth king. True or not, it is a fact
that Ibn Nusayr sent his general Tariq ibn Ziyad with a
Amazigh (Berber) army into Spain in 711, following himself in 712.
Toledo lured Tariq to its conquest, and within seven years
the whole of the peninsula, except for Galicia and Asturias,
was under Muslim control, remaining so throughout the
Umayyad period, from 711 to 1031.
The era of the Umayyad Governors was followed by the Umayyad
Emirate, established in 756 after the arrival in Spain of 'Abd
al-Rahman I, sole survivor of the Umayyad caliphate of
Damascus, which had been overthrown by the Abbasids in 750.
The dynasty of the Andalusian Umayyads (756-1031) marked the
zenith of Arab civilization in Spain.
But that dynasty collapsed after the death of the formidable
dictator-chamberlain al-Mansur in 1002 and the civil war of
1010-1013, and local governors proclaimed themselves taifas,
or petty monarchs, with Seville, Toledo and Saragossa the
most powerful of the independent kingdoms. Their internecine
wars cost territory: Muslim control had receded to only half
of Spain by 1065. With the fall of Toledo to Christian
armies in 1085, the taifas sought support from the North
African Amazigh (Berber) Almoravid dynasty -- but the Almoravid
leader, Yusuf ibn Tashufin, believed that the rule of the
taifas had to be ended if Islamic Spain was to be rescued.
In 1090, Ibn Tashufin decided to land his army in Al-Andalus.
One after another, Muslim-ruled cities fell to the
Almoravids -- Granada, Almeria, Seville, Valencia,
Saragossa, Lisbon and the 'Vest. Al-Andalus remained subject
to the Almoravids until 1145, when they were replaced by the
Almohads, another Amazigh (Berber) dynasty from North Africa's
southern Maghrib. The Almohad rulers adopted the title of
caliph and introduced a series of religious measures seeking
to strengthen their territories. Two great Almohad
sovereigns - Yusuf I and his son Ya'qub - raised western
Islam to the zenith of its power. But in 1212, at the Battle
of Las Navas de Tolosa, the Christian armies avenged their
previous defeats, a turning point in the history of the
peninsula. Only one-third of Spain was left under Muslim
control and Al-Andalus was once again fragmented into
tribute-paying principalities -- Granada excepted.
The final dynasty, the Nasrid Kingdom (1238-1492), ruled
only Granada and three tribute-paying cities: Jaén, Almería
and Málaga. As pressure eased on Granada, the kingdom
reached its greatest splendor during the reign of Muhammad V
(1354-1359 and 1362-1391), when he added considerably to the
Alhambra Palace. His ministers included some of the most
learned men of the epoch: polymath historian Ibn al-Khatib,
his close friend and fellow historian Ibn Khatima and court
poet Ibn Zamraq. The royal court also extended its
protection to Tunis-born Ibn Khaldun, the great philosopher
of history. But by the end of the next century, the power of
Christian Castile and Aragon, unified by the marriage of
Ferdinand and Isabella -- both pledged to the reconquista --
forced the last ruling Nasrid, Muhammad XII, known to the
Spaniards as King Boabdil, into exile on January 2,1492.
The city of Córdoba, whose Great Mosque still survives with
its rhythmic arched vistas, became the center of a
sophisticated, luxuriously rich Hispano-Islamic civilization
that ranked with Byzantium and Baghdad. By the time of its
apogee in the 10th century, Córdoba was renowned for its
intellectually advanced culture, its learned centers and its
libraries, far outstripping the still-undeveloped Christian
north. In the late 11th century, Córdoba was incorporated
into the Kingdom of Seville, where it remained, continuing
to thrive as an intellectual center, until reconquered by
the Christians in 1236.
In the exhibition, marble capitals from the Madi-nat
al-Zahra Palace in Córdoba show the influence of Byzantine
artisans invited to the court to train Muslims, while the
schematized interweaving of marble window screens (celosías)
is a forerunner of the later, geometrically more intricate
Islamic designs. A supreme example of the quality of Umayyad
artistic production is the deep overall carving of ivories
such as the "Pamplona Casket," dating from 1004 or 1005;
with its foliated Kufic dedication to 'Abd al-Malik and its
images of princely hunting and feasting, traceable to
textile patterns. Of 21 medallions on the casket, one
outstanding one may show the reigning Caliph Hisham II -- a
bearded, bareheaded figure seated on a lion throne, a flower
or fruit in his hand and a signet ring on his left ring
finger. Flanking him are two attendants, one holding a fly
whisk, the other a perfume bottle or sprinkler and a woven
fan.
