292 Apuntes del Alcázar de Sevilla
E
nglish
version
and the
Cenador de Carlos V
. To the Western façade it is adjoined to
an impregnable and very humid sector, whose interior is reinforced
by rubble, and to the East, —passed about 10 m of façade— an exte-
rior staircase at the right of the hollow of the entrance, placed per-
pendicularly to this façade. Above the lower vault we find the
Sal
ó
n
de las B
ó
vedas
, in particular the pavement of the glazed panoramic
window in the middle of the nave. A few metres from the outside
of the vault, we find parterres, remarking especially that based on
the East, next to the opening of the entrance, containing a powerful
contemporary magnolia tree and historical flowerbeds with orange
trees in trellis attached to the façade. These elements as a whole are
very meaningful to get an idea of the humidity of the constructive
and vegetal environment provided to this polychrome vault.
From the constructive point of view, this first section is formed by a
wide longitudinal rectangular area, of 5 m long and 4,05 wide with
lateral wall hangings of 2,90m long of which 2,20m forma tiled plinth
covering the outline of the area, together with a crafted bench. In the
frontal internal wall there is an access ribbed opening in the middle of
the wall, which forms the silhouette of the adjacent vault. The vault
is made of production of brick and mortar, forming (we do not know
if fastened or adjoined) longitudinally the magnificent lateral walls,
which are part of the base of the upper nave and the façade itself.
The
cladding
of the vault is made of a base coat of smooth mortar
based on soil and lime, which is around 6mm thick (it is not constantly
perceived) followed by a yellowish plastering of lime and sand mixed
with shredded straw, with a low consistency at the present time and
a thickness around 15 and 20 mm. The polish is finer, varying from 5
to 7 mm, and a more compact consistency than the plaster, but weak
due to the current deterioration, with a lighter yellowish colour be-
cause of the possible addition of higher lime and carbonate content.
The shredded straw is also present in the polish coat, but it is not too
visible on the surface; this material is traditionally used in some cover-
ings from the Islamic period to reinforce limemortars, avoiding crack-
ing caused by desorption during the drying process.
The
polychromatic technique
used is tempera and the simulated
fresco procedure, that is, the polish previously moistened and pig-
mented with lime paint. The interior curve of the arch is painted
covering the lateral parameters towards the upper tiled plinth. A
high percentage of painting has disappeared, but there are still small
and large fragments spread over the surface with pictorial remains
which help understand their theme and composition.
With reference to the
decoration,
the theme is heraldic perhaps be-
cause it is the first vault from the entrance. The design is modular
and it was originally developed by the four quarters equally, in view
of the pictorial traces maintained at the present time. In every piece
there is a large oval with the shield of the kingdom of the Two Sicili-
es diagonally turned —with the party per saltire and the arms of the
crown of Aragon and Sicilia —represented with some formal irregu-
larities (three go
ule s
ticks instead of four). This shield is surrounded
by four mixtilinear framings where a jumble mannerist decoration
of vegetal motifs, flowers and the heraldic figure of a rampant lion
are extended flanking the bottom corners of the vaults. The compo-
sition is present symmetrically in every room. Currently, the ensem-
ble is very dilapidated, —plenty of losses, marks and erosions caused
by previous interventions with the unsuccessful purpose of elimi-
nating the whitewashing— but the North-eastern, North-western
and part of the South—eastern corners are still legible, intuiting the
rest of the composition. In the central and lower range of the largest
sides, there is also a semicircular frame where the Pillars of Hercules
wave the Pl
us Ultra p
hylacyery, framed by the lateral sectors —more
visible at the Western side—. The colours prevailing in the composi-
tional collection are red chalk or read earth, burnt ochre, rosy, green,
blue, white and black.
In 1615 Diego de Esquivel repaints the two vaults from the passage,
assumed to be deteriorated back then
19
. In 1656, Pedro Honorio de
Palencia, designate painter of the
Alc
á
zar
in 1649, is cited in the HI-
JUELASaforementioned documents of that year due to the restora-
tion of
“sgraffito in the painting placed at the gardens vault”
referring
to this first one dome or the two from the access of the passage, be-
ing restored once again with the cost of 10 ducats
20.
This annotation
lead us to think that some motifs, probably the shields, were golden
back then, or (according to the period in question) were golden by
first time then, non-current characteristic.
The perimeter wall hanging is covered by an
upper plinth of tiles
,
formed by three different panels and two smaller insets framed by
tapes or green
verduguillos
. Backgrounds are ornamented by means
of plane, polychrome and glazed pieces fixed to the wall withmortar.
It is 2, 22 m in height and is spread over the mural contour. We do
not know if an intermediate brick and lime mortar base has come
between the longitudinal wall with ashlar structure and the tiles
plinths, or just a plaster to level up the surface. The decoration is
made of four square pieces which form recurrent modular designs,
with Renaissance geometrical and vegetal motifs. At the bottom of
the wall hanging we can find continuous benches covered by arris,
glazed and polychrome tiling, with geometrical design of symbols
and ribbons framed by a frieze with interlaced eights, this all bor-
dered with green
verduguillos
apparently contemporaneous. The
base is made of non-glazed floor tiles in combination with glazed
inserts.
The current
flooring
, together with that from the
Danza
garden, is
made of floor tiles, palm designed with glazed inserts ornamented
with geometrical and flooring adorns, restored more than a decade
ago.
The
gate
that leads to the Baths delimits the two vaulted sections
adapting to the profile of the opening from the interior barrel vault.
There are no evidences to confirm that it is the original one, we
deem it because of the restrained functional style, not in the spirit
of the elegance pursued and the decorative print. This is a wrought-
iron gate and includes a steady pennant and two sliding panels. Cu-
riously, the irons bars of the pennant are independently secured and
stuffed in the upper profile of the ribbed vault, to facilitate the fit-
ting and adjustment dealing with irregularities. Each sliding panel is
divided into two panels made of iron bars, separated by a horizontal
platina. The arrangement of the pieces is very simple without dec-
orative compositions; the only formal characteristic is the twisted
shape of the forge, except for the horizontal platinas and the central
base (mullion) of the opening, which are plane. We do not know ex-
actly the dating of this gate, but it is evident that was fixed to the
vault in contemporary times, in view of the cement mortars affixed
by the thick bars. Regarding to safety, every sliding panel includes a
horizontal continuous bolt provided with locks, attached at different
heights but adjusted to the mullion.
Regarding the
state of preservation
, in 2011 an accidental falling
of little fragments of lining occurs, with original paintings from
the vault, what leads into an emergency intervention accomplished
