Publication Date
747 AH/1346 - 1347 AD
Publication Place
-
Batha Museum; Fez
Subject
Carved and painted assembled cedar wood.
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Physical Dimensions
الطول: 287 سم؛ العرض: 125.5 سم؛ السماكة: 7.7 سم
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Library Asset ID
45. 103
Record ID
object;ISL;ma;Mus01_C;24;ar
Library Location
Batha Museum; Fez
Date
747 AH/1346 - 1347 AD
Notes
This trapezoidal side piece, which forms part of the school's roof, consists of a group of small panels and bars of wood that were assembled according to a pre-prepared geometric design, to form a three-dimensional mosaic, covering the wooden beams and joists of the roof. Its repetitive geometric composition took a theme that descends from an eight-pointed star square, creating a straight-line interlocking that generates, through its confluence - the confluence of lines - various polygonal shapes, among which we notice: hexagonal polygons, stars with seven vertices, and cruciform arches. The spaces formed between the lattices were decorated, either with carved pieces with scalloped edges protruding slightly from the lattice bars, or with empty spaces. The lattice bars with a central slit were painted with red thread surrounded by a white stripe on the inside and a small, prominent green and transparent decorative pattern on the outside. Meanwhile, the background of the recessed shapes was covered with a layer of red paint overlaid with white. The floor of the prominent pieces, which are not covered in color, is also surrounded by scalloped edges that include a red background and a white layer speckled with alternating blue and red zigzags. The delicately balanced compositions, which depend on the alternation between active and empty shapes, and the decoration based on color contrasts, gave importance to this piece of the ceiling, which belongs to the Musbahiyya school in Fez. This style of roof (a concave roof on the inside and a pyramidal roof on the outside), called the “jafna” in Morocco and the “artesonado” in Spain, was previously used during the Almohad eras, and was very popular during the Marinid eras for covering prayer halls.
Sample Text
Naima El Khatib-Boujibar “Fragment of a ceiling” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;ma;Mus01_C;24;ar
