History of mediæval art . of Arabia, they are so totally distinct fromthe older works of the Mohammedans in Spain that it is impos-sible to assume them to have been developed from the style ofAbderrahman. The peculiar forms of the Alhambra could onlyhave originated in the neighborhood of the desert, in such sur-roundings as those provided by the northern coast of Africa. 192 MOHAMMEDAN ART. Sicily was early brought under the sway of the Moslems byinvasions from Kairvan, the oldest centre of Mohammedanism inAfrica. The island was conquered between the years 802 and 878,and, by the wisdom and en
History of mediæval art . of Arabia, they are so totally distinct fromthe older works of the Mohammedans in Spain that it is impos-sible to assume them to have been developed from the style ofAbderrahman. The peculiar forms of the Alhambra could onlyhave originated in the neighborhood of the desert, in such sur-roundings as those provided by the northern coast of Africa. 192 MOHAMMEDAN ART. Sicily was early brought under the sway of the Moslems byinvasions from Kairvan, the oldest centre of Mohammedanism inAfrica. The island was conquered between the years 802 and 878,and, by the wisdom and energy of the princes resident in Palermo,became, during the following century, the seat of a culture such ashad previously existed only during the ages of Hellenic coloniza-tion. This flourishing period was not of long duration, for dissen-sions among the conquerors led to the interference of the Byzan-tines of Apulia and of their adventurous Norman confederates,the latter soon expelling both the Byzantines and the j&rJUL Fig. 102.—The Kuba near Palermo. Roger, brother of King Robert Guiscard of Naples, became masterof the entire island in the year 1090. The Norman rulers did notconsider it in their interest to overthrow the Arabian civilization,which was, on the contrary, protected both by them and by theirsuccessors of the Hohenstaufen dynasty. Their architectural workscan thus be regarded in some degree as a substitute for those of theMohammedan epoch which have been destroyed. The palaces of Favara, Zisa, and Kuba, near Palermo, were allbuilt towards the end of the twelfth century: the Zisa, or Al Azisa{, the Magnificent), before 1166, by William I.; the Kuba {,Cupola), in 1182, by King William II. {Fig. 102); These structures ARCHITECTURE. I93 are evidently not restorations of earlier Arabian edifices. They dif-fer decidedly, both in plan and construction, from the works of theMoors in Spain and Africa, displaying Northern reminiscences whichmust have bee
Size: 2045px × 1222px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishernewyorkharperbros
