Mudéjar art

This article is about style in post-Islamic Iberia. For a group of people, see Mudéjar.

Tower of the church of San Salvador, Teruel, Aragon

Mudéjar art refers to a type of ornamentation and decoration used in the Iberian Christian kingdoms, primarily in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries though it continued being used as late as the 18th century. It was applied to Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance architectural styles as constructive, ornamental and decorative motifs derived from those that had been brought to or developed by Muslims in Al-Andalus.

Mudéjar was originally the term used for Moors of Al-Andalus who willingly remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista, when Christian rulers captured Muslim territory in Spain from the eigth to fifteenth century, but who were not initially forcibly converted to Christianity or forcibly exiled.

Mudéjar elements were developed in Iberia specially in the context of historicist architecture; there was a revival in the late 19th to early 20th century Spain as Neo-Mudéjar style. These motifs and techniques are also present in the art and crafts, especially Hispano-Moresque lustreware that was once widely exported across Europe from southern and eastern Spain.

Etymology

Façade of Parroquieta Chapel of La Seo de Zaragoza, Aragon, a gothic building with elaborate mudéjar masonry

Mudéjar was originally the term used for Moors of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not initially forcibly converted to Christianity or exiled. It was a medieval Castilian borrowing of the Arabic word Mudajjan مدجن, meaning "tamed", referring to Muslims who submitted to the rule of Christian kings. The term likely originated as a taunt, as the word was usually applied to domesticated animals such as poultry. The term Mudéjar can also be translated from Arabic as "one permitted to remain", which references Christians allowing Muslims to remain in Christian Iberia. The term "arte mudéjar" was coined and described by the Spanish art historian José Amador de los Ríos y Serrano in his induction discourse El estilo mudéjar, en arquitectura at the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in 1859.

History of Mudejares in the Iberian Peninsula

Mudéjars in Iberia lived under a protected tributary status known as dajn which references ahl al-dajn. Their protected status was enforced by the fueros or local charters which dictated Christians laws. Muslims of other regions outside of the Iberian Peninsula disapproved of the Mudéjar subjugated status and their willingness to live with non-Muslims. Over the next several centuries, the religious freedom of the Mudejars would deteriorate and they were increasingly persecuted. By the seventeenth century, much of Spain and Portugal outlawed Islam, forcing covnersions upon the Mudejars or exiling them. When suspicions arose about whether certain Mudjars remained Muslim in secret, a new name was given to this group of people: Moriscos, although they, too, were eventually expelled.

What allowed Mudejar culture to survive and flourish throughout the medieval world depended upon whether the capture by Christians was accomplished through negotiated surrender or military defeat, the ratio of Muslim to Christian populations, the competing interests of the monarchy and the papacy, and economic exigencies. With a balance of these things, Mudejar art was born.

Mudéjar Style in Architecture

Ceiling of mudéjar carpentry, Segorbe town hall (former ducal palace), Valencia Region

Further information: Mudéjar architecture of Aragon and Islamic geometric patterns

Mudejar style in architecture was represented through the intertwining of a traditional Islamic style in Christian architecture using inexpensive materials that could achieve a level of decoration through quick processes. The decorative techniques depicted in such architecture included calligraphy, intricate geometry, and vegetal forms derived from Islamic art and architecture.The Mudejar style of architecture and ornamentation originated with Arab craftsmen living in reconquered medieval Spain who employed traditional technical, ornamental and decorative elements derived from Islamic arts toRomanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance architectural styles in the Christian kingdoms of Iberia.

Recent scholarship has argued that Mudejar art is the cultural manifestation of a plural society distinguished by two factors: political and cultural. For example, Mudéjar art can only occur in the reconquered territory of Christian Kingdoms, and the difference in culture across various regions where Mudejar art is employed, changes the way it will be depicted in architecture. Because of the rich cultural blending that occurs in Mudejar art, one region could lean towards one type of cultural design style, while another region can enjoy a separate culturally influenced art style, all within the umbrella of Mudejar art.

