Art and Architecture of

Morocco and Muslim Spain

Toledo, Almoravids, Almohads, Nasrids, Merinids
Mosque of Cristo de la Luz
aka Mezquita Bab-al-Mardum,
Former Mosque in Toledo, Spain, 999
 Mosque of Cristo de la Luz
aka Mezquita Bab-al-Mardum,
Former Mosque in Toledo, Spain, 999
Mosque of Cristo de la Luz- former Mezquita Bab-al-Mardum, mosque in Toledo, Spain, 999
 Arabic and Hebrew Astrolabe
Toledo, 1029 Celestial Globe
Sefer Musre Hafilosofim
Made by Muhammad ibn Assafer Made by Ibrahim ibn Said al-Sahli
(Book of the Morals of Philosophers)
Deutsche Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin ca. 1085
Spain 13-15th century
Ink and opaque watercolor on parchment Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris
On loan to Met from Hispanic Society (L.2011.46.2)
 Ptolemy's Almagest (Book X, Chapters 6-7).
Translated from Arabic to Latin by Gherardo (Gerard) of Cremona (Lombardy)
1175
Vatican library
 Almoravid Empire
(1062-1147)

䇾People of the ribat

(fortress)䇿

ca. 1060 Yusuf ibn Tashfin took

control of Fes, and created the
city of Marrakesh

ca. 1086 “e ille’s leader

al-Mutamid invited the
Almoravids to help defend
against the Christians

1090 Yusuf ibn Tashfin and

Almoravids took control of
Spain
Al-Mutamid (r.1069–1091) of Seville, on his exile:

Oh to k o hether I shall spe d o e ore night

In those gardens, by that pond,
Amid olive-groves, legacy of grandeur,

The cooing of the doves, the warbling of the birds;

In the palace of Zahir, in the spring rain,
Winking back at the dome of Zurayya,

As the fortress of Zahi, with its Sud-al-Suud,

Casts us the look of the waiting lover.
Oh that God might choose that I should die in Seville.

That he should there find my tomb when the last day

comes.

-Trans. Rafael Valencia

Column of Al-Mutamid,
Alcázar of Seville
 Mosque of Cristo de la Luz aka Mezquita Bab-al-Mardum,
Toledo, Spain, 999

Almoravid Koubba, Marrakesh

ca. 1120-1130
Almoravid dynasty (1062-1147)

`Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Tashfin (r. 1107-43) Great Mosque of Cordoba interior, 10th century
 Almoravid Koubba, Marrakesh
ca. 1120-1130
Almoravid dynasty (1062-1147)

`Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Tashfin (r. 1107-43)

Great mosque of Cordoba interior dome Almoravid Koubba, Marrakesh
 Almoravid dynasty (1062-1147)

Minbar from Kutubiya mosque

Badia Palace, Marrrakesh

Prefabricated in Cordoba and sent in

pieces to Marrakesh

Detail of the backrest with the name Ibn Tashufin

(r. 1061-1106)
 Minbar from Kutubiya mosque
Badia Palace, Marrrakesh

Prefabricated in Cordoba and sent in pieces to Marrakesh

 Almohad dynasty (1130-1269) al-Muwahhidun 䇾Unifers䇿
Abu Abdallah Muhammad Ibn Tumart (ca. 1078-1130) aka al-Mahdi, one who is guided by God.
Kutubiyya Mos ue The Mos ue of the Bookselle s
12th century, Almohad dynasty (1130-1269)
Completed under Yacob al Mansour (r. 1184-99)
Minbar from Kutubiya mosque Kutubiyya Mosque, 12th century,
Almoravid dynasty (1062-1147) Almohad dynasty (1130-1269)
 Hassan Tower minaret, Rabat
Almohad dynasty (1130-1269)

Started in 1195 under Yacob al Mansour

(r. 1184-99) and never completed
 La Giralda
Seville, Spain
1184-1198

Almohad dynasty (1130-1269)

La Giralda Seville, Spain
Kutubiyya Minaret, Marrakesh Hassan Tower, Rabat La Giralda, Seville
1184-1199 1195-1199 1184-1198
Dinars, Seville Dirhams, Cordoba
12th century 12th century
Jaume of Aragon defeating the Almohad armies at
Valencia (1237), Altarpiece of St George
Oil painting
Valencia, early 15th century, Tempera and gilt on pine panel
Victoria & Albert Museum (1217-1864)
Alhambra, Granada, Spain, Nasrid period (1232-1492)
Court of the Myrtles
Palacio de Comares
Alhambra, Granada, Spain
 Portal of Patio del Curarto Dorado
Palacio de Comares
Alhambra, Granada, Spain

His throne doth extend over the heavens

and the Earth and He feeleth no fatigue in
guarding and preserving them, For He is the
ost high.

- Qu ’a 2:255 Ayat al-Kursi

Hall of the Ambassadors
Palacio de Comares
Alhambra, Granada, Spain
 Columbus before the Queen
1843
Emanuel Leutze (American, born Germany, 1816-1868).
Oil on canvas
Brooklyn Museum, Dick S. Ramsay Fund and Healy Purchase Fund B, 77.220
Lamp from the Mosque at the Alhambra
Nasrid period 1305
Bronze
Museo Arqueologico Nacional, Madrid (50.519)

No o ue o ut God.
 Courtyard of the Lions
Palacio de los Leones
Alhambra, Granada, Spain
Courtyard of the Lions
Palacio de los Leones
Alhambra, Granada, Spain
 Sala de Dos Hermanas
Palacio de los Leones

I a the garde ador ed by beauty:

Gaze upon my loveliness and my stature will
be explained to you.

For my lord, the Imam Muhammad I equals

The noblest thing that will exist or has ever
existed.

By God! His lovely buildings, in happiness,

surpasses any others that have been built.

How many delights for the eyes!

The soul of he who is benevolent renews his
desires here.

The five Pleiades find refuge at night here

And the languid breeze becomes sublime.

A splendid vault- peerless- exists here

Whose beauty is both hidden and manifest.
 Tile
second half 15th century, Spain
Earthenware; molded, cobalt-painted on an opaque
No o ue o ut God. white glaze powdered with gold under a transparent
glaze
94.4.394
 Generalife, Alhambra
(Jannat al-‘Arīf) literally, "Architect's Garde
14th century
Boabdil Surrendering the Keys of Granada
Ca. 1500
Rodrigo Aleman (fl. 1485-1500)
Toldeo Cathedral
 Patio de las Doncellas
Alcazar
Seville, Spain, 14th century
Alcazar, Seville, Spain, 14th century
Alcazar, Seville
Alcazar, Seville
Synagogue of El Transito, 14th century, Toledo
Synagogue of El Transito, 14th century, Toledo
Synagogue of El Transito, 14th century, Toledo
Synagogue of El Transito, 14th century, Toledo
 Medersa Bou Inania, Fes, 1351-56 Portal of Patio del Curarto Dorado
(Sultan Faris ibn `Ali Abu Inan al-Mutawakkil) Palacio de Comares
Marinid period 1217-1465 Alhambra, Granada, Spain
Medersa Bou Inania, Fes, 1351-56
Marinid period 1217-1465
 Al- Attarine Medersa, Fes, 1323-5

… their main beauty lies in their details: in the union of chiseled plaster with the
delicate mosaic work of niches and revetments, the web-like arabesques of the
upper walls and the bold, almost Gothic sculpture of the cedar architraves and
corbels supporting them. - Edith Wharton In Morocco