Granada and the Alhambra: A brief description of the ancient city of Granada, with a particular account of the Moorish palaceCalvert, Albert Frederick
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Granada and the Alhambra: A brief description of the ancient city of Granada, with a particular account of the Moorish palace
Calvert, Albert Frederick
Alhambra (Granada, Spain); Art -- Spain -- Granada; Granada (Spain) -- Description and travel
The façade, said to have been designed by Alonso Cano, is flanked by
towers (one unfinished) and divided by four huge stone columns which
support a cornice. On this rest four pillars, sustaining three deep,
gloomy vaultings. At the foot of these pillars, on the cornice, are
statues of the Apostles. The principal door is adorned with a high
relief of the Incarnation by Risueño, the side-doors with reliefs of the
Annunciation and Assumption. The tower on the left rises seventy-five
metres above the level of the present floor; its three stages are in the
three styles of Grecian architecture respectively.
The walls of the Cathedral are, to a great extent, hidden, as is so
often the case on the Continent, by adjoining buildings. The Puerta del
Perdon, which, as we have said, officially belongs to the Chapel Royal,
is Diego de Siloe’s masterpiece, and is elaborately sculptured. Over the
arch two allegorical figures uphold a tablet on which is inscribed a
dedication to the Catholic monarchs. The great flanking columns of the
portal are decorated with huge escutcheons. The introduction of heraldic
symbols into religious architecture is nowhere more conspicuous than at
Granada.
The interior of the church, which is paved with black and white marble,
is composed of five naves with a cross-vaulting in the Gothic style,
supported by five piers, each of which is composed of four Corinthian
pillars. Above the high altar at the east end of the structure rises a
noble dome, 220 ft. high, resting on eight pillars, and opening with a
bold main arch, 190 ft. high. The expansion of the Capilla Mayor
(principal chapel) at this point into the segment of a circle is a
clever feat of architecture. Lafuente says, “The daring of the main arch
is admirable, the way it is contrived creating a wonderful effect:
looking at it from the elliptical arches it appears to be extended and
on the point of falling away through having sunk below its level.”
The Capilla Mayor is a handsome, profusely ornamented fabric, supported
on twenty-two Corinthian columns in two courses. Between the lower
columns are the elliptical arches referred to, and on the upper course
are the seven beautiful paintings of scenes from the Blessed Virgin’s
life, by Alonso Cano. Between the courses are interesting paintings by
Juan de Sevilla and Bocanegra. Much of the statuary is good, and the
Flemish stained glass in the fourteen windows is beautifully rich in
colour and well executed. The high altar itself, the work of José de
Bada, is in a depraved style; but its badness is redeemed by the two
kneeling statues of Ferdinand and Isabella on either side by Mena and
Madrano, and by the bold, great heads of Adam and Eve, above the
pulpits, carved and painted by Alonso Cano.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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