54 HISTORY or ARCIUTECTUllE.

Book I-
natiiri should divert your attention from tlie beauties of iny work." The wall;
with arabesques, apparently cast in moulds, and afterwards joined together.
are covered
The orna-
g^S^O
EJW
loji-
ments are in colours of gold, pink, light blue, and a dusky purple, the first colour being
nearest the eye, and the last furthest from it
;
the general surface, however, is wiiite. 'J"he
walls, to the height of four feet, were
'iljM^J^'3i}ll^\Ti'^'\'^'^
V'
<-
'T^':r<'rmi
lined with variously figured and coloured
iS ijorcelain mosaics, as were the floors. Tlie
Arabs of tlie Spanish caliphate a])]iear
to have known some mode of preventing
the decay of paint and timber, for the
l)aintings, in which the medium for the
colour is not oil, retain the original fresh-
ness of their colours, and tlie woodwork
of the ceilings presents no sym])toms of
decomposition. It has been conjectured
that the soundness of the wood through-
out has aiisen from tile trees being lanced
or drained of their saj) at the time of felling
;
but it may be, that the coating of paint has had
some efTect in producing the result. Descrijjtion conveys no notion of this extraordinary
edifice: the reader who wishes to obtain one must refer to Murphy's work, alrea<ly
mentioned.
1 28. The tliird period of Arabian architecture is from the end of the thirteenth century to
the decline of the Saracen power in S])ain. During a portion of this i)erio(l, it was used by
the Spaniards themselves, and like the Gothic, in the northern and middle parts of Europe,
was engrafted on the style which crept from Italy into all countries till the Renaissance.
During this period were built the castles of Benavento, Penaliel, and Tordesillas
;
and the
alcazars of Segovia and Seville. Tlie ]ilans continued much the same
;
but Greek orna-
ments began to apjiear, with Morescpie arches on Corinthian columns. At this time, also,
representations of the human figure are to be seen, which, by the laws of IMahomet, were
strictly forbidden. There was a charm about this architecture which makes one almost
regret that reason and advance in civilisation have extinguished it.
129. We are not to look to the works of the Arabians for the real grandeur which is exhi-
bited in the works of Egypt, Greece, or Rome. Brick was the material most used. When
s^one was employed, it was covered with a coating of stucco. In their constructive com-
binations there is nothing to surprise. The domes which crown their ajKutments are
neither lofty nor large in diameter, neither do they exhibit extraordinary mechanical skill.
The Arabian architects seem to have been unacquainted with the science of raising vaults
on lofty piers. In the specimen cited at Cordova, the sjian, from pier to pier is less than
20 ft., which would not have required much skill to vault, yet we find the ceilings of
timber. The use of orders was unknown to them
;
the antique columns which they intro-
duced were emjiloyed as they found them, or imitations of them, without an acquaintance
with the types from which they were derived, with their principles or proportions. In truth,