History of mediæval art . num-ber of chapels of symmetrical arrangement. Upon the exterior thiswant of symmetry was little to be remarked, as the enclosing walls,which were as thick as those of a fortress, were only divided by but-tresses of various dimensions placed at unequal intervals, and by anumber of horseshoe-arched portals and windows, arranged solelywith reference to convenience of access and of illumination. The court, occupying less than one-third of the entire extent ofthe building, is surrounded upon three sides by a simple colonnade, i8o MOHAMMEDAN ART. the supports of which are
History of mediæval art . num-ber of chapels of symmetrical arrangement. Upon the exterior thiswant of symmetry was little to be remarked, as the enclosing walls,which were as thick as those of a fortress, were only divided by but-tresses of various dimensions placed at unequal intervals, and by anumber of horseshoe-arched portals and windows, arranged solelywith reference to convenience of access and of illumination. The court, occupying less than one-third of the entire extent ofthe building, is surrounded upon three sides by a simple colonnade, i8o MOHAMMEDAN ART. the supports of which are coupled at irregular intervals, quite with-out reference to the position of the entrances. On the side of themihrab heavy piers connected by pointed arches form the portalswhich give access to the nineteen aisles of the hall. The mihrabcovers an area of 16,000 sq. m. The roof of this enormous spacewas originally supported by more than a thousand columns, eighthundred and fifty of which still remain {Fig. 96). Their shafts. Fig. 96. — View of the Interior of the Mosque of Cordova. are of gray and red granite, jasper and white marble, brought fromall the quarries of Spain and of the neighboring countries. Thebases were either omitted altogether, or have been hidden by thepavement, which is now relaid upon a higher level. The capitalsare almost all of the Corinthian order, and are of very similar de-sign. It is probable that only those in the western part of the build-ing are of antique or early Christian origin, the others being roughimitations, executed at the time when the mosque was erected. ARCHITECTURE. l8l The projecting members above the capitals are similar to the cor-responding details of the early Christian columnar construction ;they serve as an impost for the lower horseshoe arches, which actas braces between the short piers above them, these latter uprightsbearing the semicircular archivolts. An open roof of carpentry,sheathed with lead, originally rested upon the
Size: 1777px × 1406px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishernewyorkharperbros
