Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/539

Rh liK. I. Ch. III. SPAIN. 523 has produced two such splendid ilhistrations of the Alhambra as those of Murphy and Owen Jones — works far more magnificent than any devoted to our own national arts. In France, too, Giraiilt de Pran- gey, Le Normand, Chapuy, and others, have devoted themselves to the task ; and even in Spain the " Antigiiedades Arabes en Espana " is the best production of the class. We are thus really familiar with what these strangers did; while the cathedrals of Seville, Toledo, Burgos, and Leon are only partially measured or illustrated ; and travellei-s hurrying to the Alhambra scarce condescend to alight from the diligence to cast a passing glance at their beauties.' This is indeed hardly fair; still it must be confessed it is impossi- ble to cdine into contact with the brilliant ])roductions of the fervid^ imagination of a Southern people without being ca])tivated with their beauty ; and there is a fascination in their exuberance of ornament and brilliancy of color which it is impossible to resist when these are used u itli the daring which characterizes their employment here. It is also true that these Moorish architects avoid the vulgarity which would inevitably accompany such exuberance in the liands of North- ern artists — a defect which the more delicately organized Asiatic invariably escaped. Cordoba. As far as the history of architecture is concerned, by far the most interesting building in Spain is the mosque of Cordoba ; it was the first imjiortant building commenced by the Moors, and was enlarged and ornamented by successive rulers, so that it contains specimens of all the styles current in Spain from the earliest times till the building of the Alhambra, which was in the latest age of Moorish art. This celebrated mosque was commenced by Caliph Abd el-Rahman in the year 786, and completed by his son Hesham, who died 796. The part built by them was the eleven western aisles, which then formed an edifice complete in itself, not unlike the Aksah at Jerusalem (except in the number of aisles), which the caliph is said to have been anxious to surpass. * It is by no means clear whether it originally had a court in front, but it is certain that the present 1 When the great national work, en- titled " Monumentos Architectonicos d'Espana," is complete, this reproach will be removed, but that certainly will not be the case for ten or twelve yeai-s to come, if it ever does attain comple- tion. The scale is too large, and the total want of principle on which it is carried out renders it useless till it is farther advanced. Twenty-three num- bers are published, but not one impor- tant building is complete, and, except- ing a plan of Toledo, not one of the larger buildings is even attempted. — Oosas d'Espana. The above note was written ten years ago, and is true now, except that the twenty-three must be now thirty-two, where it stopped six or seven years ago.