Alhambra, Sala de la Barca

This pattern, is the right of a pair of blind windows represent something of a curiosity among the patterns in the Alhambra. They resemble certain mudejar blind windows in the Alcazar of Seville, and in both cases the window contains two large rosettes --- 16-fold in the Alcazar versions - the lower of which is complete, but the upper one is clumsily cut off by the curve of the window frame. The result looks in fact rather inelegant, and does not compare well with most other patterns and compositions in the Alhambra. In the rest of the Alhambra the highest rosette used in the design of blind or pierced window grilles is a 16, in some of which there is an upper half-rosette, but here the curve of the frame passes through the centre of the rosette and the result is much more elegant and aesthetically pleasing. Rosettes larger than 16 are uncommon in the Alhambra: fragments of complex decagonal compositions containing 20-rayed rosettes have been unearthed and are now in the Alhambra museum, but have yet to be accurately restored; the wooden roof of the former lantern in the middle of the Sala del Mexuar now contains a 32-rayed rosette, but the composition, although striking, is geometrically very clumsily constructed. The right window in Alhambra, Sala de la Barca.

• The symmetry group of the tiling is *442 (p4m).
• All the internal angles of the constituent polygons are a multiple of 5°.
• Contains two regular hexagons.
• Contains one regular 12-pointed star polygon with vertex angle of 60°.
• Contains one regular 24-pointed star polygon with vertex angle of 45°.
• There are 18 non-regular reflective tiles (including 3 kites) and one reflective pair.
• The tiling satisfies the interlace condition and has four finite interlaces and one infinite interlace with straight cross-overs.
• The tiling is edge-to-edge.
• As drawn, contains about 1123 polygons.

1. Photo for Nick Crossling (Alhambra, Sala de la Barca, Spain. North wall (different colouring)) of Not specific. Personal Communication, Information sent to the author, 21c. [pc] (1354-62AD, 755-63AH)
2. Photo via David Wade (St Petersburg Mosque, Russia) of Not specific. Personal Communication, Information sent to the author, 21c. [pc] (1913AD, 1331AH)
3. Drawing, about 1837, Vol2, pdf p186 (Alhambra, Sala de la Barca, Spain. North wall) of Owen Jones and Jules Goury. Plans, elevations, sections, and details of the Alhambra..., London, 1837. [jones2] {2 v. : ill. (some col.), plans ; 60 cm.} Available on Internet.

• Large stars

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