Multifoil arch

A multifoil arch (or polyfoil arch), also known as a cusped arch, polylobed arch, or scalloped arch, is an arch characterized by multiple circular arcs or leaf shapes (called foils, lobes, or cusps) that are cut into its interior profile or intrados. The term ''foil'' comes from the old French word for "leaf." A specific number of foils is indicated by a prefix: trefoil (three), quatrefoil (four), cinquefoil (five), sexfoil (six), octofoil (eight). The term multifoil or scalloped is specifically used for arches with more than five foils. The multifoil arch is characteristic of Islamic art and architecture; particularly in the Moorish architecture of al-Andalus (Iberian Peninsula) and North Africa and in Mughal architecture of the Indian subcontinent. Variants of the multifoil arch, such as the trefoil arch, are also common in other architectural traditions such as Gothic architecture. 

Origins

The first multifoil arches were developed by the Umayyads and can be found in a small mosque at Qasr al-Hallabat, one of the Umayyad Desert Castles, in present-day Jordan.Alexander Sarantis, Enrico Zanini, Luke Lavan. (2008). Technology in Transition A.D. 300-650, Brill, p. 513.Diana Darke. (2020). Stealing from the Saracens: How Islamic Architecture Shaped Europe, Hurst, p. 166. The architects of this structure experimented with both hollow/concave lobes and protruding/convex lobes in the relieving arches above the doors. Multifoil arches also appear early on as decorative niches in the Qasr al-'Ashiq in Samarra, present-day Iraq, and in the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, Egypt, both of which were built under Abbasid (and Tulunid) rule in the 9th century. These examples have been used to support the hypothesis that multifoil arches originated in the Middle Eastern regions of the Islamic world, although Richard Ettinghausen, Oleg Grabar and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina have called this hypothesis into question.

Other early examples of multifoil arches are found in the Great Mosque of Cordoba in al-Andalus (present-day Spain), in particular the arches of the ''maqsura'' area added to the mosque in the 10th century by al-Hakam II. Ettinghausen, Grabar, and Jenkins-Madina argue that the form of these arches probably developed locally in al-Andalus, noting that in Cordoba they occurred as structural elements while in the eastern Islamic world they occurred mostly as decorative elements. Another scholar, Ignacio Arce, notes that Ettinghausen and Grabar did not take into account the earlier occurrences at the Qasr al-Hallabat mosque, where polylobed arches are used as structural elements. Jonathan Bloom also argues that the intersecting cusped arches of the Great Mosque of Cordoba were a local development, likely the result of a deliberate elaboration from the older two-tiered round arches that were part of the mosque since its initial foundation in 785.
File:Qasr el-Hallabat mosque 0593.jpg, Polylobed arch (with convex or protruding lobes) at Qasr al-Hallabat, Jordan (7th–8th century)
File:قصر العاشق 02.JPG, Decorative niches with polylobed arches at Qasr al-'Ashiq in Samarra, Iraq (9th century)
File:WLM14ES - 17102009 182510 CRDB 1648 - .jpg, Intersecting multifoil arches in the Great Mosque (present-day cathedral) of Cordoba, Spain (10th century)

Later developments

North Africa and al-Andalus

The typical multifoil arches that appear in later buildings of Al-Andalus and North Africa also have precedents in Fatimid architecture in Ifriqiya and Egypt, for example at Bab Zuweila (dated to 1091). Georges Marçais argued that both the Great Mosque of Cordoba and Fatimid architecture in Ifriqiya were probably the most relevant precedents which led to the adoption and development of multifoil arches in the western regions of the Islamic world. Multifoil arches appear prominently in the 11th-century Aljaferia palace of the ''Taifas'' period in al-Andalus. In the Almoravid and Almohad periods (11th–13th centuries), this type of arch was further refined for decorative functions while horseshoe arches continued to be standard elsewhere. They appear, for example, in the Great Mosque of Tlemcen (in present-day Algeria) and the Mosque of Tinmal (present-day Morocco). The motif of intersecting multifoil arches also gave rise to the '' sebka'' motif which is frequently employed in the art and architecture of the region. In Egypt, the cusped trefoil or trilobed arch became a characteristic decorative feature of portals in late Fatimid architecture and Mamluk architecture (from approximately the 12th to 16th centuries).

File:Alcazaba of Málaga, July 2017-17.jpg, Interlacing multifoil arches at the Alcazaba of Malaga in Spain (11th century)
File:Bab Zuweila 2019-11-02q.JPG, Blind polylobed arch at the Fatimid gate of Bab Zuweila, Cairo, Egypt (1087–1092)
File:Grande mosquée et dépendance Minaret de la Mosquée 021.jpg, Multifoil arch in front of the mihrab in the Great Mosque of Tlemcen (11th-12th centuries)
File:Koutoubia minaret east side top tier.jpg, Blind interlacing multifoil arches on the Almohad minaret of the Kutubiyya Mosque in Marrakesh, Morocco (12th century)
File:Arquitectura árabe en jardines Reales Alcázares Sevilla.jpg, Multifoil arches in the Mudéjar ''Patio de las Doncellas'' at the Alcazar of Seville in Spain (14th century)
File:Khanqah-Mausoleum of Barsbay portal DSCF0414.jpg, Trilobed (trefoil) arch in the entrance of the Mamluk-era Khanqah-Mausoleum of Sultan Barsbay in Cairo (completed in 1432)

