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Silk curtain from the Alhambra palace

1300s

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

This is one of two of the largest, most complete, and most ornate curtains to survive from the 1300s when it presumably hung in the royal Alhambra Palace in Granada, the last Muslim stronghold in Spain. Its style, artistic vocabulary, and harmonious proportions reflect the magnificent wall decoration in the Alhambra. The motto of the ruling Nasrid dynasty, "There is no conqueror but God," is inscribed in the end borders and central panel. The inscribed striped silk forming the central panel is more worn, suggesting that it was recycled, most likely during the 1300s.

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  • Title: Silk curtain from the Alhambra palace
  • Date Created: 1300s
  • Physical Dimensions: Overall: 438.2 x 271.8 cm (172 1/2 x 107 in.)
  • Provenance: (Miguel Rodriguez-Acosta, Granada, Spain, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art), The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Type: Textile
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1982.16
  • Medium: lampas and taqueté: silk
  • Inscriptions: the bold knotted Kufic inscription in the top and bottom borders of the side panels repeats the Arabic word "felicity." Within the arches forming a frieze in the top border is a Kufic inscription "good fortune" and a Naskhi inscription repeating trhe motto of the Nasrid dynasty, "There is no conqueror but God." In the borders of the three large ornamental rectangles on each side panel is the Naskhi inscription "Dominion belongs to God alone." On the central panel the inscriptions in the borders repeat the phrase, "Majestry is God's," while the Nasrid motto, "There is no conqueror but God" and, above, "Blessing," are inscribed in the arabesque ogives.
  • Department: Textiles
  • Culture: Spain, Granada, Nasrid period
  • Credit Line: Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
  • Collection: T - Islamic
  • Accession Number: 1982.16
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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