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Islamic Art And Architecture Of Spain And Its Impact

Center: 
Granada
Program(s): 
Granada - Study in Granada
Discipline(s): 
Art History
Course code: 
AH 331
Terms offered: 
Fall
Spring
Credits: 
3
Language of instruction: 
English
Instructor: 
Ana Hernández Walta
Description: 

Study of art, architecture, ornamentation, and design from the 8th century to the fall of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold, at the end of the 15th century.  Topics covered include an introduction to Islamic art, the Moorish tradition in North Africa and Spain, and the syncretism of Muslim and Jewish culture in the Mudéjar tradition in Christian Spain. Includes several visits to monuments in Andalusia.

Prerequisites: 

Basic knowledge of descriptive terminology for art and architecture.

Method of presentation: 

Two 90-minute classes per week, including lectures and visits to sites and museums.

Required work and form of assessment: 

Class attendance (including visits) is required.  Student participation (10%); mid-term exam (25%); final exam (30%); 4-6 page mid-term paper (15%); 6-8 page term paper or in-class oral presentation (20%).

content: 

1.  Brief introduction to the history of Al-Andalus (8th-15th centuries) Introduction to Islamic art and architecture terminology
VISIT: Alcaicería, Madraza, Corral del Carbón
VIDEO-CLIP: “Calligraphy and Lute” (4 minutes aprox.)

2.  Andalusi art and architecture: styles and influences
VISIT: Museo Nacional de Arte Hispano-musulmán

3.  The Emirate (8th and 9th centuries): The Córdoba mosque; Sevilla y Mérida; Bobastro
VISIT: Albayzín

4.  The Caliphate (10th century): Medinat al-Zahra’, fortresses and bridges; town-planning; architectonic decoration and artistic handcraft
VISIT: Córdoba

5.  The Taifas´ kingdoms (11th century): fortresses and castles; the Aljafería in Zaragoza; Balaguer; other palaces and masterpieces
VISIT: Palacio de Dar-al-Horra

6.  The Almoravids and Almohades (12th and 13th centuries): new faith, new art; Sevilla: the capital and its great mosque; Murcia and Monteagudo; palaces and fortresses; artistic handcraft
VISIT: Alhambra (Alcazaba)

7.  The Nasrids: Alhambra: form fortress to palatine city; Nasrid architecture in Granada city and sultanate, Nasrid art and architectonic decoration, rural, urban, and palatine; Hammams
VISIT: Alhambra (Nasrid Palaces)

8.  The Mudéjar art
VISITS: Casa del Chapiz; Convento de Santa Isabel, Iglesia de San José

9.  Islamic art and architecture in North Africa: an overview
VIDEO-CLIP: Dynastic Architecture (32 minutes)

Required readings: 

Barrucand, Marianne, and Bednorz, Achim. Moorish Architecture in Adalusia. Köln, Taschen. 2002.

Dickie, James “The Hispano-arab Garden: Notes towards a typology”,” in The legacy of Muslim Spain. Salma Khadra Jayyusi (Ed.). Leiden: Brill, 1994.

Dodds, J. “The Mudejar Tradition in Architecture,” in The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Salma Khadra Jayyusi
(Ed.). Leiden: Brill, 1994.

---- “The Arts of Al-Andalus,” in The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Salma Khadra Jayyusi (Ed.). Leiden: Brill 1994.

Ecker, H. Caliphs and Kings: the Art and Influence of Islamic Spain. London: Alsaqi Books, 2004.

Fernández-Puertas, A. “Calligraphy in Al-Andalus,” in The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Salma Khadra Jayyusi (Ed.). Leiden: Brill, 1994.

Grabar, O. “Two paradoxes in Islamic Art of the Spanish Peninsula,” in The legacy of Muslim Spain. Salma Khadra Jayyusi (Ed.). Leiden: Brill, 1992,pp 583-91

Grabar, O. "Granada: A Case Study of Arab Urbanism in Muslim Spain," in The Legacy of Muslim Spain. Salma Khadra Jayyusi (Ed.). Leiden: Brill, 1992, pp. 88-110.

