The Palace of Charles V is a
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...
building in
Granada
Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...
, southern
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
, inside the
Alhambra
The Alhambra (, ; ar, الْحَمْرَاء, Al-Ḥamrāʾ, , ) is a palace and fortress complex located in Granada, Andalusia, Spain. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of ...
, a former
Nasrid
The Nasrid dynasty ( ar, بنو نصر ''banū Naṣr'' or ''banū al-Aḥmar''; Spanish: ''Nazarí'') was the last Muslim dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula, ruling the Emirate of Granada from 1230 until 1492. Its members claimed to be of Arab ...
palace complex on top of the Sabika hill. Construction began in 1527 but dragged on and was left unfinished after 1637. The building has never been a home to a monarch and stood roofless until 1967. Today, the building also houses the Alhambra Museum on its ground floor and the Fine Arts Museum of Granada on its upper floor.
History
The palace commissioned by Charles V in the middle of the Alhambra was designed by
Pedro Machuca
Pedro Machuca (c. 1490 in Toledo, Spain – 1550 in Granada) is mainly remembered as the Spanish architect responsible for the design of the Palace of Charles V (begun 1528) adjacent to the Alcazar in Granada. The significance of this work is th ...
, an architect who had trained under
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was ins ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and who was steeped in the culture of the Italian
High Renaissance and of the artistic circles of
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...
and
Giulio Romano
Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-cent ...
.
It was conceived in a contemporary
Renaissance style or "Roman" style
with an innovative design reflecting the architectural ideals of this period.
The architecture espoused by Charles V in Spain at this time was also influenced by, among other traditions, the Plateresque style. The construction of a monumental Italian or Roman-influenced palace in the heart of the Nasrid-built Alhambra symbolized Charles V's imperial status and the triumph of Christianity over Islam achieved by his grandparents (the Catholic Monarchs).
Construction of the palace began in 1527. After Machuca's death in 1550 it was continued by his son Luis, who finished the facades and built the internal courtyard. Work was halted for 15 years when the
1568 Morisco Rebellion began. Work was still unfinished when Philip IV visited in 1628 and the project was finally abandoned in 1637, leaving the structure without a roof.
As a result, the palace deteriorated in the following centuries, during which it was used as a storage facility for gunpowder and other materials. During the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spai ...
, when French troops occupied the Alhambra between 1810 and 1812, the French soldiers stripped any wooden furnishings they could find inside the palace in order to make fires.
The palace was only completed after 1923, when Leopoldo Torres Balbás initiated its restoration.
The roof of the building was finally completed in 1967.
A small "Arab museum" was first installed in the building in 1928. In 1942 it became the Archeological Museum of the Alhambra and in 1995 it became the current "Alhambra Museum", housed on the ground floor. In 1958 another museum, the
Fine Arts Museum of Granada, was installed on the upper floor.
Architecture
The plan of the palace is a high,
square
In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...
containing an inner circular
patio. This has no precedent in
Renaissance architecture
Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought ...
, and places the building in the
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretica ...
of its time. The palace has two floors (not counting
mezzanine floors). The
classical order
An order in architecture is a certain assemblage of parts subject to uniform established proportions, regulated by the office that each part has to perform.
Coming down to the present from Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman civilization, the arc ...
s are in
pilaster
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wal ...
form except around the central doorways. On the exterior, the lower floor is in the
Tuscan order
The Tuscan order (Latin ''Ordo Tuscanicus'' or ''Ordo Tuscanus'', with the meaning of Etruscan order) is one of the two classical orders developed by the Romans, the other being the composite order. It is influenced by the Doric order, but with ...
, with the pilasters "blocked" by continuing the heavy rustication across them, while the upper storey uses the
Ionic order
The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite ...
, with elaborately
pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedim ...
ed lower windows below round windows. Both main façades emphasize the portals, made of stone from the
Sierra Elvira.
The circular patio has also two levels. The lower consists of a
Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or cur ...
of conglomerate stone, with an orthodox classical
entablature
An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
formed of
triglyph
Triglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze in classical architecture, so called because of the angular channels in them. The rectangular recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric frieze are ...
s and
metopes. The upper floor is formed by a stylized Ionic colonnade whose entablature has no decoration. This organisation of the patio shows a deep knowledge of
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered on ...
, and would be framed in pure Renaissance style but for its curved shape, which surprises the visitor entering from the main façades. The interior spaces and the staircases are also governed by the combination of square and circle. Similar aesthetic devices would be developed in the following decades under the classification of Mannerism.
Museums
Alhambra Museum
The first predecessor of this museum was a small "Arab museum" installed in Palace of Charles V in 1928, although a similar museum had existed in Granada since 1870. In 1942 its successor, the Archeological Museum of the Alhambra was installed here. Finally, in 1994–1995 it became the current Alhambra Museum, laid out in its present location on the ground floor of the palace.
The museum houses numerous artifacts and art objects originating in the Alhambra, ranging from the early
Islamic period
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the main ...
of Granada up to the
Nasrid period, in addition to some other
Islamic art
Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...
objects from other locations.
The objects on display include 10th-century marble pieces from
Madinat al-Zahra
Madinat al-Zahra or Medina Azahara ( ar, مدينة الزهراء, translit=Madīnat az-Zahrā, lit=the radiant city) was a fortified palace-city on the western outskirts of Córdoba in present-day Spain. Its remains are a major archaeological ...
and other sites of the
Caliphate era, fragments and panels of original decoration from the Nasrid palaces (including some of the lost palaces such as the Alijares Palace), Nasrid marble fountains and sculptures (such as a marble lion from the
Maristan
A bimaristan (; ), also known as ''dar al-shifa'' (also ''darüşşifa'' in Turkish) or simply maristan, is a hospital in the historic Islamic world.
Etymology
''Bimaristan'' is a Persian word ( ''bīmārestān'') meaning "hospital", with ' ...
), and various other Nasrid-era furnishings. Among the highlights is the Vase of the Gazelles, one of the so-called "Alhambra vases", a huge and richly-decorated ceramic vase from the 14th century.
Fine Arts Museum of Granada
The Fine Arts Museum was moved here in 1958 and is housed on the palace's upper floor today. It displays a collection of paintings and sculptures from Granada dating from the 16th to 20th centuries. The bulk of the collection is drawn from the properties of the Catholic church, such as the
Cartuja in Granada and other monasteries and convents. Among the highlights are ''The Burial of Christ'' by
Jacopo Torni, ''Thistle Still-Life'' by
Juan Sánchez Cotán, a
Limoges enamel
Limoges enamel has been produced at Limoges, in south-western France, over several centuries up to the present. There are two periods when it was of European importance. From the 12th century to 1370 there was a large industry producing metal ...
piece, and paintings by 20th-century artist Manuel Angeles Ortiz.
References
{{coord, 37, 10, 37, N, 3, 35, 22, W, display=title
Buildings and structures completed in 1527
Houses completed in the 16th century
Alhambra (Spain)
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infa ...
Buildings and structures in Granada
Royal residences in Spain
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Renaissance architecture in Granada