The constructive systems for Mudejar architecture were very simple and extremely effective. The materials used included brick, along with other artificial stone materials, and wood, which was not only entrusted with a constructive function but which were also decorative. The brick held great importance as a material of construction in the Mudéjar architecture. Its maneuverability and resistance, aesthetic characteristics and inexpensive nature, made it suitable for architecture that needed to be built in a timely fashion.

The main sites of Mudéjar architecture in Spain and Portugal: Early examples (grey) and regional subtypes: Aragon (yellow); Castile & León (red); Toledo (purple); Portugal (blue); Andalusia (olive green); other (white)

Mudejar decoration and ornamentation includes stylized calligraphy and intricate geometric and vegetal forms. The classic architectural Mudéjar elements include the horseshoe and multi-lobed arch, muqarna vaults, alfiz (molding around an arch), wooden roofing, fired bricks, glazed ceramic tiles, and ornamental stucco work. Mudajar plasterwork, sometimes called Yeseria, includes all the Islamic motifs, such as epigraphic, “atauriques,” or arabesque ornament, and geometrical motifs, although motifs of Christian art are also included, such as Gothic vegetables and shields depicted in the rhythm of Islamic tradition, which plays an important role in chromatics. Mudéjar often makes use of girih geometric strapwork decoration, as used in Middle East architecture, where Maghreb buildings tended to use vegetal arabesques. Scholars have sometimes considered the geometric forms, both girih and the complex vaultings of muqarnas, as innovative, and arabesques as retardataire, but in Al-Andalus, both geometric and vegetal forms were freely used and combined.

Iberian Peninsula

Nuestra Señora de Loreto, Algezares, city of Murcia: wooden ceiling on "diaphragm" arches

Santa Eulalia Church in Totana, Murcia Region

Geometric design: Royal Convent of Santa Clara in Tordesillas with girih-patterned artesonado ceiling

Mudéjar first developed by the Kingdom of Leon in the town of Sahagún, León as an adaptation of architectural and ornamental motifs, especially through decoration with plasterwork and brick. Mudéjar then extended to the rest of the Kingdom of León, Toledo, Ávila, Segovia, etc., giving rise to what has been called brick romanesque style. Centers of Mudéjar art are found in other cities, such as Toro, Cuéllar, Arévalo and Madrigal de las Altas Torres. While international interest tends to emphasize Mudéjar masonry, including the sophisticated use of bricks and tiles, Spanish scholars also note Mudéjar carpentry, as well as the combination of the two. Several churches have slanting wooden ceilings supported by transverse arches of stone, called diaphragms.

It became most highly developed in Aragon, especially in Teruel but also in towns such as Zaragoza, Utebo, Tauste, Daroca, and Calatayud. During the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, many grand Mudéjar towers were built in the city of Teruel, and these unique features have survived to the present day. A particularly fine example of Mudéjar-Renaissance style is the Casa de Pilatos, built in the early 16th century at Seville. Seville includes many other examples of Mudéjar. The Alcázar of Seville is considered one of the greatest surviving examples of Mudéjar Gothic and Mudéjar Renaissance architecture.

Wooden mudéjar roof of the chapel of the Royal Palace of Sintra (Portugal) with 4-, 6-, 8- and 12-point stars in girih strapwork

Portugal commissioned fewer and simpler examples of mudéjar elements incorporated into its architecture. The Church of Castro de Avelãs in Braganza features classic mudéjar brick work. Mudéjar also tended to be applied to the gothic Manueline style in Portugal, which was very lavish and ornate. Portuguese use of mudéjar developed particularly in the 15th and 16th centuries, and structures such as the Palace of the Counts of Basto and the Royal Palace feature characteristic mudéjar wooden roofs that are also to be found in some churches in towns such as Sintra and Lisbon. Since trade was an essential part of Portugal's culture in the 16th century, imported mudéjar decorated tiles from Seville appear in churches and palaces, such as the Royal Palace of Sintra.