Grube, E. J.  “What is Islamic Architecture?,” in Architecture of the Islamic World. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1995.

Khoury, Nuha. The meaning of the Great Mosque of Córdoba in the tenth century.

Ruggles, D.F. “Arabic poetry and Architectural memory in Al Andalus” in Ars Orientalis , vol 23, pp 171-178. 1993.

Zuylen, G. Alhambra: A Moorish Paradise. London: Alsaqi Books, 1999.

Recommended readings: 

Almagro A., Orihuela, A. y Sánchez, C. Plano-Guía del Albayzín Andalusí. (English edition) Granada: El Legado Andalusí: Escuela de Estudios Árabes, 1995.

Dodds, Jerrilyn. The Great Mosque at Cordoba. Al-Andalus , ed Dodds, pp 11-25

---Architecture and Ideology in Early Medieval Spain. University Park: Penn State University Press, 1990.

Ecker, Heather. Caliphs and Kings: The Art and Influence of Islamic Spain. New York: NY, Hispanic Society, 2004.

Fairchild-Ruggles, D. The Alhambra. In Gardens, Landscape and Vision in the Palaces of Islamic Spain University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. 2000.

---The Mirador in Abbasid and Hispano-UMayyad Garden Typology .Muqarnas, Vol. 7. (1990), pp. 73-82.

Fernandez Puertas, Antonio. The Alhambra. 2 v. London: Saqi Books. 1997.

Grabar, Oleg. Two paradoxes in the Islamic Art of the Spanish Peninsula. The Legacy of Muslim Spain, ed Jayyusi , pp. 583-591.

---Islamic Art and Beyond: Constructing the Study of Islamic Art: v. 3 (Variorum Collected Studies series) (Hardcover - 28 April 2006)

---Notes sur le mihrab de la Grande Mosquée de Cordue-The Alhambra, 25-132

---Granada: A Case Study of Arab Urbanism in Muslim Spain in The Legacy of Muslim Spain, ed. S. K. Jayyusi. Leiden, 1992., 88-110.

---The Alhambra.2d ed., rev. Sebastopol, California: Solipsist Press. 1992.

Hillebrand, Robert. The Ornament of the World: Medieval Córdoba as a cultural centre. The Legacy of Muslim Spain, ed Jayyusi, pp 112-135.

---The Mosque in the Medieval Islamic World

Khoury, Nuha. The meaning of the Great Mosque of Córdoba in the tenth century.

McIntosh, Christopher. A foretaste of Paradise: the Islamic Gardens and its forebears. Gardens of Gods: Myths, Magic and Meaning in Horticulture, I.B. Tauris & Company Limited. London, 2005.  pp 35 -45

Orihuela Uzal, Antonio. Casas y palacios nazaries : siglos XIII-XV. Seville: Junta de Andalucia, Consejeria de Cultura, Consejeria de Turismo y Deporte. 1996.

Prado-Vilar, Francisco. Circular Visions of Fertility and Punishment: Caliphal ivory caskets from Al Andalus.

Rabbat Nasser. The Palace of the Lions in Alhambra and the Role of Water in its Conception. AARP/Environmental Design 2. 1985.: 64-73.

Raizman, David. The Church of Santa Cruz and the Beginnings of Mudéjar Architecture in Toledo. International Center of Medieval Art Stable. Gesta, Vol. 38, No. 2. 1999. pp. 128-141

Robinson, Cynthia. In praise of song: the making of courtly culture in Al Andalus and Provence, 1005-1134 AD

---Ubi Sunt: Memory and Nostalgia in Taifa Court Culture

---Arts of the Taifa Kingdoms. Al Andalus, ed Dodds, pp 49-61

Vallejo Triano, Antonio. Madinat al Zahra: the Triumph of the Islamic State. Al Andalus,ed Dodds, pp.27-39.

Other Resources: 

www.archNet.org
www.muslimheritage.com
www.jstor.org
www.saudiaramcoworld.com
www.legadoandalusi.es
www.arteguias.com
www.world-heritage-tour.org
http://portal.unesco.org


Source URL: http://www.iesabroad.org/study-abroad/courses/granada/spring-2013/ah-331