[38] A pretty coloured view from this very point will be found in M. Girault de Prangey's "Choix d'Ornements moresques de l'Alhambra," Paris, 1842. Plate No. 3.
[39] An alabaster fountain probably occupied the centre of the Sala de Embajadores.
[40] It is but just to Señor Contréras to remark that the Poet's picture was sketched before the date of his admirable conservatorship. He is a true artist, and has done wonders in the way of restoration, completing and as little as possible interfering with the marvellous picturesque character of the noble old Palace.
[41] Calcutta, 1821.
[42] "A Journey to Mequinez, the residence of the present Emperor of Fez and Morocco, on the occasion of Commodore Stewart's Embassy thither for the redemption of the British Captives in the year 1711." London, Jacob Tonson. 1725. A very interesting old book, the descriptions in which carry the mind forcibly back to the Moorish occupation of Spain.
[43] For full information on the Glass of the Romans, the Byzantine-Greeks, and the Arabs, of Damascus especially, see Mr. Augustus Franks' account in Mr. J. B. Waring's beautiful work on the Manchester Exhibition, Mr. Alexander Nesbitt's "Historical Notice" Introductory to the Catalogue of Mr. Felix Slade's collection, M. Bontemps' "Guide du Verrier," and M. Labarte's "Histoire des Arts Industriels au moyen-âge et à l'Epoque de la Renaissance."
[44] Of course alluding to the ceiling, which is even more beautiful in the same style, than that of the Hall of the Abencerrages, which, my colleague, Mr. Owen Jones so perfectly reproduced in the Crystal Palace at Sydenham.
[45] "The Kiblah is the point in the horizon towards which Mahommedans turn in their prayers marking the place where Mecca stands. The Mihrab is the enclosure before the Kiblah."
[46] See Mr. J. B. Waring's masterly sketches of the details of these works of art.
[47] Who also states that in his time the drawings of the design by Diego Siloe were yet extant, "Noticias de los Arquitectos y Arquitectura de España." Madrid. 1829. Vol. I. page 199.