ART 198 - HISTORY OF WORLD CERAMICS

The grand receiving room of the Nazarid Palace in the Alhambra is the Salon de Embajadores, or the Salon of the Ambassadors, where visiting dignitaries would be greeted by the ruling Caliphs. In the foreground can be seen the shoulder height paramentos, or glazed tile mosaic panels to the left and right of the arched entryway. Light for the rooms was provided by reflections from the courtyard pools such as the Plaza de los Leones, adjacent to this room. Note that above the paramentos are intricately molded, stucco walls and ceilings. In the foreground is a classic Mudejar arch that looks like a horseshoe. Mudejar literally means 'one who remains,' and was the term applied by the Spanish to the Moorish craftsmen who remained in Spain long after the defeat of Islam. Beyond this first Mudejar arch are several more arches, more complex in nature, pointed and scalloped. These are called Nazarid arches, and so named after this particular palace built by the Nazarid rulers of Granada in approximately 1350 CE. Note that the Nazarid arch features highly intricate protrusions that resemble stalactites. The ceilings of this and other rooms in the Nazarid Palace also have such a structure. These stalactite-shaped arches and ceilings were meant to symbolize the interior of a cave. It was into a cave that Muhammad went in the desert to pray and meditate, and in which, he received the Word of God.

Paramentos with glazed tile from the Salon de Embajadores, Nazarid Palace, Alhambra, Granada, Spain 1350 CE