Raphael

rif. 52831 — Madrid: Imprenta y Litografía de A. Rodero 1878. Octavo 22 x 15.5 cm. Original half-leather with paper-covered boards and marbled endpapers; 375 iv pp. Minor abrasions and wear especially to extremities of binding some hand-written notations to front flyleaf one folding plate with tear along one crease overall very good. Second edition of the 19th century work on Islamic architecture in Moorish Spain including the Alhambra of Granada the Real Alcázar of Sevilla and the Gran Mezquita or Grand Mosque of Córdoba. The Spanish-language text begins with an introduction to art in Spain followed by a brief chapter covering the comparable characteristics of various monuments and three longer sections one on each of the featured monuments. There are scattered illustrations throughout the text including elevations details and floor plans along with two large folding plates. The first is a floor plan of the Palacio Arabe at the Alhambra and the second is an overall plan or map of the Alhambra y Generalife. Rafale Contreras 1824-1890 was the head restorer of the Alhambra appointed by Queen Isabella II and who carried out a major restoration in the Nasrid palace between 1847 and 1889. He was preceded in his position by his father José and succeeded by his son Mariano making the Contreras family in charge of restorations at the palace from 1840 through 1907. Rafael was appointed after presenting the Queen with a three-dimensional scale model of the Hall of the Two Sisters with a goal of his restoration being to change the look of the Alhambra to one that was more "Oriental" in style. He focused only on the wall surfaces substituting original decorations with newer plaster casts. Some of the Contreras' restorations were quite controversial including the complete demolition of the Sala de Camas and the conversion of several gabled roofs into colorful tiled domes. Many of the walls were in a state of ruin lacking any original decoration and the Contreras family decided to fill in the gaps with decorative motifs which did not necessarily belong. Rafael Contreras also created a successful business seizing upon the influx of visitors to the Alhambra. He created architectural scale models and plaster casts of the Alhambra in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms which he sold as souvenirs. Asun González Pérez "Reconstructing the Alhambra: Rafael Contreras and Architectural Models of the Alhambra in the Nineteenth Century" Art in Translation 2017 Volume 9 Issue 1 pp. 29-49. unknown books