CHAPTER XXIX

MOORISH ART IN SOUTHERN EUROPE

Absolute Ignorance of Art among the Original Arabs--Their Debt to Antiquity--Their Early Architecture--Materials--Massive Character of the First Edifices of the Moslems--The Horseshoe Arch--Its Phallic Derivation--Progress of Artistic Embellishment--Its Wonderful Diversity--Byzantine Influence--Employment of Encaustic Tiles--Mosaics of the Mosque of Cordova--Stuccoes--Their Composition and Infinite Variety of Form--Stalactitic Pendentives--Woodwork--Its Beautiful and Intricate Designs--Disappearance of Arabic Architectural Monuments in Sicily--Military Structures of Mohammedan Spain--Typical Form of the Mosque--Its Hebrew Origin--Manifold Derivation of Hispano-Arab Architecture--Development of Art in Moorish Spain--Its Three Epochs--The Alhambra its Culmination--Representation of Animal Forms--Painting and Sculpture--Mural Decoration--The Industrial Arts--Working of Metals--Arms--Engraved Gems--Ceramics--The Leathern Tapestry of Cordova--Textile Fabrics--Calligraphy and Illumination--Destruction of the Artistic Remains of the Moors 534