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ISLAMIC ART IN THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM The galleries of in the Metropolitan Museum offer a remarkable opportunity to see Al-Andalus:The Art of Islamic Spain in context with the finest survey of Islamic arts permanently on view anywhere in the world.

Scope of the Museum's holdings The Islamic art collection in the Museum is considered the most comprehensive in its general breadth, ranging in date from the 7th to the 19th century and consisting of objects from Spain and Morocco in the west to Central Asia and in the east. The collection of pottery, including more than 1600 examples from every period and locale, is unparalleled. Other outstanding holdings include glass and metalwork from Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia; royal miniatures from the courts of Persia and Mughal India, classical carpets from the 16th and 17th centuries; and an eighteenth century room from Syria. The growth of the Islamic collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art parallels the growth of general American interest in the arts of since the late 19th century when serious collecting by museums was motivated by a strong romantic spirit. Washington Irving was the first New Yorker to have responded actively to Islamic art and his writings contributed to the enthusiasm among Americans for "Saracenic" art and architecture. His book, The Alhambra. was published in 1832, ten years before he was appointed United States Minister to Spain. The first Islamic objects to enter the Metropolitan Museum were acquired in 1874, and the first major private collection, given by Edward C. Moore in 1891, contained Egyptian, Syrian, and Mesopotamian metalwork and glass, as well as Persian and Spanish pottery. The Department of Islamic Art was established for the museum's holdings in 1963. (MORE) ISLAMIC ART PAGE 2

The Museum's superb collection of Islamic lusterware, , manuscripts, glass mosque lamps, and other objects provide rich comparisons to many works in Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain. They reveal disparate sources, including those of the Syrian Umayyad Dynasty, of Baghdad (Abbasid), and Egypt (Fatimid), that shed light on much that is dazzling and nostalgic in the arts of Al-Andalus.

Highlights of Spanish Islamic works on permanent display The Museum's Islamic collection contains notable holdings of Spanish and North African Islamic arts, exquisite examples of which are included in the Al-Andalus exhibition. Many other works from the permanent collection can be found in the Islamic galleries to complement the exhibition. These galleries are located on the second floor in the southeast corner of the Museum. Immediately upon entering Gallery 1 of the Islamic section, one can see installed overhead a typically Nasrid wooden ceiling dating to the 14th or 15th century. It probably came from the Alhambra or a building of identical style; the type is represented among ceilings in the Alhambra, for example the one covering the porch of the Torre de las Damas. This one was part of a similar elongated rectangular ceiling but sections are now missing from each end. Small concave "domes" distinguish these ceilings, breaking the surface and creating three dimensionality in an otherwise low-, visually two- dimensional scheme. In Gallery 3 are three capitals and a base of meticulously carved marble, which probably came from Madinat al Zahra, the Umayyad palace city founded in 936 near Cordoba. They are examples of a classical tradition traced to the Syrian Umayyad Dynasty, which they nostalgically embrace. On view in a nearby case is a leaf of a Qur'an. Such Our'ans of the Maghrib (the Islamic west, meaning North and Spain) possess a style recalling old Kufic script and are typified by a rounded sweep of terminals of some letters, usually exaggerated. Also on view in this gallery is an intricately carved box, with its lid missing, also from Madinat (MORE) ISLAMIC GALLERIES PAGE 3

