Panel from a Ceiling

Unknown

14th–15th century · Wood; mortised, tenoned, mitered, rabbeted, and painted · Islamic Art

This wooden ceiling panel probably came from a palace or villa in Granada, originally part of a long ceiling covering a patio. The type, referred to in Spanish as artesonado, is well represented among the ceilings still in situ at the Alhambra—for example, the one that covers the porch of the Torre de las Damas. The geometric design, based on a star-and-polygon pattern and articulated by four muqarnas lanterns, would originally have been richly pigmented and highlighted with gilding.

Artist

Unknown

Date

14th–15th century

Medium

Wood; mortised, tenoned, mitered, rabbeted, and painted

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Gift of William Randolph Hearst Foundation, The Hearst Foundation Inc., 1977