SALA DE LOS EMBAJADORES—HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
After traversing the Hall of the Barque, we come upon the Hall of Ambassadors—the Golden Saloon—with a dome which bursts like a flower-bell upon the sight. The most
ENTRANCE TO THE HALL OF THE BARQUE, WITH VIEW OF THE COURT OF THE FISH-POND, OR OF THE MYRTLES.
beautiful thing about these Moorish domes is, not their grand poise and balance, but the airiness of them. They seem mere resting clouds swelling round you and canopying you with colour. You have no sense of their weight or means of permanency. The stalactite ornament, as it is called, seems fashioned in emulous rivalry of golden-celled honeycomb, in which honey still rests; honey, dyed by the juices of the flowers from which it has been drawn. The walls are like the leaves of illuminated missals, framed by cornices of poem and prayer.
THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
The Hall of Ambassadors is a square of thirty-seven feet, and is sixty feet high from the floor to the centre of the dome. It is the largest, as well as the most imposing of the Halls of the Alhambra, though in arrangement and symmetry of details less perfect than the Hall of The Two Sisters.
Inscriptions of verses from the Koràn abound amongst the decorations.
The present ceiling of the Hall of the Ambassadors is a dome of wood, ornamented by ribs intersecting each other in various patterns in gold, on grounds of blue and red. The ceiling is ingenious in construction and beautiful in detail. Owen Jones thinks that an arch of brick was originally thrown across the hall, which gave way after the completion of the building, carrying with it an earlier ceiling, which was afterwards replaced by the present dome.
In the centre divan, on the north side of the Hall, there is
MOSAIC IN DADO, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
a most beautiful Mosaic dado, as perfect as when originally executed, and which seems to be imperishable. It is formed of baked clay, squeezed into moulds of the different figures, glazed on the surface, and bevelled slightly on the edge. Thus, when necessary, the Mosaics were not only easily withdrawn from the moulds, but, when united, they formed a key for the mortar. In this particular recess, doubtless, was the throne of the Moorish kings, as indicated both by the inscriptions on the walls, and the extraordinary care bestowed upon the decoration of the recess.
GENERAL VIEW OF THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
GENERAL VIEW OF THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
ENTRANCE TO THE HALL OF THE BARQUE, THE ANTE-ROOM OF THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS, WITH VIEW OF THE COURT OF THE FISH-POND.
(From a drawing made about 1830).
PLATE LXV.
No. 78. From the centre arch of the Court of Lions. | No. 79. From the entrance to the Divan, Hall of the Two Sisters. | |
Spandrils of Arches. | ||
PLATE LXVI.
No. 80.
Details of the wood-work of the door to the Hall of Abencerrages.
PLATE LXVII.
No. 81. | No. 82. | |
Spandrils of Arches, Hall of Justice. | ||
PLATE LXVIII.
No. 83.
Ornaments on the walls of the Hall of the Ambassadors.
PLATE LXIX.
No. 84. From the entrance to the Court of Lions from the Court of the FishPonds. | No. 85. From the entrance to the Court of the Fish Ponds from the Hall of theBark. | |
Spandrils of Arches. | ||
PLATE LXX.
No. 86., No. 87., No. 88., No. 89., No. 90., No. 91., No. 92.
Mosaics from the Hall of Ambassadors, Hall of Two Sisters, and Hall of Justice.
PLATE LXXI.
No. 93.
Plaster Ornaments, used as upright and horizontal bands enclosing panels on the walls.
PLATE LXXII.
No. 94., No. 95., No. 96., No. 97., No. 98., No. 99., No. 100.
Mosaics from the Hall of Ambassadors, Hall of Two Sisters, Hall of Justice, and Court of the Fish Pond.
PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
SECTION AND ELEVATION OF THE INTERIOR OF THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
DETAIL IN THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
KUFIC INSCRIPTIONS, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
MOSAIC ON DADO OF BALCONY HALL OF AMBASSADORS
ORNAMENT FROM THE SIDE OF A WINDOW, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
MURAL ORNAMENT, ENTRANCE TO THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
ORNAMENT AT THE SIDE OF DOORWAY, ENTRANCE TO THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
PLATE LXXIII.
No. 101.
Panels on walls, Tower of the Captive.
PLATE LXXIV.
No. 102.
Blank window, Hall of the Bark.
