The Alhambra in the feminine: epigraphy, myth and orientalism

Abstract

The architecture of the Alhambra is made up of words: a feminine epigraphy that shows itself in the most relevant spaces. In them is manifested the figure of the bride, who will be married in all her splendour. Through its poems we also cover the myths about women that existed centuries ago: queens of legendary countries, concubines, and yet others who would be imagined. These imagined women would form part of the Orientalist artists’ desire and re-creation, who would show in their artworks this hidden and extraordinary world which they would never enter. For the Western painters of the 19th century, the image of the Muslim woman, above all in the harem and the hammam, would represent a dreamlike space: intimate, intangible, but very real and erotic, and which would be captured in their artwork.