Overview

The Nasrid builders of the Alhambra the best-preserved medieval Muslim palatial city were so exacting that some of their work could not be fully explained until the invention of fractal geometry. Their design principles have been obscured, however, by the loss of all archival material. This book resolves that impasse by investigating the neglected, interdisciplinary contexts of medieval poetics and optics and through comparative study of Islamic court ceremonials. This reframing enables the reconstruction of the underlying, integrated aesthetic, focusing on the harmonious interrelationship between diverse artistic media -architecture, poetry and textiles - in the experience of the beholder, resulting in a new understanding of the Alhambra.

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9781474416504

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Reviews

Olga Bush's extensively researched 'Reframing the Alhambra' brilliantly cuts through the centuries of myths to radically reposition our understanding and interpretation of the Alhambra's buildings. -- Philippa Joseph, History Today This fine scholarly book is full of new insights about the Alhambra, a famous and much-studied Muslim palace. Bush's title is apt, for this is not an overview of the entire complex, but instead focuses on several important aspects of the palace. Fundamentally Bush seeks to recapture the experience of the palace for those who inhabited it, and to do that she brilliantly exploits the literally thousands of inscriptions (especially poetic inscriptions) made for it, including many that will speak to the reader... Well illustrated and supported with photographs by the author, this book is a major achievement and deserves a wide readership among all those interested in Islamic culture. -- CHOICE, L. Nees, University of Delaware An erudite, in-depth study of this well-known palatial complex, providing a welcome expansion on her dissertation with groundbreaking scholarship. Beautifully illustrated, the volume presents a study of optics and color; poetic epigraphy; court ceremonial; and textiles and textile motifs within architectural decoration. -- Patricia Blessing, Pomona College, The Art Bulletin

Olga Bush's extensively researched 'Reframing the Alhambra' brilliantly cuts through the centuries of myths to radically reposition our understanding and interpretation of the Alhambra's buildings. -- Philippa Joseph, History Today This fine scholarly book is full of new insights about the Alhambra, a famous and much-studied Muslim palace. Bush's title is apt, for this is not an overview of the entire complex, but instead focuses on several important aspects of the palace. Fundamentally Bush seeks to recapture the experience of the palace for those who inhabited it, and to do that she brilliantly exploits the literally thousands of inscriptions (especially poetic inscriptions) made for it, including many that will speak to the reader... Well illustrated and supported with photographs by the author, this book is a major achievement and deserves a wide readership among all those interested in Islamic culture. -- CHOICE, L. Nees, University of Delaware

Olga Bush's extensively researched 'Reframing the Alhambra' brilliantly cuts through the centuries of myths to radically reposition our understanding and interpretation of the Alhambra's buildings. -- Philippa Joseph, History Today

Author Information

Olga Bush is Visiting Scholar of Islamic art and architecture at Vassar College and co-editor, with Avinoam Shalem, of Gazing Otherwise: Modalities of Seeing in and Beyond the Lands of Islam (2016).

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