RT Article
T1 Relocating the Spanish Renaissance: Charles V, the Torre de la Estufa in the Alhambra, and the Islamic Past
JF The sixteenth century journal
VO 50
IS 4
SP 1063
OP 1099
A1 Ripollés, Carmen
LA English
YR 2019
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1728086558
AB This article reexamines the function, decoration, and political and artistic significance of the Torre de la Estufa of Charles V in the Alhambra, a steam room decorated between 1528 and 1539 with topographic landscapes of the conquest of Tunis and paintings of grotesques. Challenging the traditional focus on the tower’s debt to the Italian Renaissance, this essay brings attention to its pre-existing Islamic framework, arguing that its overall architectural language, specific decorative elements, and intended function reveal Charles V’s will to engage formally and conceptually with the preexisting palace as a means of advancing imperial ideology.
K1 16TH century mural painting & decoration
K1 ALHAMBRA (Granada, Spain)
K1 ARCHITECTURAL decoration & ornament
K1 Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, 1500-1558
K1 Grotesque
K1 HISTORY of art & politics
K1 Renaissance Art
K1 Spain
K1 SPANISH mural painting & decoration
K1 TUNIS (Tunisia); Pictorial works