LAS DOS HERMANAS—THE TWO SISTERS.
Perhaps the most interesting, as it certainly is the loveliest apartment in this palace of enchantment, is the Hall of the Two Sisters, a title, the guide books would fain have us believe,
ENTRANCE TO HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS, FROM THE COURT OF THE LIONS.
conferred by reason of two enormous slabs of white marble laid in the pavement, precisely alike in form, and without flaw or stain; but the surpassing splendour of this chamber forbids us to accept a reason so inadequate for the designation. There is nothing so very extraordinary in two huge blocks of stone, be they never so faultless; that is only a matter of quarrying: if such objects are to excite wonder, we may turn, with more profit, to the Pyramids of Egypt. Let us rather concern ourselves with the beauty and symmetry of this unequalled spot.
First, then, the gate of the tower exceeds all other gates in
HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS, FROM ENTRANCE DOOR.
profusion of ornament, and in the beauty of the prospect from the entrance through a range of apartments, where a multitude of arches terminate in a large window affording a view of open country. In sunshine, the variety of tints thrown upon this enfilade are surprisingly beautiful. In all probability the Hall of The Two Sisters formed part of the private apartments of the Moorish kings. The alcoves, or divans, on either side of the Hall, with the charming retiring rooms on the upper floor, give it the character of a residence; just as the Hall of Ambassadors, as its aspect shows, and its traditional name implies, was destined only for public receptions. It may reasonably be declared that the Hall of The Two Sisters, together with the corridors and alcoves which surround it, cannot be equalled even by other parts of the Palace. Its stalactite ceilings are the most perfect examples remaining of this curious and interesting kind of decoration. To preserve them, the outer walls are raised ten feet above the dome, and support an encasing roof over all. Nothing can exceed the glory of the honeycomb vaultings, with thousands of fantastic cell formations, each one differing from the other, yet all combining in uniformity. The effect
HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
is as if the architect had been assisted in his work by swarms of Brobdingnagian bees.
At the upper end of the Hall of The Two Sisters, but separated from it by a corridor, is an alcove, once overlooking a beautiful garden, as we learn from a verse in the room. It is known as The Mirador or Balcony of “Lindaraja.” On this favoured spot the poets, painters, and architects of that day lavished their most exalted efforts. All the varieties of form and colour which adorn other portions of the Palace have here been blended with the happiest effect. The delighted observer is spell-bound, and finds it difficult to remove himself from the fascination of the place.
The lattice window of the upper story gives light to a corridor leading to apartments appropriated to the fair odalisques. It was through these lattices that the beauties of the hareem viewed
UPPER BALCONY OF THE HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
the splendid fêtes enacted for their entertainment in the great hall below, but in which they could participate only as distant spectators. These gratings are precisely similar in their construction to those which are now seen in the hareems of the East.
The long series of inscriptions in the Hall of The Two Sisters were much mutilated, and in some cases utterly destroyed, in a barbarous attempt at decoration—rien n’est sacré pour un sapeur—made by the Ayuntamiento of Granada in 1832, when the Infante, Don Francisco de Paula visited the city. Fortunately, so far as the text goes, the sentences may be found in Antigüedades Arabes de España.[9] The greatest pains have been expended upon the inscriptions which address themselves to the eye of the connoisseur by the beautiful forms of the characters; exercise his intellect by the effort of deciphering their curious and
HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS, FROM THE “LINDARAJA” BALCONY.
complex involutions, and reward his imagination by the beauty of the sentiments and the music of their composition.
Many will be grateful to see some specimens of the verses from the Hall of The Two Sisters:—
“I am the garden, and every morn am I revealed in new beauty. Observe attentively how I am adorn’d, and thou wilt reap the benefit of a commentary on decoration;
“For, by Allah! the elegant structures around me assuredly surpass all other edifices by the happy presage attending their foundation.
“How many delightful prospects I enfold! Prospects, in the contemplation of which a mind enlightened finds the gratification of its desire.
“Look upon this wonderful cupola, at sight of whose perfection all other domes must pale and disappear;
“To which the Constellation of the Twins extends the hand of salutation; and, for communion, the Full Moon deserts her station in the heavens.
“Nay, more; were they to take these aisles for their abiding place, those heavenly bodies would render constant homage to their beauty.
“No wonder, then, if the stars grow pale in their high stations, and if a limit be put to the duration of their light.
“Here also behold the portico, unfolding every beauty. Indeed, had this palace no other ornament, it would still surpass the firmament in splendour:
“For manifold are the gorgeous habilaments in which thou, O Sultán! hast arrayed it, surpassing in brilliancy the lustrous robes of Yemen!
“To look at them, one would imagine them to be planets revolving in their orbits, and throwing into shade the sunburst of morning.
“Here are columns ornamented to absolute perfection; the beauty of which has become glorified: columns
BALCONY OF THE FAVOURITE, “LINDARAJA.”
DETAILS OF THE GLAZED TILES IN THE DADO OF THE HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
“Which, when struck by the earliest beam celestial, may be likened, notwithstanding their vastness, to many blocks of pearl.
“Indeed, there is no palace more imposing in its elevation, nor so brilliantly decorated; nor having more extensive apartments;
“They may be compared to markets where the richest comers are overpaid in beauty, and where the arbiter of elegance presides eternally to pronounce his award;
“And where the sigh of the zephyr is inhaled by the noontide ray whose scintillating beam is more refulgent than all other light.
“Between myself and the most high fortune the closest relationship exists, and the greatest resemblance between us lies in the splendour of our destiny.
