Photograph: Miguel Rodríguez MorenoPhotograph: Miguel Rodríguez MorenoPhotograph: Miguel Rodríguez MorenoPhotograph: Miguel Rodríguez Moreno


Name of Monument:

Madrasa Palace

Location:

Granada, Spain

Date of Monument:

Founded in hegira 750 / AD 1349

Period / Dynasty:

Nasrid

Patron(s):

Yusuf I (r. AH 733–54 / AD 1333–54).

Description:

Madrasas were centres of higher education that provided orthodox training to future administrators, jurists and judges. They consisted of a courtyard surrounded by the rooms of the teachers and pupils, as well as a room used for teaching and group prayer.
The Granada madrasa, in addition to its intrinsic artistic value, has the distinction of being the only Hispano-Muslim example to have survived to modern times. Built under the Nasrids, it was given over for use by the town council in 1500 by the Catholic Kings, who commemorated the conquest of Granada in the form of an inscription. It was partially destroyed in the 18th century and only the prayer room survived.
The façade was built in a Churrigueresque style. The courtyard is small and rather simple, as are the stairs, where a tablet commemorates the rebuilding. The council room stands out on the upper floor with its magnificent Mudéjar alfarje ceiling covered with knotwork and two pairs of crosspieces. Opposite the courtyard there is a 6.84 m square room, the only surviving part of the Nasrid building. The section becomes octagonal thanks to its elegant squinches. In each of the eight resulting spaces there is an arch finished with honeycomb-work and framed by an alfiz panel with naskhi inscriptions. Further up, on a much wider frieze, with knotwork decoration, there are 16 semi-circular windows. Above these there is a honeycomb frieze and an octagonal wooden covering with knotwork stars, completed by a honeycombed cupola above 16 diminished-arch windows. The simplicity of the materials used (ceramics, plaster and wood) contrasts with the decorative exuberance. The combined experience of the decorators comes together in an imaginative display harmoniously combining plant arabesques, kufic and cursive script, and honeycomb work.
The Arabic building, one of the most beautiful in Granada, was still intact in the 16th century. The façade was made of skilfully worked white marble, of which a significant number of fragments survived, first used as flagstones in the courtyard and now kept in Granada's museum of archaeology. It would have had a horseshoe arch with a Qur'anic inscription on the alfiz panel, a decorated lintel circumscribed by another inscription, beneath two window-shaped inscribed slabs, one containing an exaltation of knowledge and Abu'l-Hajjaj Yusuf I, and the date of completion. There was a pool in the courtyard that bore one of the most beautiful poems of Granada, too long to include in full, which begins: 'If you should have the good fortune to look upon the inside of this house, built as a home for science, for the strength of greatness and for the glory of the centuries to come, you will see that it is founded on two prerogatives, which are strength in justice and mercy'. It goes on to exalt the virtues of honour and goodness. A mysterious amulet fabled to impart divine intelligence, stands out from the wall.

View Short Description

This is the only Hispano-Muslim madrasa to have survived to our times, although only part of the courtyard and the prayer room remain. Built by the Nasrid sultan Yusuf I and inspired by the Marinid madrasas of North Africa, the remains of its ornamental plasterwork and coloured tiles give an idea of the richness of the original decoration. Although it specialised in the study of Arabic and the Qur’an, medicine, calculus, astronomy, geometry and logic were also taught there.

How Monument was dated:

Using the documentation and inscriptions detailed in the description.

Selected bibliography:

Gómez Moreno, M., Guía de Granada, Vol. I, 2nd edition, Granada, 1998, pp.308–12.
Pareja López, E., Historia del Arte en Andalucía, Vol. II El Arte en el Sur de Al-Andalus, Seville, 1988, pp.176–80.
Seco de Lucena y Paredes, L., El Hayib, la Madraza de Granada y las Murallas del Albaicín, Madrid, 1956.
Mudéjar Art: Islamic Aesthetics in Christian Art, p.289 (description centred around the Mudejar part).

Citation of this web page:

Ángela Franco "Madrasa Palace" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;es;Mon01;16;en

Prepared by: Ángela FrancoÁngela Franco

Ángela Franco es Jefa del Departamento de Antigüedades Medievales en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional.
Obtuvo el Grado de Doctor por la Universidad Complutense de Madrid con la tesis Escultura gótica en León y provincia, premiada y publicada parcialmente (Madrid, 1976; reed. León, 1998); y la Diplomatura en Paleografía y Archivística por la Scuola Vaticana di Paleografia, Diplomatica e Archivistica, con la tesis L'Archivio paleografico italiano: indici dei manoscritti, publicada en castellano (Madrid, 1985). Becas de investigación: beca posdoctoral del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Academia Española de Bellas Artes de Roma (1974-75); beca posdoctoral del Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Academia Española de Bellas Artes de Roma (1975-77); beca de la Fundación Juan March de Madrid (1978).
Tiene en su haber 202 publicaciones, fundamentalmente sobre arte medieval cristiano, en especial la iconografía: Crucifijo gótico doloroso, Doble Credo, Danzas de la Muerte, temática bíblica en relación con la liturgia (el Génesis y el Éxodo en relación con la vigilia Pascual) o con el teatro (Secundum legem debet mori, sobre el “pozo de Moisés” de la cartuja de Dijon). Es autora de cuatro catálogos monográficos del Museo Arqueológico Nacional, entre ellos el de Dedales islámicos (Madrid, 1993), y de publicaciones sobre escultura gótica y pintura en la catedral de León y sobre escultura gótica en Ávila, así como de numerosas fichas para catálogos de exposiciones.
Ha participado en innumerables congresos nacionales e internacionales, presentando ponencias y mesas redondas, y ha dirigido cursos y ciclos de conferencias. Es Secretaria de Publicaciones en el Museo Arqueológico Nacional desde 1989.

Copyedited by: Rosalía AllerRosalía Aller

Rosalía Aller Maisonnave, licenciada en Letras (Universidad Católica del Uruguay), y en Filología Hispánica y magíster en Gestión Cultural de Música, Teatro y Danza (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), ha obtenido becas de la Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional y la Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia de Madrid, así como el Diplôme de Langue Française (Alliance Française), el Certificate of Proficiency in English (University of Cambridge) y el Certificado Superior en inglés y francés (Escuela Oficial de Idiomas de Madrid). Profesora de Estética de la Poesía y Teoría Literaria en la Universidad Católica del Uruguay, actualmente es docente de Lengua Castellana y Literatura en institutos de Enseñanza Secundaria y formación del profesorado en Madrid. Desde 1983, ha realizado traducción y edición de textos en Automated Training Systems, Applied Learning International, Videobanco Formación y El Derecho Editores. Integra el equipo de Museo Sin Fronteras desde 1999 y ha colaborado en la revisión de los catálogos de “El Arte Islámico en el Mediterráneo”. Así mismo, ha realizado publicaciones sobre temas literarios y didácticos, ha dictado conferencias y ha participado en recitales poéticos.

Translation by: Laurence Nunny
Translation copyedited by: Monica Allen

MWNF Working Number: SP 20

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