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From Al-Andalus to the Golden Age: Spanish Art and Architecture

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From Al-Andalus to the Golden Age: Spanish Art and Architecture From Al-Andalus to the Golden Age: Spanish Art and Architecture Tuesdays, 25 September – 4 December 2018 Seminar Room 4 (Half Term: 23 October) 10.30-13.00 Course Director: Jacqueline Cockburn, Managing Director of Art and Culture Andalucía After General Tariq landed in the Iberian Peninsula in 711 and conquered it in the name of the Umayyad Caliph in Damascus, it became known as Al Andalus. This course will explore the rich and varied culture which flowered over eight hundred years and left extraordinary examples of Islamic art and architecture especially in Cordoba, Seville, Toledo and Granada. This remarkable historical period continued with the gradual Reconquest of Spain ending in 1492, which gave rise to another wave of a diverse visual culture, culminating in The Golden Age of Spain. With the excellent Islamic and Medieval collection in the V&A at our disposal we will be able to look at material culture including textiles and ivories made during the period. Artists such as El Greco and Velazquez will be discussed and their contribution to the wider European Renaissance considered. We will also be given personal insights into the Ribera exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery from the curator and an introduction to the new and exciting Spanish Gallery at Bishop Auckland. Week 1: 25 September 10.30 Introduction; Islamic Spain; Architecture and History 12.00 Cordoba Mosque; tradition and innovation The course will begin with a brief overview of Islamic Architecture in Spain. The medieval kingdom of al-Andalus, on the Iberian Peninsula, lasted from 711AD to 1492AD. However much of its material culture was destroyed or appropriated during the centuries of the re-conquest. Architecture left the most visible trace of the landscape this period, and its origins and developments provide a useful framework in which to explore this unique culture, the only occurrence of Islamic rule in western Europe. This first lecture traces the history and the architectural developments that accompanied it, as Islam, Christianity and Judaism lived cheek-by-jowl over nearly eight hundred years. The second lecture of the first week will consider the building of Cordoba Mosque begun by Abd al-Rahman I in 785. It will examine the various extensions and will pay particular attention to al-Hakam II’s exquisite extension. The phases of building Cordoba Mosque will be analysed, with references to the broader culture which the Umayyads brought with them. The Mosque became the emblem of this fertile period in Spanish History. Week 2: 2 October 10.30 The Good life in Caliphal Cordoba (Tom Nickson) 12.00 Luxury Arts of Caliphal Cordoba Visit to V&A Collection (Tom Nickson) The first lecture explores the spectacular palaces, villas and gardens of Umayyad Córdoba as the setting for lavish displays of caliphal power, for poetic gatherings, and for dazzling artistic effects. The great palatine city of Madinat al-Zahra’ outside Córdoba was the location of royal ivory and textile workshops and we consider how these objects can be understood in their original architectural and ceremonial contexts. Try watching one of the numerous online virtual visits In the visit we look closely at the V&A’s wonderful collection of Andalusi ivory caskets, many of them produced at Madinat al- Zarha’ for the caliph and his entourage. How were they carved? What is the significance of their inscriptions and decoration? And do they represent more than ‘luxury gift wrap’ for the precious perfumes they contained? Week 3: 9 October 10.30 Islamic Silk Textiles from Al-Andalus (Ian Cockburn) 12.00 Islamic Luxury Goods in a Christian World (Ian Cockburn) In medieval al-Andalus, significant production of silk, and an Islamic economic and cultural focus on textiles, led to the creation of a highly advanced silk textile industry, whose products were admired, desired and traded throughout the Mediterranean area until well into the fifteenth century. The first lecture will look at a number of textiles, some of which can be seen in the V&A’s collection, focussing on the techniques involved, the developments and meanings of the iconographic designs and the surprising variety of contexts in which they were used. The material culture of al-Andalus was particularly renowned for the richness of its silk textiles and the exquisite refinement of its carved ivory caskets and pyxides. Decorated with distinctly Islamic designs and inscriptions, they were secular objects given as courtly and ambassadorial gifts. However, they were also highly valued by the nobility of the northern Christian kingdoms and many were appropriated for use in Christian religious contexts, a paradox that will be explored in the second lecture. Week 4: 16 October 10.30 The Speaking Alhambra (Tom Nickson) 12.00 The Alhambra between North and South (Tom Nickson) The extensive and elegant poetic inscriptions of the Nasrid palace of the Alhambra in Granada