Author
Jassas Mudéjar: Braymi (main hall of the palace).
Author Original
جصاص مدجن برايمي القاعة الرئيسية للقصر
Publication Date
Fourteenth century AD
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;es;Mon01;23;ar
Library Location
Astudillo (Palancia), Spain
Date
Fourteenth century AD
Notes
The Astudillo Palace represents the best expression of the unity between the Spanish monarchy and religion. There are two groups that define the function of the court: the palace of Pierre I and the house of María de Padilla. The first is accessed through a door with a lintel of carved stone, which in shape, although simpler, is reminiscent of the stones of Tordesillas. A rectangular space can be seen above it, which includes an arch built of brick, which led to a decrease in the value of this entry door, compared to the door of the palace. In fact, it is likely that it was later modifications that changed the entry in this way, unless it remains unfinished. The second level is surmounted by a twin lobed arch of brick, with an alfizo and columns of stone, making it a very symmetrical group compared to its facade. The nave leads into a foyer and allows communication with one end of the main hall and the nave, passing under a broken arch of brick enclosed within the alfiz; This hall still retains some carved gypsum friezes, which were restored by the religious community. The workmanship of the plasterer, Braymi, who was the author of this decorative work, remains well documented. In the middle of the longer side, the main hall, with a regular rectangular design in two levels, opened onto a courtyard that led to another wing with similar features. The portal, which leads to the courtyard and ends in the form of a fully circular arch surrounded by an alfiz and three upper openings, was originally equipped with sunshades. The upper hall opens onto the courtyard through a twin aperture with a middle column. These spaces have been modified into a small museum where carved plaster pieces and painted wood obtained from various parts of the palace-monastery and from the ceilings are displayed. In the lower hall, a very important wooden ceiling has been preserved, flat and supported by beams, composed of patterned and multi-coloured lozenges and rectangles. The “House of Doña Marie de Padilla” represents the type of Mudejar dwelling of Castile and León: a courtyard composed of two levels, the lower level with two stone walls, and the upper level with a hollow parapet and a structure of wood; Around it, rooms such as the Royal Hall were distributed and arranged in a rectangular layout. But the most important elements are undoubtedly found in the door frames decorated with carved plaster; One of them on the ground floor features a lobed arch with small notched structures, and an alfiza formed by two interlaced bands knotted above the key of the arch, in accordance with the style of the Almohad tradition. The spandrels are decorated with emblems on floral backgrounds, a typical Mudéjar plan from the beginning of the fourteenth century, and at the top there is a lintel with vertebrae similar to the façade of the Palace of Torre Dessias. Here the sides are decorated with a grid of tabular octagons, carved directly into the plaster, a technique descended from the Nasrid arch. The Alvis tapes also reflect an Islamic influence with their cursive decorations that repeat the well-known slogan: “Bliss and Yemen.”
Sample Text
Ángela Franco “Palace of Pierre I, present-day Santa Clara Monastery” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;es;Mon01;23;ar
