THE ALHAMBRA 



THE Alhambra, or Red Palace, the Acropolis of 

 Granada, is the finest secular monument with 

 which the Muslims have endowed Europe. It 

 belongs to the last period of Spanish-Arabic 

 art, when the seed of Mohammedan ideas and 

 culture had long since taken deep root in the soil 

 and produced a style which might more properly 

 be called Andalusian than Moorish. If the 

 Muslims left a deep impression upon Spanish 

 thought and art, it must not be supposed that 

 they altogether escaped the influence of their 

 Christian neighbours. During the last two cen- 

 turies of their occupation the rigid puritanism of 

 their creed was greatly relaxed, especially as 

 regarded art always the reflection of the customs 

 and spirit of a people. The wave of the Renais- 

 sance did not leave untouched the shrunken 

 Moorish empire, and if Castilian kings did not 

 hesitate to employ Muslim artisans in the con- 

 struction of their cathedrals, the Sultans of 

 Granada did not disdain the advice of Christian 

 artists in the embellishment of their palaces. 

 The Alhambra remains a thoroughly Moham- 