PLATE LXXV.
No. 103.
Rafters of a roof over a doorway now destroyed beneath the Tocador de la Reyna.
PLATE LXXVI.
No. 104
Band at springing of arch at the entrance of Hall of the Two Sisters from the Court of Lions.
PLATE LXXVII.
No. 105.
Panelling of the centre recess, Hall of Ambassadors.
PLATE LXXVIII.
No. 106.
Part of ceiling of the Portico of the Court of the Fish Pond.
PLATE LXXIX.
No. 107.
Blank window, Hall of the Bark.
PLATE LXXX.
No. 108.
Ornaments on the walls, House of Sanchez.
AN ARABIAN ORNAMENT, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
AN ARABIAN ORNAMENT, ENTRANCE TO THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
INSCRIPTIONS AND ORNAMENT, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
ORNAMENT FROM THE SIDE OF A WINDOW, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
INSCRIPTIONS IN THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
MURAL ORNAMENT, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
ORNAMENT FROM THE SIDE OF A WINDOW, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
ORNAMENT FROM THE SIDE OF A WINDOW, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
PLATE LXXXI.
Cornice and window in the centre of the Façade of the Mosque.
PLATE LXXXII.
Detail of the central part of “Lindaraja’s” Balcony.
PLATE LXXXIII.
Lower part of “Lindaraja’s” Balcony.
ORNAMENT FROM THE SIDE OF A WINDOW, NORTH FRONT OF THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
ORNAMENT IN THE SIDE OF A WINDOW, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
A CEILING IN OUTLINE, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
THE CEILING OF THE DOME LAID FLAT, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
DETAILS OF GLAZED TILES IN THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
MOSAIC IN DADO, EAST SIDE OF THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
MOSAIC IN DADO, NORTH SIDE OF THE HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
MOSAIC IN DADO, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
MOSAIC IN DADO, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
The Mosaic dados present a great variety in their patterns, the combinations being endless.
“The colours of blue, red, and gold are still to be seen on the capital of the column of the centre window of the Hall, but no traces of gold, or any colour, have been discovered
CEILING OF GALLERY, HALL OF AMBASSADORS.
on the shaft. The same thing occurs in the Court of the Fish-pond and the Court of the Lions, but, in each case, the harmony of the colouring appears to require that they should be gilt. It is probable that in the restorations which the Palace underwent during the residence of the Spanish kings, it was found much more easy to remove the gold from the columns, exposing the white marble, than to incur the expense of re-
gilding.” Such is the opinion of the famous decorative artist, Owen Jones; but the fondness of the Oriental for the spotless purity of marble, and the transparency of alabaster, so oft expressed in the inscriptions, forbids its acceptance.
In the several alcoves, or divans, which surround the Hall, the walls are covered with plaster ornaments in relief, presenting the greatest variety; the patterns in each divan being different.
EXTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE (PRIVATE PROPERTY).
Beneath this Golden Saloon is a network of dungeon-like passages, by which, it is said, Sultáns escaped in treasonable revolts, when angry scimitars were glittering in the fountain-courts, or when the incensed populace were tossing their threatening spears in the humming city below. Here is also a prison-cell sort of room, with whispering holes at each end, which
PLATE LXXXIV.
Detail of the lateral windows in the Hall of the Two Sisters.
PLATE LXXXV.
Details of the front of the Mosque in the Harem.
PLATE LXXXVI.
Details of the upper part of “Lindaraja’s” Balcony.
FAÇADE OF THE MOSQUE.
ELEVATION OF PORTICO ADJACENT TO THE MOSQUE.
DETAILS OF ORNAMENT OF KORÁN RECESS NEAR THE ENTRANCE-DOOR OF THE MOSQUE.
DETAILS OF ORNAMENT IN THE COURT OF THE MOSQUE.
DETAILS IN THE COURT OF THE MOSQUE, EASTERN FAÇADE.
AN ARCHED WINDOW OF THE MOSQUE.
AN ARCHED WINDOW OF THE MOSQUE.
INTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE.
INTERIOR OF THE MOSQUE.
THE MOSQUE, FROM KORÁN RECESS.
ARAB LAMP IN THE MOSQUE.
Philip the Second built to amuse the wretched child, Don Carlos. Also a vaulted cellar, where some rude sculpture has been immured by the prudish monks.