-al Zahrá (ca. 970) and a Spanish Islamic textile fragment of silk and gold wrapped silk, produced in a compound weave (first half of the 12th century). Covering Gallery 5 is a spectacular ceiling of red, gray, and gold hue, that belongs to a group of trough-like ceilings which saw great development and usage in Granada under the Nasrids. The style is also known from other cities in Spain and continued to be well- represented among wooden ceilings after the Christian reconquest was complete. This work, dating from the first half of the 16th century, is decorated with Islamic geometric star- patterns and centered by a characteristically Islamic pendant "stalactite" configuration. The scroll inhabited by animals has Christian rather than Muslim parallels. Below the ceiling are installed four carved marble columns with capitals, bases, and impost blocks that once formed part of a facade similar to the one simulated here, in a Nasrid building, perhaps the Alhambra. The capitals, with their undulating ribbon-like design are characteristically Nasrid as are the columns with their series of moldings at top and bottom. Among the other Spanish works displayed in Gallery 5 are a late 15th-century Nasrid sword and scabbard, albarellos, several textiles and carpets, and a group of Mudejar (Islamic style made for Christian patrons) luster-painted ceramics.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION please call John Ross or Norman Keyes, Jr., Public Information. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (212) 879-5500: Fax: (212) 472-2764 (June 1992) íZl-tfndaLus LAS ARTES ISLÁMICAS EN ESPAÑA

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM EXHIBITION SURVEYS 700 YEARS OF COURTLY ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE IN AL-ANDALUS: THE ART OF ISLAMIC SPAIN

Exhibition dates: July 2-September 27, 1992 Exhibition location: Robert Lehman Galleries Press Preview: Wednesday, July 1, 1992, 10:00 a.m.-noon

The exhibition was organized by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Patronato of the Alhambra and Generalife, under the joint patronage of the Junta of Andalucía, the Ministry of Culture, and the Ayuntamiento of Granada; it was sponsored by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya. Transportation assistance has been provided by Iberia Airlines of Spain. Additional support for the exhibition in New York has been provided by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

