Tag Archives: Alhambra Granada

across a universe: the good companions

Among the fountains of Granada the Islamic civilization reached a lovely apogee, and its spell has lasted ever since: the Alhambra was the flower of Islam and the crown of Arabism… But on the whole it is better seen at … Continue reading

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jealous water

Two great traditions of water: that of the East which likens water to love and that of the West which treats water like fire. Its tenuous, enigmatic union with architecture has been given poetic permanence in an Arabic inscription on … Continue reading

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calculated serenity: travel without bombast

Spare aqueous aesthetics… In England, the change to a romantic naturalism in landscape design in the later eighteenth century put a temporary end to the grandoise artificial displays in fountains that had earlier been the norm. The nineteenth century was … Continue reading

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alhambra

It evokes a setting for the Arabian Nights… The Moors disapproved of representational art, and the Alhambra is chiefly adorned with geometric designs in a wealth of variation. Inscriptions in Arabic or Kufic characters are integral with the stucco decoration. … Continue reading

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Alhambra: languid but not tranquil

Despite its languid and sensuous atmosphere, the palace was anything but tranquil. Twenty-one rulers in 254 years means an average of about one every twelve years. Since both al-Ahmar and Yusef I had comfortably long reigns of forty-one and twenty-one … Continue reading

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tiny bubbles

A Cluster of Soap Bubbles is how Theophile Gautier described the decoration of the Alhambra. Yet in spite of its fragility, it has survived many a more substantial palace, and lastingly evokes a setting for The Arabian Nights. Of a … Continue reading

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