Two carved ivory pyxides -- containers for precious
aromatics -- have the domed cover unique to 10th-century
Spanish containers, and are designed to resemble a pavilion,
with its palatial and paradisiacal connotations, suggesting
the richness of the gifts within. One pyxis, made in 968,
features within its overall carving large medallions of such
vividness that they have been included in virtually all
discussions of early Islamic art: One contains the ancient
Middle Eastern motif of lions attacking other animals, bulls
in this case; the second portrays a lute player on a lion
throne, flanked by two seated youths; the third is of two
beardless, bareheaded riders picking dates from either side
of a tree while cheetahs seated on their horses' flanks hold
two parrots by the tail.
One of two 10th-century textile fragments on display, of
silk, linen and gold thread, is thought to be part of an
almaizar -- a cloth which served as both veil and turban --
of Hisham II, to whom there is a dedication in Kufic, while
its embroidered medallions of people, lions, birds and other
animals show Egyptian Coptic influence.
The Madinat al-Zahra Palace, built by 'Abd al-Rahman in and
his son al-Hakam II between the middle and end of the 10th
century, was tragically looted and destroyed in the 11th
century. Found in its ruins was the well-known bronze
Córdoba Stag - probably made as a fountain-head - that is
the surviving masterpiece of the palace's metalwork atelier.
The body of the stag has an overall pattern of leaves within
circles, a common textile design of the period. Fountains
were an integral part of Islam's aesthetic - particularly in
western Islam. Medical philosophies of the time maintained
that health followed from the freshness of flowing water and
perfumed air. The musk and ambergris from ivory pyxides,
perfume from silver and gilt bottles, and perfumed candles
would all have filled the palace's rooms with scent.
The taifa kings emulated Córdoban power in their patronage
of the arts; thus many scholars, merchants and the richest
citizens emigrated to their realms, which became centers of
small renaissances. Islamic literature in Spain attained
its. peak during the taifa era when the poet-king of
Seville, al-Mu'tamid, established an academy of letters, and
al-Mansur's poet, Ibn Darraj al-Qastalli, who took refuge in
Saragossa, penned a series of qasa'id, or poems, of
unequaled beauty.
In architecture, buildings took on new forms and decoration.
An example in the exhibition from the Aljaferia in
Saragossa, the best-preserved palace complex of the taifa
era, is a carved-stucco relief with a design of interwoven
arched columns -- derived, perhaps, from the Córdoba
Mosque's curving maqsura arches, but giving birth to a new
style of more complex and integrated geometrical shapes
against a fuller scrolled-leaf ground. The relief still
bears some of the red and blue color of the paints once used
on all such stuccoes.
By the end of the 11th century, Al-Andalus was at the
forefront of European sciences. The Saragossan king al-Mu'tamin
(1080-1085), an outstanding mathematician himself, gathered
at his court a distinguished group of scholars and
philosophers. In the mid-11th century, Abu Qasim Sa'id ibn
Ahmad of Toledo, in his book The Categories of Nations,
discussed the schools of sciences which had developed since
their establishment a century before by "the Euclid of
Spain," astronomer-mathematician Maslamah al-Majriti of
Madrid - whose translated work was known to European
monasteries. Muslims, Christians and Jews collaborated on
the Materia Medica, a revision of the Eastern Arabic version
of the first-century Greek physician Dioscorides' text,
while throughout Al-Andalus further medicinal plant
properties were being discovered and disseminated.
The Andalusians excelled in astronomy, both theoretical and
practical, perfecting their tables and the precision of
their astronomical instruments. Trade and travel brought
dependence on the celestial globe -- known to Muslims from
Ptolemy's Almagest (See Aramco World, May-June 1992) -- and
the development of the Hellenic astrolabe, which became
known to Europe through numerous Muslim treatises between
the ninth and 16th centuries. Toledo astronomer Al-Zarqali,
who died in 1087, simplified the astrolabe; his version,
known as the saphea azarchelis, remained in use until the
16th century. He also anticipated 17th-century German
astronomer Johannes Kepler by suggesting that the orbits of
the planets are not circular but oval. Impressive elements
of the exhibition are one of the two oldest known celestial
globes, made in about 1085, and a Saragossan astrolabe dated
with the hijri year 472 (AD 1079/80).