On July 2, The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to the Islamic arts of Spain, evoking the extraordinary civilization of al-Andalus, which spanned some seven centuries on the Iberian peninsula before its fall exactly 500 years ago. AL-ANDALUS: THE ART OF ISLAMIC SPAIN unites for the first time in centuries many masterpieces of the Spanish Islamic tradition now in collections throughout Europe, Russia, North Africa, the Middle East, and the United States. The exhibition travels to New York from the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, where a slightly larger version was seen. It brings together approximately 100 works of art from 14 countries and nearly 60 institutions, including Spain's museums, monasteries, and cathedral treasuries. Among the works represented are luxury arts of bronze, silver, and ivory; jewelry and arms; scientific instruments; painted and glazed ceramics; textiles and carpets; illustrated and illuminated manuscripts; and architectural elements of marble, stucco, and wood. Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan Museum, stated: "This exhibition, five years in the making, bears witness to the brilliant Islamic culture that was a preeminent force on the Iberian Peninsula during the period from 711 until 1492. For the (MORE) Al-Andalus Page 2 first time, a retrospective exhibition of such proportions examines the profound cultural imprint left by Islam. It was an imprint whose subtle influence was felt as far away as northern Europe and the New World, before the fragmentation and dispersal of a unique artistic culture. Only now can we begin fully to explore this magnificent Islamic legacy." The term al-Andalus appeared as early as 716 on bilingual coins, as the Arabic translation of Spania, the Latin name for Spain. This exhibition examines al-Andalus through its magnificent courtly arts and architecture, with sections devoted to each major Islamic dynasty to have dominated the peninsula. The Spanish Umayyad period, from 711 to 1031, produced a brilliant court that carefully established an image of Córdoba as an elegant capital. The Taifa monarchs (1031-90) perpetuated the most refined elements of the Umayyad princely image. The invasions of two North African Berber sects, the Almoravids and Almohads (1090-1212), brought renewed force and conscious conservatism and restraint to al-Andalus. And finally, the Nasrids (1230-1492) created an opulent court at Granada that, from its very birth, celebrated the glories of an Islamic rule that was slipping from their hands. Among the exhibition's architectural highlights is an extraordinary and intricate wooden ceiling from the Alhambra, the dazzling Nasrid complex of fortress, palaces, and gardens that was built mainly in the 14th century and survives today on a hilltop overlooking the city of Granada as the last great Islamic monument in Spain. The carved wooden cupola, once the ceiling of the Torre de las Damas, measures more than 11 feet square and six feet high, and is structurally original and resplendent. Its frame is filled by a dramatic, ornate, octagonal design containing a figure of sixteen sections that converge, at the uppermost part, on a wheel of geometric lobes centered by a star. It will be seen in New York only and is lent by the Museum für Islamische Kunst, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer, Kulturbesitz. Two other revealing-architectural fragments from Nasrid monuments, on loan from the Museo Nacional de Arte Hispanomusulmán, Granada, are also to be shown only in New York. One is a sumptuous, multi-colored carved plaster panel from the Patio de la Acequia in the Generalife, the garden complex near the Alhambra, bordered in a red-ochre cursive script that repeats the motto of the Nasrid dynasty. The other is part of a glazed mosaic tile (MORE) Al-Andalus Page 3 dado that once closed off the opening leading from the Mexuar, or judicial seat of the Alhambra palace complex, to the adjacent court, and it bears a delicately interlaced design forming alternating stars of eight and sixteen points. The whole is an elaborate network of intersecting bands set obliquely and at right angles. The exhibition includes masterpieces from all periods of Islamic rule in Spain. One particularly outstanding work from the period of the is the rich and vivid casket (1004-5) from the Museo de Navarra, Pamplona, which was carved in ivory for the chamberlain Abd al-Malik (served 1002-08). It is covered with images of warriors, animals, hunters, and kings. Also on view is a silver-gilt casket (975) from the treasury of Gerona cathedral, made for the caliph Hisham II (r.976-1013). Another masterwork from this period is the famous bronze fountain decoration of a stag from the Museo Arqueológico Provincial de Cordoba, which may have spewed water into one of the garden basins of the caliphal palace at Madinat al-Zahra. Gifts made for the family of Caliph Abd al-Rahman III (912-61) or that of his son al-Hakam II (961-76) were certainly fashioned in the workshops of this palace city and perhaps graced its halls. Among them is an intricately carved ivory game box, lent by the Museo de Burgos. The arts of the Taifa kingdoms in the 11th century elaborated on the earlier caliphal traditions. Included in this section is the monumental bronze griffin now in the collection of the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Pisa, whose provenance continues to incite scholarly debate, and one of the earliest dated astrolabes from al-Andalus, from the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. A rich, multi-colored silk and gold thread weaving figuring flowers, lozenges, palmettes, and budlike motifs, is loaned from the Museo Arqueológico Provincial de Huesca, and reveals intriguing influences, including Fatimid, Egyptian Islamic weavings in the Coptic tradition, and Abbassid weavings and embroidery. Astonishingly, it was discovered only in 1978, in the Colls church in Puente de Montañana in Huesca. Works dating to the-Almoravid and Almohad periods, from the late 11th to 13th century, include precious metalwork, ivory carvings, textiles, ceramics, and magnificent examples of illuminated Qur'ans. There is a remarkable Islamic textile (1st half of the 12th century), elaborated by rows of animals and birds, made into a chasuble. It had been used to wrap the relics of Saint Exupéry, the fifth-century