Review
'A truly extraordinary achievement . . . demonstrates a history which has never been clarified before and provides a truly stunning sequence of drawings. Both drawings and explanations are novel and original.' --Olegar Grabar, Times Literary Supplement
'A splendid volume . . . A true model for analytical writing about architecture.' --J.M.Rogers, Bulletin of the school of Oriental and African Studies
Book Description
Based on many years of painstaking research and covering eleven centuries of medieval, modern and contemporary history, The Alhambra represents a major contribution to world scholarship.
During his research for the book, the author has made some very exciting discoveries. He has, for example, resolved one of the great enigmas of Nasrid art by discovering the geometric proportional system on which the entire Alhambra architecture and decoration are based. The designs are at times so intricate that they baffle even professional mathematicians: Professor Fernández-Puertas has cracked the geometric code and discovered that the marvels of the Alhambra are built on a proportional system that is essentially incommensurable and not based on fixed units like metres or inches. This has involved making hundreds of analytical figures, many of which will be included in the book.
Professor Fernández-Puertas is also the first to discover the chronological order in which the Alhambra palaces were built. He has collated much fragmentary information in order to reconstruct a picture of court life within the Alhambra and the personalities of its sultans and poet-viziers. The book thus contains the heart of three centuries of Nasrid art, as well as providing a history of the palatine city from the ninth century to the present day: the pre-Nasrid Alhambra, the Nasrid Alhambra and the Christian Alhambra.
Based on many years of painstaking research and covering eleven centuries of medieval, modern and contemporary history, The Alhambra will be the most comprehensive scientific work yet issued on the subject--a work of this order is unlikely to be published again within our lifetime.
About the Author
Antonio Fernandez-Puertas has been studying the Alhambra palaces since 1968 and was director of the Museo Nacional de Arte Hispanomusulman until 1992. In 1980-81 he won the chair of Muslim Art at the University of Granada and now devotes his time to research and university lecturing. A member of numerous prestigious Spanish and foreign learned institutions, he has published extensively on Hispano-Muslim art and its antecedents in Oriental Umayyad art, as well as on the epigraphy of Islamic Spain and Fatimid Egypt. He is acknowledged as the outstanding world authority on Nasrid art and the Alhambra.
Alhambra: Plans, Elevations, Sections and Drawings, Vol. 1 FROM THE PUBLISHER
Based on many years of painstaking research and covering eleven centuries of medieval, modern and contemporary history, The Alhambra represents a major contribution to world scholarship.
During his research for the book, the author has made some major new discoveries. He has, for example, resolved one of the great enigmas of Nasrid art by discovering the geometric proportional system on which the entire Alhambra architecture and decoration are based. He has also discovered the chronological order in which the Alhambra palaces were built.
SYNOPSIS
This second of two volumes is based on the 19th-century publication of Owen Jones's plates and text of the Alhambra. The first volume contains 22 chapters with 36 Owen Jones plates and over 200 new figures giving chronological ground plans, elevations and analyses of the architecture, decoration and epigraphy. It provides a general introduction to Nasrid art and architecture, explains the Nasrid proportional system of design, and discusses the early Nasrid palaces and the great city gates. This second volume contains 18 chapters, with 80 Owen Jones plates, 6 colour restitutions of the Facade of Comares and over 70 new figures, with elevations and analyses of the building and decoration of the Palacio de Comares and Palacio del Riyad. During his research for the book, Professor Fernandez-Puertas has made some discoveries. He has, for example, resolved one of the great enigmas of Nasrid art by discovering the geometric proportional system on which the entire Alhambra architecture and decoration are based. The designs are at times so intricate that they baffle even professional mathematicians. Professor Fernandez-Puertas has cracked the geometric code and discovered that the marvels of the Alhambra are built on a proportional system that is essentially incommensurable and not based on fixed units like metres or inches. This has involved making hundreds of analytical figures, many of which are included in this book. Professor Fernandez-Puertas is also the first to discover the chronological order in which the Alhambra palaces were built. He has collated much fragmentary information in order to reconstruct a picture of court life within the Alhambra and the personalities of its sultans and poet-viziers. The book thus contains the heart of three centuries of Nasrid art, as well as providing a history of the palatine city from the 9th century to the present day: the pre-Nasrid Alhambra, the Nasrid Alhambra and the Christian Alhambra. This publication is based on many years of research, and covers 11 centuries of medieval, modern and contemporary history.
Art & Photography
Book Info