“Every art has laid its gifts upon me; nay, all have united in conferring perfection.
“By those who are permitted to behold me I am regarded as the Queen of Beauty who bestoweth the prize upon her well-beloved;
“Indeed, when the enraptured observer has feasted his eyes upon me, he will find reality surpassing the most extravagant flights of fancy;
“He will see the moon-beam start from my orbs, and its scintillation leave me only to enter the mansions of the blest.
“The palace is a palace of transparent crystal; it appears to be illimitable as the boundless ocean;
“And yet I am not the sole marvel of this heaven upon earth; for I overlook with ecstacy a garden, the like of which no human eye has contemplated.
“I was built by the Imam Ibn Nasr. May Allah uphold his majesty as a pattern to other kings!”
The last half-dozen verses, printed supra, are inscribed on the jambs of the doorway which gives entrance to the exquisite little chamber already described. The windows of the Mirador still overlook the garden eulogised in the penultimate verse. The dado of the Hall of The Two Sisters is a most beautiful Mosaic, presenting the same general form on all four sides of the Hall, but differing considerably in the filling up of the patterns.
THE FAVOURITE’S BALCONY.
In the Hall of The Two Sisters formerly stood the famous Arab vase (el jarro) [see pp. 77 and 95] which tradition says was discovered in one of the subterranean chambers of the palace, “full of gold.” It is now placed in the Museum. The vase is of the fourteenth century, and is exquisitely enamelled in white, blue and gold. The decorations are Hispano-Moresque, and are fully described in the work on pottery by Peter Davillier. Another lovely amphora, is engraved in the Spanish work Antigüedades Arabes de España,[10] the equal, indeed, the companion
EL JARRO. THE ARABIAN VASE AND NICHE IN WHICH IT FORMERLY STOOD, HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS. THE VASE, CONSIDERABLY MUTILATED, IS NOW IN THE MUSEUM OF THE PALACE. (See p. 95.)
HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
VIEW IN THE HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
DETAIL OF THE UPPER STORY, HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
SECTION OF THE HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS, AND
SECTION OF PART OF THE COURT OF THE LIONS.
INSCRIPTION IN THE HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
INSCRIPTIONS IN THE HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
PANEL, ORNAMENT, AND INSCRIPTIONS IN THE HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
DETAILS ON THE FRONT OF “LINDARAJA’S” BALCONY.
DETAILS ON THE FRONT OF “LINDARAJA’S” BALCONY.
EL JARRO. ARAB VASE OF METALLIC LUSTRE, PROBABLY FROM THE BALEARIC ISLES (MAJORCA). THIS VASE NOW STANDS IN THE MUSEUM OF THE PALACE.
PLATE I.
No. 1.
Ornament in panels on the Walls, Hall of the Ambassadors.
PLATE II.
No. 2.
Soffit of an arch, Court of the Fishpond.
PLATE III.
No. 3.
Ornament over doorway at the entrance, Court of the Lions.
PLATE IV.
No. 4.
Ornament in doorway at the entrance to the Ventana, Hall of the Two Sisters.
PLATE V.
No. 5.
Ornament on the side of windows, upper story, Hall of the Two Sisters.
PLATE VI.
| No. 6. Ornament in spandrils of arches, Hall of the Two Sisters. |
No. 7. Ornaments in spandrils of arches, Hall of the Abencerrages |
PLATE VII.
No. 8.
Ornaments in panels, Hall of the Ambassadors.
PLATE VIII.
No. 9.
Ornaments in panels, Court of the Mosque.
DETAILS AT THE EXIT OF THE HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
to el jarro, formerly existed in the Palace, but it was unfortunately broken about the year 1837, and the pieces sold to a passing traveller. It is here figured from Murphy’s Arabian Antiquities, 1815.
AN ARAB VASE OF THE XIVTH CENTURY IN THE NICHE WHEREIN IT STOOD UNTIL THE YEAR 1837.
The Hall of The Two Sisters fairly intoxicates one with the fragile yet imperishable beauty of the place. The eye soars upward, and flutters in and out of those flower-cup cells which seem the first creative types of some fresh world. Architects—Owen Jones amongst the number—inform us that the thing is very simple: it is a beauty put together by mere receipt proceeding from three primary figures—the right-angled triangle, the rectangle, and the isosceles triangle: capable of millions of combinations, just like the three primary colours, or the seven notes of the musical scale. “A simple receipt,” says an anonymous writer on the glories of the Alhambra; “but who, nowadays,
MOSAIC IN DADO OF THE ENTRANCE TO THE HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
can cook anything like it?” The same writer goes on to say that in devising the Alhambra, the Moors were always thinking of the Arab tent. They wanted air and lightness. The marble pillars are the tent spears, but of stone. The net-work lace veil that filigrees every wall with cobwebs of harmonious colour, is the old tent tapestry, the Córdovan-stamped leather hangings are the Indian shawls that canopied the wandering and victorious horseman’s tent. They wanted mere pendant flowers woven together into roof and gossamer-pierced panels that hardly
MOSAIC IN DADO OF RECESS, HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
MOSAIC IN DADO, HALL OF THE TWO SISTERS.
arrest the air. Everything must float and sway; they would not bar out the chirp of the dripping silver water. They thinned and shaved the pillars till they were no longer cylinders of marble, but tender saplings, or flower-stalks, slender as spear-shafts. The spandrils are not corbelled beams, faced with gargoyle monsters, but perforated supports as to some fairy’s cabinet. There is nothing to hold up, only ivory-patterned walls, and a honeycombed dome that seems to float in mid-air.