Hispanic America

Mudéjar style decoration was carried across the world to the territories of the Spanish empire, specially in the 16th century, complementing Renaissance architecture before the emergence of Baroque. The Spanish Empire in the New World incorporated this Spanish architectural tradition. Some notable examples are:

• The Church of San Miguel in Sucre, Bolivia, provides an example of Mudéjar in Hispanic America with its interior decorations and the open floor plan , geometric design can be seen through its octagonal patterned wood ceiling and the underside of the supporting arches are carved with a vegetable motif based on the arabesque. San Miguel is a direct inheritor of the Mudéjar and architecture tradition of the expansion and multiplication of an initial pattern. Around the octagonal dome, there are more wooden ceiling panels carved with the same pattern as the church's ceiling.
• Other examples of Mudéjar style can be found in Coro, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Venezuela.
• The Iglesia del Espíritu Santo in Havana, Cuba.
• The Monastery of San Francisco in Lima, Peru also contains Mudéjar elements. The vaults of the central and two side naves are painted in Mudéjar style. The halls of the head cloister are inlaid with Sevillian glazed tiles, and the main altar is made entirely from carved wood.

Gallery

• 
  San Tirso in Sahagún, mudéjar or brick romanesque, (León), Spain
• 
  Church of Castro de Avelãs, mudéjar romanesque, 13th and 14th centuries, Bragança, Portugal
• 
  A mudéjar gothic cloister, La Iglesia de San Pedro, Teruel, Spain
• 
  The Royal Alcázars of Seville, Spain, built in the 13th to the 18th centuries, with mudejar art applied to gothic, renaissance and baroque structures
• 
  Gallery of Dames, Royal Palace of Évora, 16th century, mudéjar manueline, Portugal
• 
  Mudéjar decorations in the tower and walls of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception in Cali, Colombia

Mudéjar style in other arts

Decorative arts

Detail of Mudéjar tile work from the palace garden of Charles V in Seville.

The dominant geometrical design emerged conspicuously in the crafts: elaborate tilework, brickwork, wood carving, plasterwork, ceramics, and ornamental metals. Objects, as well as ceilings and walls, were often decorated with intensely complicated designs, as Mudéjar artists were not only interested in relaying wonder, but also continued the practice of horror vacui, or a fear of empty spaces. Thus, many aspects of oriental art were packed with intricate and beautiful patterns and imagery. Many decorative arts were applied to architecture, such as the tiling and ceramic work, as well as carving practices.

To enliven the surfaces of wall and floor, Mudéjar style developed complicated tiling patterns. The motifs on tile work are often abstract, leaning more on vegetal designs and straying from figural images (which is common in Islamic work). The colors of tile work of the Mudéjar period are much brighter and more vibrant than other European styles. The production process was also unique: the tile was fired before it was cut into smaller, more manageable pieces. This approach meant that the tiles and glaze work shrank less in the firing process, and retained their designs more clearly. This allowed the tiles to be laid closer together with less grout, making the compositions more intricate and cohesive.

Christian Hispano-Moresque ware, Mudéjar luster ware with animal (figurative) motifs and calligraphy.

Mudéjar ornamentation is also seen in wood, ivory, metalwork, and ceramics. Ceramics have long been a popular art form in Islamic work. Mudéjar style ceramics built upon techniques developed in the early centuries of Islamic art. Pottery centers all over Spain - e.g. Paterna, Toledo, Seville - focused on making a range of objects, from bowls and plates to candlesticks and turrets, etc. Artists typically worked in three “styles:” green-purple ware (manganese green), (cobalt) blue ware, and gold ware (luster earthenware). In terms of color, tin glazes were added to waterproof the ceramics and also to create gloss, hence the reference to Islamic ceramics as ‘lusterware.’ This technique was carried on from the Nasrid period. Typically, artisans would apply a layer of opaque white glaze before the colors. On top of the white, cobalt blue, green copper, and purple manganese oxides were used to make vibrant, traditional Islamic earthenware colors. Similarly in tile and stucco work, ceramic motifs included vegetal patterns, in addition to figurative motifs, calligraphy, and geometric patterns and images. There are also Christian influences in the imagery, such as boats, fern leaves, hearts, castles, etc.