The true origins of the controversial 11th-century bronze
"Pisa Griffin," which once sat atop the cathedral in that
Italian city, are unknown, but local legend calls it booty
taken from conquest of the Balearic Islands east of Spain.
Monumental and fearsome, the griffin stands rigid, its
rounded chest and body, curled-back wings and beaked head
covered in zones of textile-like feathering, scales and
bands of Kufic lettering, with a tear-drop design on the
legs portraying birds and animals in a scrolling surround,
reminiscent of Sassanian Persia. But the puzzling meter-tall
sculpture exhibits characteristics of many other regional
styles as well, and it has been variously attributed to
Fatimid Egypt, Fatimid North Africa, Spain, Sicily and Iran.
Silk textiles were a large part of Al-Andalus's export
trade, and the iconography of two 11th-century textiles is
Middle Eastern -- Sassanian Persian or Mesopotamian.
Conserved in startling freshness is the lining of the
Reliquary of San Mi-Han, in brilliant crimson silk with
alternating friezes of confronting winged lions and paired
griffins flanking the stylized "tree of life," or
hom, in
green outlined in yellow. An altar panel, called "the
Witches Pallium," is an extraordinary design on crimson silk
with a central frieze of half-sphinx, half-harpy composites
of lions and eagles beneath arches of serpents with feline
heads under attack by ibises; above and below are friezes of
the hom between confronting peacocks.
The Almoravids vigorously developed textile production; the
most prosperous and brilliant period was within the first
quarter of the 12th century, with Almería taking over from
Córdoba and becoming one of the first great manufacturing
cities. The Almoravid silks that stand out above all others
are often referred to as "the Baghdad group," but should
more accurately be termed "the Baghdad imitations."
Contemporary chroniclers call them "tabby" after
al-'Attabiyah, a district of Baghdad where such weaving was
done.
A special technique in these textiles "favored fine woven
lines between two juxtaposed colors and accentuated outlines
in preference to massed color -- a technique Spanish weavers
developed with such skill that their delicate and intricate
textiles are more like a painted miniature," according to
the catalogue. Their decorative style is based on large
rondels, pearl-banded surrounds, and pairsof animals,
face-to-face or back-to-back -- lions, griffins, sphinxes,
harpies, heraldic eagles, peacocks and others - Sassanian
themes widely used since ancient times.
The best example is a 12th-century fragment showing "the
Lion Strangler," an ancient Middle Eastern motif: A man
stands in turban and richly embroidered tunic between two
confronting lions, which he strangles in the crooks of his
arms; his head, hands, feet and belt and the lions' heads
are brocaded in gold in a unique system which joins the
strands of oropel -- tinsel, in this case thin threads of
gilded leather -- to produce a brocade with an unusual
honeycomb effect.
These textiles were equally prized by Spanish Catholics:
This particular fragment is from San Bernardo Calvo's
dalmatic, or religious robe. Another fine example is a
12th-century silk chasuble, badly worn but very beautiful,
from the Basilica of Saint-Sernin in Toulouse. The
vestment's rondel design is formed by the spread tails of
paired, facing peacocks with a stylized hom between them.
There are also gazelles and dogs within each roundel, all
standing on a pedestal on which Kufic lettering repeats the
Arabic phrase "perfect blessing."
Examples of textiles from the Almohad period are few, but of
high quality. Simplicity and piety were enjoined upon them
by their more austere religious beliefs, so the Almohad
rulers initially had no royal textile and embroidery
workshops, and prohibitions were issued against wearing
luxurious silks. However, like the Almoravids, they finally
succumbed to the attraction of rich textiles and resumed
their production. Rondels containing animals gradually
disappeared and circles were substituted with rosettes,
lozenges, polygons and stars inspired by caliphal marbles,
together with bands of script. Christians made use of such
textiles as well, associating the fabrics with power and
wealth, just as the caliphal rulers had.
Maria de Almenar's coffin cover, dating from about 1200, is
of great technical simplicity and magnificent artistry, with
gold rampant lions and gold Kufic writing on a blue band
against the crimson silk ground. The covered headrest for
Leonor of Castile's corpse, with its soft blue-and-gold
bands, is totally Islamic in design: The central piece
consists of silk and gold thread in overall geometric
patterns, and a band of blue cursive Arabic script reads
"happiness and prosperity."
