Enero Piece's. Dar al-Arusa tiled panel

January’s Museum Piece of the Month is the Dar al-Arusa tiled panel. Every Saturday in December, from noon onwards, art historian Gloria Aljazairi will analyse the peculiarities of this interesting piece, including its pattern, module and proportions, in Room IV of the Museum of the Alhambra, as part of this free programme offered by Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife (PAG).

The geometrically-decorated tiled panel is one of the remains of the enigmatic Dar al-Árusa palace, located on Cerro del Sol, and testifies to the importance, delicacy and sumptuousness of the almunias, holiday palaces built outside the city walls.

This panel, specifically, is a good example of Nasrid craftsmanship, when artists had to chose the best theme and design for a given space and to create a piece which, when finished and framed, fitted perfectly into it.

The activity will analyse the processes used in making up the rich geometric arrangement, showing the simplicity of the design process, based on the application of patterns, modules and proportions, used to adapt the decorative pieces to all kinds of spaces.

The aim of the talk is to show how these decorative elements were not the fruit of imaginative fantasy or even creative genius, but rather how they obeyed their own set of internal laws. At the same time, this manner of fitting ornamental themes perfectly into a given space became an incontrovertible characteristic of Nasrid art, in many cases the conclusive feature to distinguish it from other forms of Mudéjar and Morisco art.

Opening hours: Saturdays (January), noon.
Location: Room VII, Museum of the Alhambra, Palace of Carlos V.

Source: Patronato de la Alhambra