Peyton Feuer
ARHS 1010-03
Lucia Abramovich
March 23, 2018
Court of the Lions
Towering over the city of Granada, Spain, sits what is left of the Alhambra, a palace left over from the Nasrid dynasty in Islamic Spain. The palace is built like many
Islamic palaces in that each of its pavilions and small buildings surrounded one or more central courtyards, the most famous of which being the Court of the Lions. The
Court of the Lions is follows the style of the Alhambra itself in that it is stylistically distinctive from other Islamic art, both following many traditions of the canon while creating its own style.
While the date of construction of the Alhambra and the Court of the Lions has been disputed amongst some in the academic community, the …show more content…
The lions supporting the basin number twelve, one to represent each tribe of Israel. From a western perspective, such religious symbolism would be quite out of place in a royal palace, but such was the nature of Islamic dynastic rule and the religion and politics of Islam. Taking precedent from Mohammed himself, who was both a prophet and a politician, the rulers of Islam operated in both a political and spiritual capacity; the two could not be separated
( "Islamic Dynastic Art.") . It can also be noted that the symbolism of each lion as a tribe of Israel seems to support the claim that the lions are eleventh century relics owned by the aforementioned Jewish vizier, repurposed for the fountain, as lions are a more prominent symbol in Jewish art at least relative to Islamic art.
Encircling the courtyard are ornate pavilions, supported by 124 slender marble columns. The positioning of the columns are not even, some doubled at points, but they are symmetrical in their positioning, adding artistic beauty if not mathematical equity. The pavilions each a variety of arches, with ornate pointed-horseshoe arches dominating the North and South sides of the pavilion and detailed Nasrid arches on …show more content…
centuries of solar radiation has caused the fading and deterioration of said columns, leading to studies and efforts to repair the structures in the courtyard ( Sáez-Pérez) .
As symbolic as each element of the courtyard was, each had a functional purpose as well. The small waterways bisecting the garden on both cardinal axes operated to combat the extreme temperatures of the Alhambra by way of evaporative cooling ( Willmert, 158) . The fountain kept the water flowing so as to prevent any growth in the stagnant water. The shape of the courtyard, longer on its northern and southern sides serves to maximize consistent shading along the courtyard (Willmert, 160). As luxurious as the aesthetics of the Court of the Lions are, so too are the functional elements behind the structures therein.
Originally, the courtyard was filled with flora, a garden that would have completely manifested Paradise within the Alhambra, but such garden was replaced by pebbles as to protect the fountain's underground water system. Beginning in 2002, the
Council of the Alhambra and Generalife began a restoration process of the Fountain of the Lions as to protect the integrity of the structure ("Restoration of the Court of
ARHS 1010-03
Lucia Abramovich
March 23, 2018
Court of the Lions
Towering over the city of Granada, Spain, sits what is left of the Alhambra, a palace left over from the Nasrid dynasty in Islamic Spain. The palace is built like many
Islamic palaces in that each of its pavilions and small buildings surrounded one or more central courtyards, the most famous of which being the Court of the Lions. The
Court of the Lions is follows the style of the Alhambra itself in that it is stylistically distinctive from other Islamic art, both following many traditions of the canon while creating its own style.
While the date of construction of the Alhambra and the Court of the Lions has been disputed amongst some in the academic community, the …show more content…
The lions supporting the basin number twelve, one to represent each tribe of Israel. From a western perspective, such religious symbolism would be quite out of place in a royal palace, but such was the nature of Islamic dynastic rule and the religion and politics of Islam. Taking precedent from Mohammed himself, who was both a prophet and a politician, the rulers of Islam operated in both a political and spiritual capacity; the two could not be separated
( "Islamic Dynastic Art.") . It can also be noted that the symbolism of each lion as a tribe of Israel seems to support the claim that the lions are eleventh century relics owned by the aforementioned Jewish vizier, repurposed for the fountain, as lions are a more prominent symbol in Jewish art at least relative to Islamic art.
Encircling the courtyard are ornate pavilions, supported by 124 slender marble columns. The positioning of the columns are not even, some doubled at points, but they are symmetrical in their positioning, adding artistic beauty if not mathematical equity. The pavilions each a variety of arches, with ornate pointed-horseshoe arches dominating the North and South sides of the pavilion and detailed Nasrid arches on …show more content…
centuries of solar radiation has caused the fading and deterioration of said columns, leading to studies and efforts to repair the structures in the courtyard ( Sáez-Pérez) .
As symbolic as each element of the courtyard was, each had a functional purpose as well. The small waterways bisecting the garden on both cardinal axes operated to combat the extreme temperatures of the Alhambra by way of evaporative cooling ( Willmert, 158) . The fountain kept the water flowing so as to prevent any growth in the stagnant water. The shape of the courtyard, longer on its northern and southern sides serves to maximize consistent shading along the courtyard (Willmert, 160). As luxurious as the aesthetics of the Court of the Lions are, so too are the functional elements behind the structures therein.
Originally, the courtyard was filled with flora, a garden that would have completely manifested Paradise within the Alhambra, but such garden was replaced by pebbles as to protect the fountain's underground water system. Beginning in 2002, the
Council of the Alhambra and Generalife began a restoration process of the Fountain of the Lions as to protect the integrity of the structure ("Restoration of the Court of