Literature

Following the return to Christian rule, Muslims in Castile, Aragon and Catalonia gave up the Andalusi Arabic dialect in favor of Castilian, Aragonese and Catalan. Mudéjar texts were then written in Castilian and Aragonese, but with Arabic letters. Most of this literature consisted of religious essays, poems, and epic, imaginary narratives. Often, popular texts were translated into this Castilian-Arabic hybrid.

Revivals of Mudéjar style

As mentioned, Mudéjar has had modern revivals, such as neo-mudéjar, that appeared in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It has been combined with modern techniques and materials, including cast iron and glass, with traditional arches, tiling, and brickwork.

Some Spanish architectural firms have turned their attention to building projects in the modern Arabic-speaking world, specifically Morocco, Algeria, and the Persian Gulf region, where Mudéjar influences are commissioned as a preferred style of housing. Mudéjar characteristics continue to act as a foundation for modernizing styles. Muslim architects are also currently making great strides in terms of modern architecture, reflecting the technical and engineering feats, as well as aesthetic expertise, reminiscent of the Mudéjar styles..

Neo-Mudéjar style in an office building in Madrid.

See also

• Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon, an UNESCO World Heritage Site
• Neo-Mudéjar architecture
• List of missing landmarks in Spain
• Hispano-Moresque ware
• Mozarab
• Artesonado

Bibliography

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• Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Manueline | architectural style". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
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• Encyclopedia. "Art in Spain and Portugal | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2019-05-09.
• Garma, David de la. “Mudejar Ceramics .” Arte Celta (ARTEGUIAS), 2012, www.arteguias.com/ceramica-mudejar.htm.
• Gonzalez, Elena. “Spanish Architecture in the Arab World .” Andalusi and Mudejar Art in Its International Scope: Legacy and Modernity, 9 Sept. 2015, pp. 197–211.
• Harvey, L. P. (1 November 1992). Islamic Spain, 1250 to 1500. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-31962-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Harvey, L. P. (16 May 2005). Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-31963-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• King, Georgiana Goddard. Mudejar. Longmans Ed, 1927.
• Linehan, P. (Ed.), Nelson, J. (Ed.), Costambeys, M. (Ed.). (2018). The Medieval World. London:Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315102511
• Makrickas, Augustas. “Islamic Influence on Western Architecture.” Academia.edu, 2013, www.academia.edu/5789655/Islamic_influence_on_western_Architecture.
• Menocal, Maria Rosa (2002). "Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain". Little, Brown, & Co. ISBN 0-316-16871-8
• Rubenstein, Richard (2003). "Aristotle's Children: How Christians, Muslims, and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom and Illuminated the Middle Ages." Harcourt Books. ISBN 0-15-603009-8
• “Scattering Seeds from the Garden of Allah.” Teposcolula Retablo, 2000, interamericaninstitute.org/work_in_progress.htm.
• Time Out. “Architecture.” TimeOut Madrid, Time Out Guides, 2010, pp. 32–34.
• Voigt. “Tile Style.” Moorish Tile History, 1 Jan. 1970, letstalktile.blogspot.com/2011/01/moorish-tile-history.html.
• Wacks, David A. Cultural Exchange in the Literatures and Languages of Medieval Iberia. 30 Oct. 2013, davidwacks.uoregon.edu/tag/aljamiado/.

External links

• Tower of El Salvador, Teruel. UNESCO World Heritage
• Mudéjar art in Spain and Portugal in the Museum with no Frontiers website
• Arte Mudejar en Jerez de la Frontera
• Casselman Archive of Islamic and Mudejar Architecture in Spain