The mixtilinear arch (also mixed-line arch) is a decorative (non-structural)

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

with

intrados An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

consisting of rounded and straight segments connected at angles, its outline sometimes resembling a shaped gable.

History

The idea of this silhouette came into

Moorish architecture Moorish architecture is a style within Islamic architecture that developed in the western Islamic world, including al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula) and what is now Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia (part of the Maghreb). Scholarly references on Is ...

of the

Taifa The taifas (from ''ṭā'ifa'', plural ''ṭawā'if'', meaning "party, band, faction") were the independent Muslim principalities and kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain), referred to by Muslims as al-Andalus, that em ...

period probably from the earlier interlaced arches. Such arches were traditionally used in an arcade, although the types might vary from one building to another. The architects of the

Great Mosque of Córdoba Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

, at the end of 10th century AD, broke the tradition by mixing

horseshoe arch The horseshoe arch (; ), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is a type of arch in which the circular curve is continued below the horizontal line of its diameter, so that the opening at the bottom of the arch is narrower than the ar ...

es and

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 intra ...

es at the . The creators of the Taifa mixtilinear arch were inspired by this arrangement and similar ones at Mosque of Cristo de la Luz in Toledo, producing early designs at the

Aljafería The Aljafería Palace (; , Romanization of Arabic, tr. ''Qaṣr al-Jaʿfariyah'') is a fortified medieval palace built during the second half of the 11th century in the Taifa of Zaragoza in Al-Andalus, present day Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain. It was ...

palace in Zaragoza. The mixed-line arch was popular during the

Almoravid The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almo ...

period, when an "ultra-

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

" modification, a lambrequin arch, was also created. These forms also continued to be used in the later architecture of Spain and of Latin America, including in

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

buildings of the 18th century.

Gallery

File:Mezquita de Cordoba - Capilla de Villaviciosa 1.jpg, Interlaced arches at Villaviciosa Chapel File:Aljaferia - Arc recti-curviligne.jpg, Intersecting mixtilinear arches at Aljaferia

References

Sources

* * Arches and vaults {{Architecturalelement-stub