Publication Date
AH 8th / AD 14th century; Construction work ended in 747 AH / 1346 AD
Type
Other
Language
Undetermined
Digital
Yes
Manuscript
No
Library
Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID
monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;10;ar
Library Location
Fez, old medina, Morocco
Date
AH 8th / AD 14th century; Construction work ended in 747 AH / 1346 AD
Notes
This school, which owes its name to the jurist Al-Mesbahi, the first jurist who taught there, includes a ground floor and three floors, the last of which was completely destroyed. The madrasa does not have a mihrab, and therefore it does not have a prayer hall. Rather, it has a beautiful square prayer hall. Its entrance is strange and opens with double, elongated arches, the bellies of which are decorated with floral wreaths. The large opening overlooking the northern facade of the courtyard is characterized by a unique composition in Marinid religious architecture, or at least in Fez. This opening consists of two double arches, resting on marble columns. The ones that were standing on the sides have disappeared. The arches were surrounded by a band containing a decorative inscription, surmounted by three openwork arches, which were previously decorated with gypsum interlacing with floral decorations. The ensemble was crowned with a carved wooden arch, decorated with a series of incisions extending to the border of the green tiles. This unique opening was surrounded by small solid arches, topped with geometric plaster lattices (a network of rhombuses), which were highly appreciated by Marinid artists. It leads by a winding passage to a courtyard in the middle of which is occupied by a white marble cistern brought from Almería, and surrounded by two side corridors supported by jambs on which wooden lintels rest. The tiles, the carved wood and the plasterwork match each other and compete, here as elsewhere, for free spaces, organized according to repetition executed with great skill. The school accommodates, with its 117 rooms, a number of students reaching 140, who served it from Various regions of the country. But the annexes have completely disappeared since the beginning of the century, and the school has suffered from the damage caused by time and unskilled interventions. The dome of the prayer hall, the ceilings of the ablution house, and some rooms also collapsed. Despite this, the building still preserves some authentic examples of Marinid script, floral and geometric decorations. Restoration work began in the early 1990s.
Sample Text
Mohamed Mezzine “The Misbah School” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;10;ar
