269
In such a large and rich enclosure as the
Real Alcázar
of Seville, similar
pieces of work are necessary, either records, inventories or catalogues.
The work of the Professor González Ramírez is very welcome. It is fo-
cused on the ornamentation of geometric design. On the other hand,
Alfonso Pleguezuelo’s recent initiative is also very interesting. He sug-
gests the first cataloguing of the
Palacio Mudéjar
tiles.
Finally, in order to sum up all the zones or areas composing the
Real
Alcázar
of Seville, the forth volume of the
Plan de Protección Especial
(Special Protection Plan), although during this work we focused on
the zoning suggested by the
Estudio para la Ordenación Arquitectóni-
ca
(Study for Architectural Planning).
General bibliography general for the elaboration of the
catalogue
Regarding restoration, the magazine “
Apuntes del Alcázar”
, published
by the Board of Trustees, is an essential reference to keep updated
about the interventions performed in the enclosure. It is an annual
publication and was launched in 2000.
The historic-artistic studies by Rafael Cómez about the Middle Ages
after the Castilian conquest and also by Ana Marín about Modern
Age. In regard to Islamic and Mudejar art, it is necessary to mention
Basilio Pavón’s valuable work, lacking and specific analysis of the
Real Alcázar
, and some Rafael Manzano’s works, proof of a nearly-
encyclopedic knowledge of the enclosure which provides us with a
vision of the origin and transformations of the enclosure.
With respect to later periods, Reyes Baena’s monograph about
Al-
cázar
gardens from the eighteenth century and Rosario Chávez’s work
about the
Alcázar
during the nineteenth century are really useful to
understand the transformations of the last three centuries. As well,
José María Cabeza’s writing, a brief explanation of the interventions
performed during his mandate, has been actually helpful during the
making of the Restoration Plan, primarily the information about years
before the publishing of the magazine
Apuntes del Alcázar
, from 1990
to 2000.
We would also like to talk very generally about Rodrigo Caro’s work,
written in 1634. It offers an incredibly useful picture of the complex
state during the seventeenth century, just when Vermondo Resta
finished his work.
In addition, the specific studies about the constructive systems, ar-
chaeological remains or facings that can be found in the
Alcázar
are
included in the bibliography of each and every document.
The used planimetry is based on the one elaborated by Antonio Al-
magro and the
Escuela de Estudios Árabes
(School of Arabic Studies)
of the
Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
(High Council
for Scientific Research).
Collaborators
Some of the information included in this work has been provided
to us by the restoration teams working in the
Real Alcázar
. With-
out them, this work would have been much more difficult. Rocío
Campos could advise us about the garden fountains, the
Estanque de
Mercurio
and the supply networks; Inmaculada Ramírez helped us
with the roofs of the
Cuarto Real Alto
and the
Cuarto de la Montería
;
Maribel Baceiredo y Mauricio López were a great support with the
Baños de María Padilla
and with the
bífora
(geminated window) of
the
Palacio Primitivo
; and Juan Carlos Pérez y Sebastián Fernández
not only brought their expertise about the historic carpentries of the
Palacio Mudéjar Bajo
and Cristóbal de Augusta’s tiles on board, but
they attended the debate about the elaboration of this document.
As well, Miguel Ángel Tabales acted as a marvelous guide inside and
outside the
Alcázar
—in the houses number 7 and 8—, and Alfonso
Pleguezuelo gave us interesting information about the
Estanque de
Mercurio
and the tiles of the
Palacio Mudéjar
.
The members of the team of editing and elaboration of the Restora-
tion Plan are:
• Almudena Muñoz García, architect;
• Alberto Atanasio Guisado, architect;
• Iaione García Arana, graduated with a degree in Fine Arts and
specialized in Restoration;
• Ignacio Amián del Pino, photographer;
• Araceli Alba Dorado, architect.
Endnotes
1 Bermudo, R.; Llanos, V.; Tabales, M.A:
Plan Especial de Protección
del Sector 6 “Real Alcázar”
, aprobado provisionalmente en junio de
2012, tomo I, p. 442
2 Candelas Gutiérrez, A. L: “Geometría y proceso constructivo de la
Cúpula del Salón de Embajadores”,
Apuntes del Real Alcázar de Se-
villa
, nº 2, Patronato del Real Alcázar y Casa Consistorial de Sevilla,
Sevilla, 2001, p. 69
3 Valle Fernández, T; Respaldiza Lama, P.J: “La pintura mural almo-
hade en el Palacio del Yeso”,
Apuntes del Alcázar de Sevilla
, nº 1, Patro-
nato del Real Alcázar de Sevilla, Sevilla, 2000, p. 59
4ManzanoMartos, R: “El Alcázar de Sevilla: los palacios almohades”,
en Valor Piechotta, M: (coord):
El último siglo de la Sevilla Islámica,
1147-
1248, Gerencia de Urbanismo y Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla,
1995, pp. 101-124
Figures
Figure 1. Zoning used in the Restoration Plan
Figure 2.a. Basements of the
Palacio Mudéjar
. The remains of color-
ing are placed in the interior walls of the southwestern corner of the
basements (in the image, the room in the end)
Figure 2.b. Detail of the remains of coloring. It is composed by an
imitation of ashlar bonding and possible imitations of marble or
veins. As well, we can see remains of a baseboard in other zones.
They seem to recreate a polychromatic tiling.
Figure 3. Subordinated interventions mentioned in the Restoration
Plan
Figure 4a. Façade of the
Apeadero
of the
Real Alcázar
, access to the
current enclosure of the
Real Alcázar
and exit door for visitors. De-
sign elaborated by Vermondo Resta and masonry work made by
Diego de Carballo, 1607-1609
