Courting the Alhambra

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The Astrolabe

An ancient instrument for solving problems of location and distance, as well as time

Astrolábon órganon is the word used in Ptolemaeus Syntaxis 5.1 to describe a form of armillary sphere consisting of both fixed and rotating rings for determining the ecliptic co-ordinates of stars. Also called astrolabe were two-dimensional representations of the celestial sphere: over fixed disks with a representation of the horizon of the earth (in each case for a specific geographic latitude) and its parallels up to the zenith lies a rotating representation of the heavens (called ‘spider’ or ‘net’) with zodiac and indicators for some of the brightest stars. On the back is an indicator (‘alidade’) with visor plates for calculating the height of the stars. The astrolabe allows its user to determine the hours of day and night, the positions of stars, and the height and depth of objects on earth (mountains, buildings, wells). The oldest extant descriptions of the flat, planispheric astrolabe come from Iohannes Philoponus, 6th century AD, and (in Syrian) from Severus Sebokht, c. 660 AD. Indirect references may date back as early as Theon (4th cent.). Between the 8th and the 9th centuries the Arabs appropriated the knowledge of the astrolabe. At the end of the 10th century and again in the 12th century, they passed it on to Western Europe, where astrolabes were constructed up until the 17th cent. Today, one Byzantine astrolabe (from 1062) is extant, as are some 750 Arabic-Islamic astrolabes and approximately the same number of European astrolabes.

This information is abstracted from Brill's New Pauly, the English edition of the authoritative Der Neue Pauly, Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. The encyclopaedic coverage and high academic standard of the work, the interdisciplinary and contemporary approach and clear and accessible presentation have made the New Pauly the unrivalled modern reference work for the ancient world. For more information see www.brillsnewpauly.com or visit our website catalog: www.brill.nl/bnp
Brill’s New Pauly and the complete original Der Neue Pauly, the recognized standard reference works for students and scholars of the ancient world are also available online. This dual-language edition offers basic and advanced search facilities and is fully browsable. New English translations are added as they become available. See www.paulyonline.brill.nl for more information and a demo version.

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Publications & Services> Books> Book Series> Courting the Alhambra

Courting the Alhambra

Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to the Hall of Justice Ceilings

Edited by Cynthia Robinson and Simone Pinet

Books

Available
Publication year: 2008


ISBN-13 (i)The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) has been changed from 10 to 13 digits on 1 January 2007:	978 90 04 17342 2
ISBN-10:	90 04 17342 0

Cover:	Paperback
Number of pages:	vi, 153-293
Google Book Search:	View this book at Google Book Search

List price:	€ 79.00 / US$ 117.00

Table of contents

Simone Pinet and Cynthia Robinson, Introduction
Cynthia Robinson, Arthur in the Alhambra? Narrative and Nasrid Courtly Self-Fashioning in the Hall of Justice Ceiling Paintings
Ana Echevarria, Painting Politics in the Alhambra
Rosa María Rodríguez Porto, Courtliness and its Trujumanes: Manufacturing Chivalric Imagery across the Castilian–Grenadine
Frontier
Jerrilynn D. Dodds, Hunting in the Borderlands
Jennifer Borland, The Forested Frontier: Commentary in the Margins of the Alhambra Ceiling Paintings
Amanda Luyster, Cross-Cultural Style in the Alhambra: Textiles, Identity and Origins
Simone Pinet, Walk on the Wild Side
Oscar Martín, Allegories of Love: The Alhambra Ceilings and The Evolution of Sentimental Fiction

Readership

Those interested in the art and culture of medieval Iberia, including Hispanists, Islamists, and general literary critics, art historians and cultural historians.

About the author(s)

Cynthia Robinson, Ph. D. (1996), Art History and Near Eastery Studies, U. of Penn., is Associate Professor of Art History, Near Eastern Studies and Medieval Studies at Cornell University. She has published extensively on the visual and literary cultures of medieval Iberia.
Simone Pinet, Ph.D. (2002) in Hispanic Literatures, Harvard University, is Associate Professor of Spanish and Medieval Studies at Cornell University. She has published extensively on medieval and Golden Age literatures, cartography, and culture.

The ceiling paintings in the Hall of Justice of the Alhambra have not received serious scholarly attention for the past thirty years, perhaps due to their difficult incorporation into a discrete program of Christian vs. Islamic art, categories that until recently remained unchallenged themselves. The Alhambra itself continues to elicit the interest of many scholars, and several recent interpretations of the function of the Palace of the Lions, which houses the paintings, have been put forth. This collection brings together art historians, literary critics and historians who suggest new ways of approaching the paintings through their immediate social, historical, architectural and literary contexts, proposing a porous and flexible model for the production of culture in Iberia.
Contributors are Jerrylin Dodds, Ana Echevarria, Jennifer Borland, Rosa María Rodríguez Porto, Oscar Martin, Amanda Luyster, Cynthia Robinson and Simone Pinet.

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