An important, carefully restored historical textile, dated
between 1212 and 1250 and a tour de force in the Almohad
tradition, is the striking wall hanging known as the Las
Navas de Tolosa Banner, now held to be a trophy won by the
Castilians in some other battle. Its central eight-pointed
star is enclosed in a ring and a square of stars and
circles, surmounted and edged with bands of large Kufic
inscriptions and Qur'anic quotations.
The Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, both born of religious
movements, introduced Qur'ans on vellum, parchment and paper
- the oldest surviving one, dated 1090, lent to the
exhibition from Uppsala, Sweden. From Marrakesh, a superb
page from a 13th-century, 20-volume Qur'an is written in
beautiful, large Maghribi script in brown ink, the sura
(chapter) heading in Western Kufic and marginals in blue and
gold on peach-colored paper, probably from Jativa, a center
for Spain's famed papermaking industry.
Morocco played a significant role in the history of
bookbinding and influenced the craft's later development in
Europe, where the first gilded bindings did not appear until
the mid-15th century. An engraved, gilded and painted Qur'an
binding from Rabat (1178) has its distinctive flap, or
lisan, intact (See Aramco World, March-April 1987). An
exquisite, small blue-and-gold frontispiece, dated 1143,
from a Córdoban Qur'an manuscript on loan from Istanbul, is
a fascinating example of the mystic element in Islamic
geometrical design, creating a sense of movement outward at
the same time, paradoxically, as inward. Also from Istanbul
comes a folio from a Qur'an copied in Marrakesh early in the
13th century -- part of the sura titled Man/am, or "Mary."
The red-and-gold heading is written in Western Kufic script,
with verses separated by gold and red-and-gold decorations.
From the Vatican Library, the exhibition features one of the
very few illustrated manuscripts to have survived from
Islamic Spain, a version of the peerless love story of Bayad
and Riyad.
Two immense mosque lamps, a generous loan from the Qarawiyin
Mosque in Fez, document Muslim-Christian wars. Constructed
around Spanish church bells taken as booty, 130 of these
lamps once lit the Qarawiyin Mosque; now only 10 remain. The
two lent to the exhibition are made of copper alloy; one is
from the late 12th or early 13th century and the other from
the North African Marinid era of the 14th century.
From the Nasrid period (1238-1492), along with a spectacular
display of ceremonial arms and armor, comes the large,
gold-lustered Alhambra Vase from the Hermitage Museum in St.
Petersburg, an early 14th-century storage jar of a kind
first mentioned by Washington Irving. Part of a glazed
mosaic tile dado, or pedestal element, from the Mexuar
(council chamber) of the Alhambra "bears an interlaced
design forming alternating stars of eight and 16 points" and
half-stars of 10 points in a design of black, buff, green,
and blue motifs on a white ground, the catalogue notes.
Along the top of the panel is a script frieze repeating
"Power is God's, glory is God's, dominion is God's."
Wooden ceilings, which have a long tradition in
Hispano-Islamic Spain, attained their greatest splendor
under the Nasrids. One of the most exquisite examples of
workmanship and geometric design can be seen in the
Alhambra's own Salon de Comares, its beauty accentuated by
the Metropolitan Museum's lighting arrangements. The
original cupola ceiling of the Partal Palace's Torre de Las
Damas shows an inventive transformation from a square to an
octagon and from an octagon to a 16-sided figure,
culminating at the crown of the roof in a 16-pointed
interlaced star, with stalactites, or muqarnas, forming a
cupola within the octagon.
Marquetry, or taracea inlay work, was used for decoration
throughout the period of Islamic Spain, from the minbars of
Córdoba's Great Mosque and the Qarawiyin Mosque in Fez, to
that of the Kutubiyyah in Marrakesh. The superb cabinet
doors from the Palacio de los Infantes in Granada have their
entire surfaces, inside and out, inlaid with silver,
precious woods and green- and natural-colored bone in an
intricate design of stars and wheels framed by hexagons, all
within rectangular double guilloches, or twisted bands. A
dazzling constellation in silver, they are a final accolade
to the astonishing art of Islamic Spain.
Patricia, Countess Jellicoe is a London-based writer and
lecturer on Middle and Far Eastern art and garden history.
Born in China. She has lived in Beirut, Washington, Brussels
and Baghdad. Back to
Top |
