310 Apuntes del Alcázar de Sevilla
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tissues with which nomads from the desert traded and covered the
interior of their transitory constructions. The mats —which they
rolled up to transport them— could be unrolled and placed in the
covered room, getting the shape of a perimeter continuous belt
parallel to the floor, whereas the richest tissues forming single “pa-
ños” were hung, like tapestries, in a vertical direction, as they also
are in the tilted paños in the rear trimming plinths.
15 This may be just a coincidence or may be because, as a rule, a
higher degree of symbolic importance went together with a higher
number of vertical divisions separating the motifs. However, the
plinths of these two rooms should be studied in detail because, al-
though most of them are original, their current appearance raise
doubts compared to the primitive one.
16 It is worth mentioning that out of these three parts of the plinth,
the plinth block usually suffers more deterioration and modifica-
tions. This may be because the lower zone is the one carrying more
weight when the plinth loses adhesion and falls down, or because
the frequent renovation of the floorings usually affects it directly
making it underpinned if the new one is lower, or partially hidden
if this raises its previous level. The first case can be seen in the
plinth block of the Salas de los Pasos Perdidos and Techo de los
Reyes Católicos; the second one in the Saleta de la Reina, on the
lower floor, where almost half of the plinth blocks are hidden by
20th century floorings.
17 Ramírez’s work recreated all these plinths and classified them in
different types according to their compositions and the geometri-
cal genesis of their motifs (Ramírez, 1995, Cap. 9, pp. 171-214).
18 Several authors have addressed the analysis of the geometry
of plinths in this complex. The first researches, preserved only in
their original manuscripts, were conducted in 1900 by José Kith
Rodríguez. See Pedro DÍAZ MACÍAS, “Lacerías y alicatados de la
donación Kith. Teoría de las labores moriscas”,
Archivo Hispalense.
Revista histórica, literaria y artística
, Tomo 71, nº 218, (1988), pp.
155-178. More recent are the works by Alberto DONAIRE ROD-
RÍGUEZ, “El trazado de lacería de ocho en alicatados” at
Actas del
III Simposio Internacional de Mudejarismo
, Instituto de Estudios
Turolenses, Teruel, 1986 and also the thorough work by Maria
Isabel GONZÁLEZ RAMÍREZ,
El trazado geométrico en la orna-
mentación del Alcázar de Sevilla
, Universidad de Sevilla-Consejería
de obras públicas y transportes, Sevilla, 1995. See also ALBERT,
GÓMIS, VALOR y MALDONADO, “Análisis de los alicatados
del Alcázar de Sevilla mediante herramientas desarrolladas en el
ámbito de la visión artificial, available at
/
COMUNICACIONES%20ACEPTADAS/G11.pdf. Rafael PÉREZ
GÓMEZ, “Un matemático pasea por la Alhambra”
Física en acción
5, Semana Europea para la Ciencia y la Tecnología,
Granada, 2004,
pp. XXXI-XLVIII.
19 “
E porque esta arte de los alarifes es muy menguada en esta tierra
y llaman alarifes a los que no merecían haver el nombre … y no que-
rían embargar sus corazones en trabajar por sus entendimientos que
aprender arte de Iumetria ni de saber las sotilezas de los ingenios livia-
nos … Ordenanzas de Sevilla
, Facsimile edition carried out by Víctor
PÉREZ ESCOLANO and Fernando VILLANUEVA SANDINO,
Otaisa, Sevilla, 1975, Fol. 141 Vto y 142 Rto.
20 In spite of that, we should not forget that some master builders
maintained this tradition to a really high quiality level, as proved
the plinth blocks in the Alhambra Mexuar made in the times of
Carlos V.
21 See the works quoted in note 18.
22 For technical details, it is still really useful the work by André
PACCARD,
L´artisanat traditionnel islamique au Marroc dans
l´architecture
, Editions Atelier 74, Paris, 1983, 2 vols.
23 Industrially cut pieces introduced in groups of other pieces cut
in an artisanal manner are sometimes difficult to identify. How-
ever, more extense surfaces —produced following any of the pro-
cedures— can be easily distinguished.
24 Zellijs with similar marks can be observed in the left door-post
of the triple arches that open up from the Sala de Embajadores to
the Techo de Felipe II.
25 We refer to the lowest galleries of the gothic palace which, in the
past, opened to the Jardín de la Danza and are currently blinded
and cannot be visited.
26 Potters frequently changed from one workshop to the other,
and this had a unifying effect. Besides, the oxides available on the
market used to be of common use, with some exceptions.
27 The association we make here between colors and mineral ox-
ides is just a simplification, because according to the analyses car-
ried out, the reality is much more complex. This explains the great
variety of chromatic nuances detected.
28 Due to the short extensión of this paper, we will not describe
the complete working method. This can be consulted in the work
quoted in footnote 22.
29 On the installation of the tile-work in a case from Granada, see
Ramón Fco. RUBIO DOMENE, “La sala de las camas del Baño Real
de Comares, de la Alhambra. Datos tras su restauración”
Cuadernos
de la Alhambra
, Vol. 43, 2008, p. 157.
30 The technical execution of the drawings reflecting these stages
and shown in Fig. 10 is generous courtesy of the historician and
restorer Sebastián Fernández.