bishop of Toulouse. The silk twill (MORE) Al-Andaius Page 4 vestment, once thought to be Sicilian, contains peacock motifs that relate precisely to caliphal ivories and such decoration as palmettes that convincingly link it to Almoravid period textile workshops of al-Andalus. It is on loan from the Basilisque de Saint Sernin, Toulouse. A number of outstanding manuscripts from this time are contained in the exhibition, including a Qur'an manuscript written in Valencia in 1161/2, loaned by the General Egyptian Book Organization, Cairo, and a Qur'an written in Seville in 1227, loaned by the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich. Also included is a splendid leather Qur'an binding (1178) from the Bibliothèque Royale, Rabat, lavishly gilded and colored. The only illustrated literary manuscript to survive from al-Andalus, the Hadith Bayad wa Riyad, from the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, , never before seen outside the Vatican, is also featured in the exhibition. It includes fourteen vivid miniatures that depict the trials of a pair of young lovers against the landscape and architecture of al-Andalus. The Kingdom of Morocco, whose national treasures seldom leave the country, is an especially important contributor to the exhibition, enabling it more fully to demonstrate how the arts of al-Andalus extended to the North African capitals, as Spanish artisans and traditions were embraced by North African rulers. Included among the masterpieces on loan from Morocco are two remarkable mosque lamps of copper, from the Qarawiyyin mosque in Fez. Originally used as church bells, they were seized from bell towers in Gibraltar and Ubeda by the North African Berbers during 12th- and 14th-century campaigns and spirited triumphantly to Fez as symbols of victory. There, embellished with Islamic decorative metalwork, they were installed as lamps in the mosque. These lamps have hung in the mosque throughout the centuries. Also on loan from Morocco, lent by the Madrasa Ben Youssouf in Marrakesh, is a stately ceremonial basin in carved marble with eagles, , and griffins, the largest of all surviving ablution fonts from al-Andalus. Stylistically, it relates to Mesopotamian and Sasanian prototypes, as well as to the decoration of the palace in Mshatta, Jordan. The defeat of the Almohads by the advancing Christian armies left under Islamic rule only the tiny kingdom of Granada. Ruled by the Nasrid dynasty from 1235 until 1492, the city finally surrendered to the military forces of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, (MORE) Al-Andalus Page 5 marking the end of Islamic hegemony on the Iberian Peninsula. Symbols of Nasrid rule at the critical moment before its final decline are included in the exhibition, among them the finest examples of luxury arms of al-Andalus in existence. Three lavishly ornamented swords, among only a small number of arms surviving from the period, are on loan from the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris; the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Kassel; and the Museo del Ejército, Madrid. One of the swords can be specifically associated with the last Nasrid monarch, Muhammad XII, also known as Boabdil. It is shown together with a parade helmet, now in the Metropolitan Museum collection, which also has been linked, through generations of romantic lore, to Boabdil. This unusually ornate open-faced helmet is wrought of gilt steel, with tooled designs and stylized inscriptions and multicolored cloisonné enamels. It is considered one of the finest extant examples of Islamic armor. Complementing the cupola ceiling and other architectural examples from the Alhambra are numerous sumptuous works of the type that would have furnished the palace complex itself, illuminating our understanding of the domestic accouterments of Nasrid palace life. Among the most outstanding is an elaborate luster-painted earthenware Alhambra vase on loan from the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Such vessels, about four feet in height, represent the pinnacle of achievement in the art of Nasrid ceramics. Another work, traced almost certainly to the Alhambra itself, is the large, elaborately ornamented silk curtain on loan from The Cleveland Museum of Art. A 464-page scholarly catalogue, including 373 illustrations, 324 in full color, accompanies the exhibition, and is edited by Dr. Jerrilynn D. Dodds, Associate Professor of Art and Architecture, City College, City University of New York. It includes a chronology, glossary, index, bibliography, maps and plans; and photographs by the renowned photographer Raghubir Singh. The two editions of the catalogue, one in English and one in Spanish, have been published, respectively, by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Ediciones El Viso,-Madrid; and a documentary video, produced by Sogetel, Madrid, in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum and the Patronato of the Alhambra and Generalife, will be distributed worldwide. The undertaking of the exhibition has required a high degree of collaboration among the conservation, design, and curatorial staffs of both the Metropolitan Museum and the (MORE) Al-Andalus Page 6 Alhambra. AL-ANDALUS: THE ART OF ISLAMIC SPAIN has been organized by an exhibition team headed by Philippe de Montebello, Director, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Mahrukh Tarapor, Assistant Director. Co-organizers of the exhibition in Spain are Mateo Revilla Uceda, Director, Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, and Javier Aiguabella, Centro Nacional de Exposiciones, Ministerio de Cultura. The selection of objects in the exhibition was made by Daniel Walker, Curator in Charge of the Department of Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Dr. Jerrilynn D. Dodds, Special Consultant. At the Museum, the exhibition is installed in the Robert Lehman Wing galleries, courtesy of the Robert Lehman Foundation. It is designed by David Harvey, Museum Exhibition Designer; graphics are by Barbara Weiss, Museum Graphic Designer; and lighting is by Zack Zanolli, Museum Lighting Designer.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION please call John Ross, Public Information, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York. Tel: (212) 879-5500: Fax: (212) 472-2764 (June 1992) {Äl-fÄndalus LAS ARTES ISLÁMICAS EN ESPAÑA

