Publication Date
1325 – 1350
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;es;Mon01;24;ar
Library Location
Toledo, Spain
Date
1325 – 1350
Notes
The name Taller del Moro (Moroccan Workshop), used to refer to the ruins of the Palace of Rashid during the second quarter of the fourteenth century, is due to the fact that in the sixteenth century, after the palace had been abandoned by its owners, the cathedral rented it and turned it into a stone carpentry workshop. Before, at the end of the fourteenth century, it was converted into a monastery for nuns of the Saint Euphemia order. When the palace was studied by Amador de los Rios a century ago, it was real ruins that were saved with restoration work that turned them into a museum of Mudéjar art, one of the branches of the Santa Cruz Museum. The palace constitutes one of the most important remnants of Toledan civil architecture. The three preserved halls (the central rectangular hall, and two adjacent square-shaped halls at the ends) represent the fourth part built around a central gardened courtyard, similar to the usual design in Nasrid and Mudéjar buildings of this century. The palace originally consisted of three other quarters, similar to the part that remained, and the main halls located on the smaller sides were preceded by a portico or balcony. The greatest richness of the preserved part is represented by the plaster of the arches and walls, where floral, geometric and epigraphic formations were spread. The model of contracts is the slightly elongated toothed contract. Two other arches were also used to access the middle hall from the two courtyards. Finally, two other arches, of smaller sizes, open on the side walls of the small rooms. On the other hand, the main hall has two rectangular windows. The richer and more massive frescoes match the two communication nodes between the main room and the side rooms. A grid decoration (lozenges) can be seen on the outside of the arches, where two compositions alternate, with a conifer in the middle. Below, braided panels of 12-pointed stars with stars, bars, grooves and rings stand out. From the outside of the building, the central hall is entered thanks to two arches whose corners and bellies present another version of the lozenge grid with miniatures furnished with triangular spherical ornaments, characteristic Toledan shapes of the thirteenth century. On one of these arches, five fully circular openings with plaster sunshades appear. Since this is a model of Nasrid and Mudéjar architecture, it is certain that the walls were decorated with a base of zellij in the lower part, and curtains of linen or leather fabric covering the facades, below the ceilings. The side ceilings are octagonal in shape, while the great hall is roofed with a large "maammar". On the protrusion that plays a transitional role with the wall, we see successive protrusions, and on the collar is an inscriptional decoration in Gothic letters recording the beginning of the Gospel of John, In principo erat verbum, which leads us to believe that this tabernacle was originally a chapel.
Sample Text
Ángela Franco “Taller del Moro (Moroccan Workshop)” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;es;Mon01;24;ar
