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La
Alhambra
1333-1354, Granada, Spain
Photo by Robin Farwell Gavin |
…, the Alhambra became a written building, its
body covered with script, telling its tales and singing its
poems from its inscribed walls. It is filled with a kind of
celestial graffiti, where the voice of God becomes liquid
and where the joys of art, the intellect, and love can be
experienced.
Carlos Fuentes, The Buried Mirror
(1992)
The story of Spanish mayólica begins in Islamic
Spain. In 711 Arab invaders brought Islam to the Iberian peninsula
from northern Africa. For the next 800 years, as Muslims and
Christians fought for control of what was to become Spain,
Islamic culture became firmly established. New agricultural
techniques and medical knowledge, as well as a new art form,
were introduced. This new art form—mayólica—became
a permanent and distinctive part of Spain’s cultural
heritage.
Even as Christianity began to take hold in Spain, the artistic
excellence of the Islamic craftsman could not be ignored.
As Muslim artists worked increasingly under Christian patronage,
a new style developed in all the arts that reflected both
cultures: mudéjar.
Map of the Muslim Settlement in Spain 8th
- 11th c. / Mapa del área ocupada por los árabes en España
siglos VIII-XI
Adapted from Lister and Lister, Maiolica Olé (2001)
After the Muslims invaded Spain from North Africa, they
moved north into France were they remained until the late
8th century when they were pushed back by the Franks to
just south of the Pyrenees. Andalusia was the last stronghold
of the Arab caliphate and today houses some of Spain's
finest Islamic architecture. |
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