Böcker av Cynthia Robinson

The ceiling paintings in the Hall of Justice of the Alhambra have not received serious scholarly attention for the past thirty years, perhaps due to their difficult incorporation into a discrete program of Christian vs. Islamic art, categories that until recently remained unchallenged themselves. The Alhambra itself continues to elicit the interest of many scholars, and several recent interpretations of the function of the Palace of the Lions, which houses the paintings, have been put forth. This collection brings together art historians, literary critics and historians who suggest new ways of approaching the paintings through their immediate social, historical, architectural and literary contexts, proposing a porous and flexible model for the production of culture in Iberia. Contributors are Jerrylin Dodds, Ana Echevarria, Jennifer Borland, Rosa MarA-a RodrA-guez Porto, Oscar Martin, Amanda Luyster, Cynthia Robinson and Simone Pinet.

This volume offers a reconstruction of the court culture of the taifa kings of al-Andalus (11th century A.D.), using both visual and textual evidence. A focus of particular attention is the court of the Ban? H?d at Zaragoza, and that dynasty's palace, the Aljaferma. Principle written sources are not histories and chronicles, but the untranslated poetic anthologies of al-?imyar? and al-Fat? ibn Kh?q?n.The first part of the book addresses taifa visual and literary languages, with especial emphasis on connections between the literary and visual aspects of taifa aesthetics. The sections on the Aljaferma's ornamental program will be of particular interest, not only to historians of Islamic art, but to students of all visual traditions with strong non-figural components.In addition, Part One also proposes that taifa court culture has been considered as a culture of "courtly love," and this argument also forms the point of departure for Part Two. The second part of the study uses luxury objects of Islamic and Limousine production as a point of departure for a detailed comparison of the thematics of taifa poetry in classical Arabic on the themes of courtly love and pleasures with those of the better-known Provengal tradition.

Sponsored by the Museum Education Roundtable

Sponsored by the Museum Education Rountable