PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF AL-ANDALUS AND ITS ART

Almudena Corrales Marbán

Social Studies

2013/2014

DEPENDENT EMIRATE

Al-Andalus was

governed by an emir who

was under the authority

of the Caliph of

Damascus. After

occupying the Iberian

Peninsula, the Muslims

continued to advance.

They crossed the

Pyrenees but they were

defeated by the Franks

in Poitiers (732).

INDEPENDENT EMIRATE

When the

Abbasids defeated the

Umayyad Caliphate,

Abd-al-Rahman I, a

member of the Umayyad

family, escaped to al-

Andalus and proclaimed

himself emir. This

region became politically

independent, although it

continued to recognise

the religious authority

of the caliph.

CÓRDOBA CALIPHATE

The emir Abd-al-

Rahman III proclaimed

himself caliph in 929, and

so al-Andalus became

independent of Baghdad

both from a political and

religious point of view.

This was the high point of

al-Andalus history.

CALIPHAL ARCHITECTURE

• Semicircular arches• Horseshoe arches• Polylobed arches• Alfiz was applied• Caliphal ribbed vault

Distinctive buildings

Great Mosque at Córdoba Medina

Azahara palace

Bib-al Mardum Mosque in Toledo

TAIFA KINGDOMS

At the beginning

of the 11th century, al-

Andalus was split into

taifa kingdoms. The

Christians took

advantage of this weak

position to conquer lands

from the Muslims.

NORTH AFRICAN DYNASTIES

In 1086, the

Muslims asked the

Almoravids for help. As a

result, they controlled all

of al-Andalus again until

the beginning of the 12th

century.

TAIFA ARCHITECTURE

• Basic materials (brick) covered with very ornate decoration, especially arabesque.

• Polylobed and mixtilinear arches.

Distinctive buildingsAljafería

Palace in Zaragoza

Zaragoza was one of the most important taifa

kingdoms

THE LAST TAIFA AND NASRID KINGDOM

After the disappearance of

the Almoravids, al-Andalus was

again split into taifa kingdoms. .

In the middle of the 12th century,

the Almohads arrived on the

Peninsula and ruled Islamis

territories, but they were

defeated by the Christians in the

13th century. Only the nasrid

kingdom of Granada survived

until the year 1492, when it was

conquered by the Catholic

Monarchs.

The Nasrid dynasty (Arabic: نصر (banū Naṣr بنوwas the last Arab Muslim dynasty in Spain. The Nasrid dynasty rose to power after the defeat of the Almohad Caliphate in 1212 at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. Twenty-three different emirs ruled Granada from the founding of the dynasty in 1232 by Mohammed I ibn Nasr until January 2, 1492, when Muhammad XII surrendered to the Christian Spanish kingdoms of Aragon and Castile. Today, the most visible evidence of the Nasrids is the Alhambra palace complex built under their rule.

The Capitulation of Granada by the painter F. Pradilla y Ortiz, 1882: Muhammad XII of Granada confronts Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, the Catholic Monarchs

ALMOHAD ARCHITECTURE

• Tended to be more austere.

• Panels composed of diamond shapes.

Distinctive buildings

The GiraldaOld minarete

of the nowadays

Seville cathedralThe outside

was decorated

with sebka.(paños de sebka que

simulan los tapices árabes)

This is The Torre del Oro or golden tower, a defensive watchtower built to control the access to Seville via Guadalquivir river.

THE NASRID ARTThe most important monument is the Alhambra in Granada. It was built in the 14th century as a fortress palace and it has a castle and a palace complex.

NASRID ARCHITECTURE

• Basic materials: brick (exterior), plaster (inside decoratons), wood (roofs).

• Pointed horseshoe arches.

• Stilted semicircular arches.

• Very narrow columns.

• Muqarna vaults.

Simulating palmtrees of the Arbian oasis .

Here you have the palace complex.

Hall of the two sisters

Partal Gardens

Royal baths

Court of Lions