AI, ANDALUS: THE ART OF ISLAMIC SPAIN text of wall panels for the exhibition

Islam was a vital presence on the Iberian Peninsula from the years 711 to 1492 (A.H. 92-898),* and it left an enduring mark on Spanish culture. On July 19, 711, an army of and Berbers, united by a belief in Islam, defeated the forces of the Visigothic king, Roderick, near the southern coast of Spain. This victory marked the advent of Islam to Spain, until then a land peopled by Christian Hispano-Romans, Jews, and regional ethnic groups tenuously united under Visigothic rule. Over the next seven years, the entire peninsula, except for areas in the far north, was united under Islamic rule. The new Islamic land was called al-Andalus. The term, whose precise origins are uncertain, appeared as early as 716 (A.H. 98) on bilingual coins as the translation of Spania, the Latin name for Spain, and it became the Arabic name for those areas of the peninsula under Islamic control.

The end of Islamic dynastic power came in 1492 with the expulsion of the last Nasrid king, Muhammad XII, from Granada by King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella. The intervening centuries were witness to a rich and varied Islamic period, one with a constantly changing political and cultural character.

This exhibition, devoted to the exploration of the arts produced during the nearly eight hundred years of Islamic rule on the Iberian Peninsula, seeks to reconstitute the vital and dynamic visual world that was al-Andalus. The Art of Islamic Spain

The art of Islamic Spain, although stylistically distinct and recognizable, shares general concerns with Islamic art from other regions. At the heart of the Islamic attitude toward art is the belief in a God who cannot be seen, who can be known only through the mind and through the heart. This belief, one of the forces behind Islamic aniconism, or the avoidance of images, led to an emphasis on abstract arts and calligraphy. Calligraphy, hidden in the patterns and designs of many of these objects, was a vehicle for conveying the word of God to the faithful, and it assumed a near-sacred role, even when illegible. Often it was itself revered as an object of art. Geometric patterns and spiraling vines and leaves known as turn words into abstract patterns, converting the graphic into the intellectual and the meditative. Figurai arts would also develop in the secular courts of al-Andalus as a means of creating images of authority, but they would not have as enduring a role as the more abstract, contemplative arts. The Umayyads

In 756 (A.H. 139), less than fifty years after the arrival of Islamic forces in Spain, al-Andalus was brought under the firm hand of cAbd al-Rahmán I, a member of the Umayyad dynasty of Syria. The Umayyads, a dynasty of caliphs, or successors to the Prophet, were overthrown by the "Abbäsids in 749/750 (A.H. 133). It was in escaping the cAbbäsids that the young prince made his way to Spain.

The Umayyad era in Spain (756-1031 [A.H. 139-423]) marked the first great period of the arts of al-Andalus. For most of this time, Córdoba was the capital of the kingdom and a rich center of learning and artistic production. A vibrant new artistic tradition would grow there from the interaction of cAbd al-Rahmân s Syrian heritage and the indigenous Roman and Visigothic traditions.