allow it to speak to us across time. We explore the political, religious and artistic significance of these inscriptions in relation to the Alhambra’s complex architectural and ornamental design. In the second lecture, the focus will be on the remarkable painted domes in the Alhambra’s so-called ‘Hall of the Kings’. These chivalric scenes of courtship, hunting and combat are almost without parallel in the Islamic world, and betray the extensive exchange of ideas between Nasrid Granada and Christian Spain in the fourteenth century. Half Term: 23 October Week 5: 30 October 10.30 Cultural Fusions; Dispelling and preserving Islamic Spain 12.00 Ribera, the art of violence. An exhibition at The Dulwich Picture Gallery (Xavier Bray) The first lecture will examine how during the ‘Reconquista’ of Spain, which began long before 1492, Christians continued to build in a Moorish style, often referred to as mudéjar. The lecture begins in Toledo in 1085 showing buildings which fuse Muslim, Christian and Jewish building styles, and will chart the gradual reconquest of the peninsula. It will examine how the Christians reconquered the territory controlled by the Muslims, largely destroying 800 years of cultural heritage, yet at the same time selectively preserving and admiring the Islamic culture. In the second lecture Xavier Bray will consider the recently opened show of Ribera at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. He will explore the difficulties and joys of curating the exhibition. Week 6: 6 November 10.30 The arts in Spain under the Catholic Monarchs (Gail Turner) 12.00 Philip 2nd and The Monastery Palace of Escorial (Gail Turner) In the first session, we will look at the historical and cultural background of the reigns of Ferdinand and Isabella, with its rich Isabelline architecture, and the queen's personal interest in collecting paintings from different European artists. The Catholic Monarchs (Los Reyes Católicos) had ambitious plans for their children's marriages and succeeded in joining their families to those of the Habsburgs, Burgundy, England and Portugal. These links in turn had an influence on the culture of their reign. Ferdinand and Isabella's grandson, Charles I of Spain, better known as Charles V, spent little time in Spain with his commitments to the Holy Roman Empire and its challenges. Titian was one of his favourite artists, and when he abdicated and retired to the monastery of Yuste he took with him various works by the great Italian. The Royal Chapel in Granada was completed during his reign. Philip II continued to commission works by artists - mainly Italians - who had worked for his father, but his greatest legacy was the monastery-palace-royal mausoleum of El Escorial (1562-1582). He was an exacting patron, who was very involved with the project which was known as 'the dearest lady of his heart'. Week 7: 13 November 10.30 El Greco in Toledo 12.00 Spanish Still Life Painting in the Golden age This lecture will consider El Greco’s arrival in Toledo from Italy and Crete his country of birth. It will show how he fell out with royalty and the church often flouting the rules in quite dramatic ways. It will consider his writings and his personal life and discuss why he is one of the most revered artists today yet went unknown for 300 years after his death. Early Spanish Still Lifes by artists such as Sanchez Cotán, Antonio de Pereda, Zurbaran will be shown in order to discuss the many ways Still Life painting can give insights into the world and society in which the artists lived during the Golden Age. Particular attention will be paid to objects which can go unnoticed such as a fly on a grape or a fish bone strewn across the table. Week 8: 20 November 10.30 Co-existence and Conflict: Architecture in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Spain (Costanza Beltrami) 12.00 Collecting Spanish Art in Britain (Costanza Beltrami) The first original treatise on Renaissance architecture written outside Italy was published in Spain in 1526. Nevertheless, the mudéjar and Gothic building traditions continued to influence construction throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The coexistence of Medieval and Renaissance styles was described as a violent contrast by contemporary patrons and modern scholars alike. On the contrary, this lecture will discuss how novelty and tradition produced a flexible architectural system, which offered the basis for the imperial architecture of Habsburg Spain. In 1756 Richard Trevor, Prince-Bishop of Durham, bought an impressive series of religious paintings by Francisco de Zurbarán as a statement for inter-religious tolerance. Among the first large-scale acquisitions of Spanish art in Britain, Trevor’s purchase will be the starting point for a discussion of the reception and collecting of Iberian art in this country. Leading from the Bishop’s Long Dining Room to William Bankes' ‘Spanish Room’ at Kingston Lacey and beyond, our exploration will conclude with a contemporary project: the creation of a gallery dedicated to Spanish art just outside the palace where Trevor once lived.
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