880 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



as to throw light in every direction 

 upon the niches, the interwoven 

 borders, the garlands of flowers 

 and leaves, the medaUions, with 

 Arabic inscriptions of " Glory be 

 to God," " God alone is Con- 

 queror," and the intersecting arches 

 and circles, adorned with flowers, 

 fruits, and shells. From the floor 

 to the roof all is ornament, and of 

 various colours, deep blue, red, 

 green, or glittering with gilding ; 

 the ceiling is a kind of cupola, 

 composed of wood of different 

 colours, silvered or gilt, forming 

 circles, crowns, and stars ; the 

 pavement is of various coloured 

 tiles. On all sides are the minutiae 

 of art ; and by inscriptions over 

 the windows, no longer legible, 

 but which have been preserved in 

 books, it wouUl appear that there 

 was formerly a fountain in the hall, 

 of which at present no trace re- 

 mains. 



The court of lions is the most 

 magnificent of the Alhambra, and 

 shows the peculiar genius and de- 

 fects of the Arabian artists. It is 

 in length about one hundred and 

 thirty feet, and seventy-five in 

 breadth, surrounded by a low 

 gallery, supported by one hun- 

 dred and twenty-eight pillars of 

 white marble. The view of these 

 delicate columns, which are little 

 more than ten feet high, and of 

 uniform diameters, pleases more 

 than all the glitter of the royal 

 apartments; they stand in groups 

 of four and four on the sides of the 

 entrance, of three and three in 

 front, and alternately grouped and 

 single all round beneath the gal- 

 lery. It is not possible to see a 

 finer specimen of the Arabian 

 taste; the contrast is, however, 

 very great when we come to exa- 



mine the lions from which this part 

 of the Alhambra derives its name. 

 In the center, a large circular fount, 

 or basin of marble, is supported by 

 twelve lions, the sculpture and 

 proportions of which are well cal- 

 culated to produce a smile ; the 

 basin itself is elegant, forming a 

 duodecagon, with an inscription on 

 each of the sides, and ornamented 

 with leaves and flowers; but no- 

 thing can place in a stronger light 

 the ignorance of the Arabian sculp- 

 tors, when they ventured to repre- 

 sent animals, than the twelve lions 

 which support this admirable cup. 

 We are, indeed, at a loss to account 

 for this singular and direct viola- 

 tion of the laws of Mahomet, which 

 expressly forbid the representation 

 of any thing in heaven above, or 

 earth beneath ; certainly in this in- 

 stance the beauty of the workman- 

 ship cannot be urged as an excuse 

 for the violation of the precept; 

 such lions were never before seen ; 

 yet they were thought admirable 

 at the period of their being placed 

 there, as we may learn from the 

 inscription on one of the sides of 

 the cup — "O thou that beholdest 

 these lions, breath alone is wanting 

 to enable them to show their 

 fury !'» 



The remaining parts of the Al- 

 hambra are such as might be ex- 

 pected in the palace of an eastern 

 monarch. Every thing appears 

 contrived for the sake of coolness ; 

 the marble floors, the roofs, evident- 

 ly formed upon the model of stalac- 

 tites, the apartments screened from 

 the light, the baths, the fountains, 

 are all the luxuries of a warm cli- 

 mate. In the hall of the Two 

 Sisters, so called from two large 

 pieces of marble which form part 

 of the pavement, the roof is finish- 

 ed 