In the midst of Rusâfa a palm tree has appeared to me in a Western land far from the home of palm trees. So I said, this resembles me, for I also live in distant exile and separated by a great distance from my children and my family. Thou hast grown up in a foreign land and we are both exiled far from home. Religious Art of the Umayyads

Islam means submission to the will of God, and its teachings place certain requirements upon the faithful: that they acknowledge a single God; pray five times a day; give alms to the poor; fast for one month each year; and undertake, if possible, a pilgrimage to Mecca, the site of the birth of Islam. Prayers may be performed nearly anywhere—with the exception of the Friday congregational prayer, which must be celebrated by the faithful together in a mosque. In the early Islamic mosques, of which the Great Mosque of Córdoba is an outstanding example, courtyards and dispersed forests of columns provided a vast, serene space in which the Muslim community could come together for prayer. The direction of prayer is indicated in the mosque by a niche, or mihrab, in the wall oriented in the direction of Mecca.

There is little art in Islamic Spain, or elsewhere in the Islamic world, that is specifically religious in nature. Exceptions are the mihrab and the , or pulpit, for the prayer leader (imam). The Quran, the word of God as conveyed to the Prophet Muhammad, is the sacred text of Islam. Human or figurai imagery does not appear in the Quran or in any mosque or mosque furnishing. Madinat al-Zahrä'and the Caliphate

One of the greatest rulers of the Umayyad dynasty was cAbd al-Rahmän III (r. 912-61 [A.H. 300-350]). In 929 (A.H. 316), in an effort to recover the ancient authority of the Umayyad dynasty and increase his influence over North Africa, cAbd al-Rahmän III proclaimed himself caliph and adopted the institutional title of the caliphate, Commander of the Faithful.

Glorification of the ruler and state called for the creation of a new palace city. Begun in 936 (A.H. 325) or 940/1 (A.H. 329) and situated about three miles west of Córdoba, the massive building program for the new capital, Madinat al-Zahrä3, was initiated by cAbd al-Rahmän III and continued by his son al-Hakam II.

In the expansive vistas from the open pavilions and gardens overlooking the fertile plain below, cAbd al-Rahmän III demonstrated his dominion over the land. The palace buildings of Madinat al-Zahrä5 were elaborately decorated with carved stone and wood. Some carved marble was imported, while some was worked at shops in Córdoba or in the new city itself. There was a workshop for ivory carving at Madinat al-Zahrä3, and there may have been other ateliers as well. Indeed, every kind of luxury art imaginable was associated with the palace by its historians: books, textiles, and work in gold, silver, bronze, and marble. Arts from Madinat al-Zahrä3 display a synthesis of indigenous artistic traditions with the traditions of both Umayyad Syria and the reigning culture of cAbd al-Rahmän Ill's rivals in Baghdad. These precious objects with princely iconography created a royal image for Muslim princes in this land of Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

When kings want to immortalize the memory of their loftiest thoughts, they do so by means of the language of architecture. A building, when it is of noble proportions, reflects the majesty and rank of the builder. The Taifas

The central authority of the Umayyads disintegrated in the eleventh century; the final collapse of the dynasty occurred in 1031 (A.H. 423). By then over twenty independent states, known as Taifas, had been established, as local princes seized power over the various territories. The most important Taifa states, centered on such cities as Seville, Saragossa, Badajoz, Toledo, Valencia, Granada, Almería, and Albarracin, were rich in cultural and scientific achievement, and significant interchange took place among Muslim, Christian, and Jewish populations. Many of the Taifa arts reflect the continuation of caliphal traditions, although there were also new, regional developments, stimulated by the dispersion of patronage and ateliers into many geographic areas. Following the pattern established under the caliphate, patronage of the arts became a sign of erudition and authority for the Taifa rulers, who nevertheless failed to attain the economic and military power of the earlier rulers. The Almoravids and the Almohads

In the late eleventh and mid-twelfth centuries, two fundamentalist Berber dynasties from North Africa, the Almoravids and the Almohads, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar to stage military invasions of al-Andalus. Both groups believed they were salvaging Spanish Islam from the growing threat of the Christian kingdoms of the north, and from what they perceived as the depravity of the Spanish Muslims, who seemed to be seduced by luxury and close relations with Christians and Jews. Following the invasion of 1090 (A.H. 483), most of the previously independent states became part of the Almoravid domain, with its capital at Marrakesh. In 1147 (A.H. 541), the Almoravids were succeeded in North Africa by the Almohads, a dynasty founded by Ibn Tumart, a charismatic leader with ascetic, fundamentalist views. And by the following year, all Muslim territory in Spain had been absorbed by the Almohad kingdom, with its Spanish capital at Seville.

