File:The story of architecture- an outline of the styles in all countries (1896) (14766248562).jpg

Identifier: storyofarchitect00math (find matches)
Title: The story of architecture: an outline of the styles in all countries
Year: 1896 (1890s)
Authors: Mathews, Charles Thompson, 1863-
Subjects: Architecture -- History
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and company
Contributing Library: New York Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
er, have become as hardas marble, and though a thousand years have passedaway, many still remain, perfect to prove the Arabsintimate acquaintance with the properties of carbonateof selenite. The principal rooms are (Plate XXXII)the Hall of the Ambassadors, arched so high thatgiants may keep their turbans on; the Hall of theSisters, with ingeniously constructed domes; theCourt of the Lions, so named from its exquisite foun-tain resting on lions backs; the Hall of Abencerrages ;and the Court of the Alberca, in which a pool of crys-tal water was fed by a continuous stream that keptit at a constant level with the surface of the marblefloor. To describe these individually would exceed thelimits of this sketch ; but a few facts common to themajority of them should be here enumerated. Thuswhile the halls and turret chambers of contemporarykings and queens of other countries were strewn withrushes and skirted by rough mats, the walls, columns,and ceilings of the Alhambra were sheathed in por-
Text Appearing After Image:
oaj ~ -2 -° - < e X!X < 282 THE MAHOMETAN OR SARACENIC STYLE. celain mosaics or plaques with intricate interlaces of gold, silver, purple, and azure in relief. Each tile was doubtless executed separately with infinite patience and care, but the settings are so skilfully contrived that few ofthe joints appear. The doorways are large, thewindows small, and the friezesand architraves richly illuminedwith Cufic or Asiatic inscrip-tions, such as There is no Godbut God, There is no Con-queror but God, and the like ;while an apologetic sentenceinserted by the architect reads : My windows admit the light,and exclude the view of exter-nal objects, lest the beauties ofNature should divert your at-tention from the beauties of mywork. Other forms of decorationare knots, crockets, arabesques,and, above all, the key, which isheld in much the same rever-ence by the Mahometan as thecross by the Christian. Little furniture now re-mains, but formerly it was par-ticularly elaborate throughoutand

Note About Images