
CUADERNOS DE LA ALHAMBRA I núm. 50 I 2021 I págs. 341-361
347
THE MUQARNAS DOMES OF THE HALL OF THE KINGS: DATA FOLLOWING THEIR RESTORATION.
He would evaluate the weight load supported by the modu-
les glued together with plaster and the amount of water they
carry. is is when he would attach a vertical wooden bra-
ce to the plaster modules that was embedded in the plaster
and also held in place using a metal nail, while the other end
was fastened to the raers of the wooden roof. It was norma-
lly made of pine wood with a rectangular cross-section, and
was inserted at the junction of the feet of several muqarna
blocks, or past the , where a structure with a
larger surface area of plaster was created and the wood could
be embedded (Il. 4, 5). e brace supported the structure whi-
le the plaster set and hardened, which also became lighter as
its water content evaporated over time. (Il. 5) It would full
its function and continue to support the weight as another
module was raised during the various stages of constructing
the dome. e crasman could always access the back of the
dome in the gap le between the plaster dome and the fra-
mework raers
15
because the brace was cut as the dome was
raised to prevent transmitting and loading the weight of the
tile roof onto the plaster dome and the problems that would
entail. In this specic dome at least three crowns are formed
by the union of the muqarnas legs and the areas formed by the
, each at a dierent height, where the wooden
braces are embedded with metal nails. ese pine wood bra-
ces are rarely visible on the reverse side of the dome as they
have been covered up by later plasterwork. However, studying
their location reveals that they are positioned in strategic ho-
rizontal locations for maximum weight bearing, according to
the design of the dome and its relationship with the interior.
Fig 5 shows the three brace crowns; the outer one is in black,
the middle one in blue and the upper crown, which supports
the lantern, is in red.
e whole process of raising a dome was aided by bracing
from the new modules, on the platforms created using the sca-
olding raised from the ground, which served as a support until
it was completed. e structure used to shore up the dierent
phases of the dome’s construction were removed once the whole
dome had been set in place and the plaster had dried, aer which
it lost a great deal of weight due to its water content evaporating.
e set of muqarna blocks that form the domes consists of
nine modules created in black plaster using moulds; they form
groups of pieces that lead to other modules, such as the crowning
15 It should be remembered that before decorating with plaster, ceramics,
etc., spaces were normally covered and nished with a roof so that work
could be carried out without issues from rain and inclement weather.
stars. e way these domes were created illustrates the good tas-
te in design and decoration created using pieces decorated with
relief carving, following the style set by the Nasrid crasmen. A
greater degree of complexity was required when working with
the muqarna blocks because each piece used needs to be indivi-
dually craed, unlike the muqarna blocks made in black plaster.
Dierent modules were joined and the gaps at the join were
lled by attaching new masses of black plaster, although many
pieces were joined together without joining plaster and are sim-
ply glued to each other with plaster applied to the upper parts
and on the reverse side in non-visible areas. erefore, in con-
trast to wooden muqarnas vaults, the height of the non-visible
part of the muqarna blocks adapts to its surrounding pieces or
the crowning piece. is is the case with muqarna block 3 in
the Hall of the Kings, which forms an eight-pointed star by joi-
ning a cluster of eight blocks; the non-visible part is cut away to
attach the nal plate of the star. Whenever a carved piece was
inserted, it was attached so that its join used the black plaster
that serves as a glue and it was also held in place by physical for-
ces such dovetailing, guaranteeing its stability and preventing it
from detaching in the future. (Il.6)
Once all the pieces had been inserted and the joins and
any assembly aws repaired, a white nishing coat was applied
to the black plaster, applied in several layers as necessary,
which served to
16
:
- unify the entire surface with white as a base for applying the
polychroming, also soening the right angles of the corners;
- cover the plaster’s pores and reduce its absorption capacity,
making it possible to be more precise when drawing polychro-
me motifs.
e white nishing layer was made of calcium sulphate
17
with an organic protein binder with, as in other locations,
abundant fatty acids such as palmitic and stearic acid18.
Although there is no conclusive data from the results of the
chromatographic analyses, there is a long tradition of using
e white rather than oils, due to parallels established with
Egyptian plaster crasmen where, according to Egyptian res-
torers, crasmen continue to use e white for the nal nish.
16 RUBIO DOMENE, Ramón. Técnicas de trabajo con moldes en la yesería
nazarí…, p. 547
17 de la TORRE LÓPEZ, Maria José. RUBIO DOMENE, Ramón. CAMPOS SU-
ÑOL, María José. Estudio mineralógico-petrográco de yeserías islámicas…,
p. 695
18 CORREA GÓMEZ, Elena; RUBIO DOMENE, Ramón. La restauración del
Oratorio del Partal…, p. 126.