Although the arts flourished under the Almoravids and Almohads and Spanish styles and traditions were embraced by the North African rulers, the more restrained cultural attitudes of these dynasties had an impact on the visual arts. Luxurious figured silks continued to be produced during the Almoravid period, but the Almohads restricted the manufacturing of rich textiles because, as Ibn Khaldün tells us, "they followed the idea of piety and simplicity that they learned from the Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi Ibn Tümart." During this time, a more austere religious architecture emerged and the ornamentation of architecture and objects often assumed a more restrained and schematized style. The production of Qur ans, some with lavish illumination, took on particular importance. The Nasrids

With the Almohad withdrawal to North Africa in 1212 (A.H. 609), resistance to Christian advances was local in nature, and, one by one, Islamic cities fell—among them, Córdoba in 1236 (A.H. 635) and Seville in 1248 (A.H. 646). Only the tiny and vibrant kingdom of Granada, with the citadel known as the Alhambra as its heart, managed to survive, in part through the payment of tribute to Ferdinand I of Castile and his successors.

Granada's role as a center of Muslim culture and learning far exceeded its political might. The court attracted scholars and literary men, and the artistic production of the Nasrids, with its opulent variations of the more restrained arts of the Almoravid and Almohad periods, became a defiant visual statement of cultural power. The trappings of power and wealth—glittering inlaid ceremonial arms and opulent furnishings such as ceramics and textiles—seem intended to defy the harsh political realities of the time.

With the marriage of Ferdinand V of Aragon to Isabella of Castile in 1469, Christian Spain was united under one crown. In 1492, Granada and its ruler, Muhammad XII (known as Boabdil), surrendered to the Christians. Convergence

The Christians and Jews who lived within the boundaries of al-Andalus were considered Peoples of the Book. Their teachings were respected as forerunners of Islam, and they were permitted to continue the practice of their religion and way of life under most phases of Islamic rule in Spain.

After the conquest of Islamic lands by Christians, many aspects of Islamic art in Spain were embraced by Christians and Jews. Peter the Cruel would model his additions to the Alcazar of Seville after parts of the Alhambra, and his Jewish chamberlain, Samuel Halevi Abulafia, would build a synagogue that used carved stucco and calligraphy in a way remarkably similar to that of the Nasrid palace. Buildings and objects that displayed Islamic style and technique but were produced under Christian and Jewish patronage are called Mudejar. They represent both the survival of Islamic craft traditions on the peninsula and the way that the arts of Islam became part of a shared language of form. The Alhambra

The Alhambra, meaning "the red [fortress]" (al-Hamra'), is the greatest Nasrid monument and one of the most important and magnificent Islamic palaces. Built on a mountain ridge overlooking the town of Granada, the Alhambra was an extensive palace-city that combined royal reception areas and apartments, gardens and courtyards, residential areas, and a mosque. The palaces that comprise the Alhambra, the creation of a succession of Nasrid rulers, in particular Ismacil I (r. 1313-25 [A.H. 713-25]) and Muhammad V (r. 1354-59 and 1362-91 [A.H. 755-60 and 763-93]), feature opulent decoration. The richness of the elaborate wooden ceilings, carved stucco walls, intricate tilework dados, and marble floors was intended to project an image of monarchical strength. Symbolic of the power of an old and potent culture, the mythically splendid palace is a statement of defiance against rapidly encroaching Christian rule.

All borders are in perpetual security All in defense of the realm and of elevated dignity. 1 represent the highest grade of Beauty My form is admired by the most erudite. No better house than I has ever been seen— Either in the East or the West.