Indian subcontinent

The cusped arch is attested in Hindu temple architecture such as the trilobed or trefoil arches of the Martand Temple (8th century) and the temple of Pandrethan (10th century), both in Kashmir, as well as at the temple of Malot (10th century) in northern Punjab. The example at the Martand Temple is made with a corbelled stone construction. This use of a trefoil arch, typically inside a triangular pediment on the façade of temples, was a characteristic feature of Hindu architecture in Kashmir and the western Himalayan region during this time. Some of the earliest trefoil-arched entrances in this tradition are attested in temples at Bilot and Mari-Indus, dated by Michael W. Meister to the late 6th or early 7th century and the 8th century, respectively. Over the 9th and 10th centuries this style evolved further and sometimes incorporated five-lobed (or cinquefoil) arches, as exemplified in the Amb temples dated to this period. The most important contribution of Indo-Islamic architecture to this region was the introduction the "true" arch during the Delhi Sultanate period, which progressively replaced the trabeate or corbel arch. After this, multifoil arches later became a characteristic feature of Mughal architecture during the 17th century, particularly during the reign of Shah Jahan (r. 1628–1658). It was also characteristic of Rajput architecture, which developed in close relation with Mughal architecture during the Mughal era.

File:Martand Sun Temple Central shrine (6134368088).jpg, Ruins of Martand Sun Temple, India with a multifoil arched gateway, finished between 625-885 A.D under the Karkota empire.
File:AMB Temples, three temples inside fort big temple side view.jpg, alt=Multifoil arch at the Amb temple complex, Pakistan. An example from the Hindu Shahis period, dated between 800-950 AD., Multifoil arch at Amb temple complex, Pakistan. An example from the Hindu Shahis period, dated between 800-950 AD.
File:Malot temple 9.jpg, Trefoil arches crowning blind niches on Malot Temple, Pakistan, built around 980 AD.
File:Khas-Mahal.jpg, alt=Multifoil arches in Agra Fort, India, commissioned in 1565. An example of Mughal architecture., Multifoil arches in Agra Fort, India, begun in 1565. An example of Mughal architecture.
File:Jaali eyes.jpg, alt=Multifoil arches with jali at Amber fort, India, commissioned in 1592. An example of Rajput architecture., Multifoil arches with jali at Amber fort, India. An example of Rajput architecture, commissioned in 1592.
File:Lotus Mahal (20010032278).jpg, Multifoil arches inside Lotus Mahal, Hampi, India. An example of Vijayanagara architecture from the 16th century.

File:Diwan-e-aam.JPG, alt=Multifoil arches with parchinkari in Diwan-i-Am, Red Fort, India, built between 1631-1640. An example of Mughal architecture., Multifoil arches with parchinkari in Diwan-i-Am, Red Fort, India. An example of Mughal architecture, built between 1631-40.
File:SE Gate, Pritam Niwas Chowk, City Palace Jaipur.jpg, Multifoil arch with mural on lotus gate, City Palace, Jaipur, India. An example of Rajput architecture, built between 1727-32.
File:Jaisalmer, India, Jaisalmer Fort, Haveli art.jpg, alt=Multifoil arches on Nathmal Ki Haveli in Jaisalmer, India, an example of Rajput architecture, built in the 19th century, Multifoil arches with intricate arabesque on Nathmal Ki Haveli in Jaisalmer, India. An example of Rajput architecture, built in the 19th century.

Christian Europe

In the architecture of Christian Europe, multifoil arches appear occasionally in Romanesque architecture, with some early examples in France such as the chapel of Saint-Michel-d’Aiguilhe in Le Puy-en-Velay, France (10th–11th century) and the Abbey of Cluny (circa 1100). In the Christian territories of the Iberian Peninsula (present-day Spain), the earliest examples are from the early 12th century and found in the Collegiate Church of San Isidoro in Léon and the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. These early Iberian examples were highly similar to the multifoil arches of contemporary Islamic/Moorish architecture in al-Andalus and were probably directly appropriated from the latter. Scholars Francine Giese and Sarah Keller argue that this initial appropriation from Muslim architecture was likely intended to express a sense of triumph and superiority over Islamic al-Andalus at the time, but that over the course of the 12th century the motif became acculturated to Romanesque art and then developed independently from al-Andalus in both Christian Iberia and France. As a result, multifoil arches became more common and developed multiple variations in the Romanesque architecture of these regions during the later 12th century. In Toledo, after its conquest by Castile in 1085, the new churches and synagogues which were built in the 12th century and after were designed in a Mudéjar style that frequently incorporated polylobed arches as part of its visual repertoire. The Cathedral of Toledo, whose construction began in the 13th century, was built primarily in a Gothic style but also incorporates polylobed arches (most notably in the triforium of the ambulatory), suggesting that this motif had by then become thoroughly assimilated to local Christian architecture. Multifoil arches, particularly trefoil arches, became common in Gothic architecture for portals and decoration throughout Europe. Cusped forms (not necessarily as arches) were also common to form the motifs used in Gothic tracery.
File:Le Puy - St Michel d'Aiguilhe.jpg, Blind polylobed arch above the door of the Romanesque chapel of Saint-Michel-d’Aiguilhe in Le Puy-en-Velay, France (10th–11th century)
File:León - Basílica de San Isidoro 54.jpg, Multifoil arch in the Church of San Isidoro in Léon, Spain (early 13th century)
File:Tolède - clocher de Santo Tomé.JPG, Multifoil arch decoration on the Mudéjar bell tower of the Church of Santo Tomé in Toledo, Spain (14th century)
File:Batalha-Mosteiro de Santa Maria da Vitoria-214-Unvollendete Kapellen-Portal-2011-gje.jpg, Decorated multifoil/trefoil portal in the ''Capelas Imperfeitas'' of the Batalha Monastery, Portugal (circa 1435)

See also

*Lambrequin arch
* Spanish architecture

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Multifoil Arch
Islamic architectural elements
Moorish architecture
Islamic architecture
Architecture in Spain
Architectural elements