The art which we call Hispano-Moresque might, therefore, with equal propriety, be called Persico-Spanish or Hispano-Saracenic. Spain was twice overrun by Mohammedan conquerors. In the eighth century (711) the Arabs subdued the Goths and founded the Caliphate of Cordova. It is both singular and disappointing that no ceramic relic of this period has been found. The Spanish, even under the sway of Rome, had attained to a comparative excellence in the art, and the productions resulting from the union of original traditions with Arabian influences would have formed an interesting link in our history. The Arabians remained for about five hundred years, when, in 1235 the Moors overturned the Arab rule, and founded the kingdom of Granada. The Moors succumbed, in their turn, to Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1492, and between these two dates, 1235 and 1492, was the golden era of the ceramic art of Spain. Meantime it is to be observed, as showing the possible and actual extent of Persian influence: _Firstly._--That under the Moorish sway a colony of Persians existed in Spain. This, according to Major R. Murdoch Smith, is attested by a document recently brought to notice by a Spanish traveller in Persia, assigning the town Rioja to the Persians as their place of residence. _Secondly._--That mosaic work has been found in Persia, composed of star and cross shaped tiles of different colors fitted together, and that similar tiles are made in Spain at the present time. _Thirdly._--That in Persia are found the prototypes of the Spanish style of ornamenting vaults with hanging-work, like plaster stalactites. _Fourthly._--That, according to Piot, “numerous Persian faience plaques and pieces of vases, resembling those of our own time, are found encrusted in the white marble of a church in Naples.” _Fifthly._--That Mr. Drury C. Fortnum has found a specimen of Persian ware in the church of St. Cecilia, at Pisa. The piece is clearly Persian in style, black arabesques on a blue ground, similar to others found at Rhages. _Sixthly._--That the Saracens overran Sicily in the ninth century, and that a Moorish colony landed there some centuries later. The corollary deducible from these facts is clear, viz., that in Persian art, as brought into Europe by the Moors, Arabs, or Saracens, and by the Persians themselves, we must find the bridge upon which to cross from the ancient arts of Assyria and Babylonia to those of Italy and Spain. CHAPTER II. GREECE.