Taifa art

The Aljaferia. Mixtylineous Arcs

The destruction of political unity in medieval Spain led to the abolition of the Cordovan caliphate in 1031 and the creation of a mosaic of independent kingdoms that were called taifas (from tawaifs, parties, factions)..

The rivalries between them, claiming the inheritance of the prestige and authority of the Caliphate, constituted the dominant tone of the period. This situation was translated in the artistic field in the emulation of Cordovan models. However, the dispersion of the regulos and the poverty of material resources compared to the time of the caliphate, largely due to the continuous pariahs who paid to the Christian kingdoms, produced an art of ostentation and great stylistic dispersion, without artistic constants for the Taifal period can be accurately determined.

Civil architecture (palace and military) dominated, as opposed to religious in this period, which only provides examples of minor mosques, such as the Mosque of Las Tornerías in Toledo or the tower of the church of San José in Granada, whose The lower body belongs to the minaret of the al-Murabittun (hermits) mosque. The taifas developed their own styles from the mannerist evolution of Hispano-Muslim art itself and from foreign influences, since this is a time of abundant trade and contacts with the East. However, the materials that were used were poor, in keeping with the lesser economic power of the Taifa kings, who used brick, masonry, plasterwork and mixed techniques in architecture.

There is a preference for the ornamental: instead of the structures of horseshoe and peralted arches, supported on columns with capitals of Roman heritage, now there is a proliferation of mixtilinear arches (the great novelty of the period), polylobed, openwork on the plasterwork and decoration of atauriques; more stylized and ornamental capitals and columns that no longer use marble so often.

Not many examples of architecture from the period of the first taifas have been preserved. Most of the existing architectural remains correspond to military architecture, highlighting the citadels of Málaga, Almería, Granada or Badajoz, which, however, later received contributions and remodeling, mainly from the Almohad and Nasrid times. The only homogeneous example of palatial architecture is represented by La Aljafería de Zaragoza, a pleasure palace with a fortified appearance that was the culmination of the splendor of the Taifa of Zaragoza.

Palace architecture: La Aljafería

Awesome.

Typologically related to the Umayyad palace of Msatta (Jordan), it adopts a tripartite organization where each of the sectors was dedicated to different functions. The central sector, for protocol use, is dominated by a rectangular patio whose smaller sides were occupied by pools, porticoes and long rooms bounded at the ends by alcoves. This scheme derives, without a doubt, from the Cordovan palatine models.

The repertoire of arches displayed in the building responds to this same tradition, ranging from lobed, mixtilinear, semicircular horseshoe and pointed arches to complex organizations of interlocking, superimposed and opposed arches. All of them made with inexpensive materials but covered with plasterwork with plant, geometric and epigraphic motifs seeking an effect of lavishness and apparent wealth.

After the reconquest of Zaragoza in 1118 by Alfonso I the Battler, it became the residence of the Christian kings of Aragon, with which the Aljafería became the main source of dissemination of Aragonese Mudejar. It was used as a royal residence by Pedro IV the Ceremonious and later, on the main floor, the reform was carried out that turned these rooms into the palace of the Catholic Monarchs in 1492.

In 1593 it underwent another reform that would turn it into a military fortress, first according to Renaissance designs (which today can be seen in its surroundings, moat and gardens) and later as a quartering for military regiments. It underwent continuous reforms and major damage, especially with the Sieges of Zaragoza during the War of Independence until it was finally restored in the second half of the century XX and currently houses the Courts of Aragon.

Military architecture: the citadels

Arches of the centuryXI of the Alcazaba of Malaga.

The old citadels of the different kingdoms also underwent major renovations.

According to the restoration architect, Leopoldo Torres Balbás, the Alcazaba of Malaga is the prototype of the military architecture of the Taifa period, with its double walled enclosure and large number of fortifications, its only parallel being the Crac de los Caballeros castle, fortress built in Syria by the crusaders between the 12th and 13th centuries. It also has a palatial enclosure of the Mālaquial taifa that corresponds to the Nasrid palaces and the Taifa palace. It was built between the 8th and 11th centuries, some of its patios serving as the pool of inspiration for the realization (on a larger scale) of the Alhambra.^{[citation required]}

During the periods of the taifa kingdoms, the Alcazaba became the seat of power of the taifa of Malaga, where the caliphs of the Hammudi dynasty resided, who came to control the coras of Malaga and Algeciras as well as a region to the north of Africa that included the cities of Tangier and Ceuta. In the Alcazaba there are examples of horseshoe, semicircular and polylobed arches; as well as important examples of plasterwork and decorative ceramics.^{[citation needed]}

The Alcazaba of Almería was fortified with mud walls, and a palace was built inside, al-Sumadihiyya, surrounded by gardens. In the cases of Toledo, Seville and Badajoz, kingdoms that bid hardest for the Cordovan inheritance, dazzling testimonies of Arab chronicles about their palaces are preserved, as well as few fragments that are generally out of context.

The old citadel of Granada, known as qadima (old), located on the Albaicín hill, was fortified with square and round towers, adding some curved gates such as the Monaita gate and the Nueva gate.

Bathrooms

Granada preserves some baths known as El Bañuelo, in the Carrera del Darro, organized into three rooms, of which the central or warm one acquires, for reasons of use, larger dimensions. Very similar bathrooms are preserved in Toledo, Baza and Palma de Mallorca.

Taifal ceramic bowl. CenturyXI.

Sumptuary arts

Like architecture, the sumptuary arts followed the Cordoba tradition although the prominence was acquired by other centers. Thus, the production of ivory was transferred to the Cuenca workshop while the prestige in textiles was acquired by the Almería workshop.

Regarding ceramics, a technique that had appeared during the caliphate was consolidated, but which is now greatly developed. It is “cuerda seca” ceramic whose pieces are decorated with lines of manganese oxide forming different motifs that are filled with glass of different colors.