If you wish to study Moorish art in detail, take in hand one of the beautiful marqueterie, or _artesonado_ ceilings, or a glazed tile, or _azulejo_. In both these cases the history of the word is the history of the thing. _Artesonado_ means a kneading-trough; which, doubtless, first suggested the form of these ceilings; and _azulejo_ is directly derived from the Arabic word _zuluja_, a varnished tile, and _azul_, which in its turn is derived from _luzmad_, lapis lazuli. Most names for colour in Spanish are derived from the same source in all arts, for as in the case of the _azulejo_, or coloured tile, the teachers of the art had to supply the name. Both _artesonado_ roofing and _azulejo_ pavements are very Oriental and ancient. We read in the Bible of the houses “cieled with cedar and painted with vermilion,” and of the “pavements of saphire,” &c.
Nothing can equal the taste and good sense,--always an infallible criterion of art--displayed in both these triumphs of form, colour, and convenience. The tile, which is always of graceful pattern and beautifully enamelled colours, is cool, clean, and exactly the flooring suited for hot climates. Labour both of brain and hand are never spared, for wherever good _azulejo_ work exists, there is sure to be plenty of variety, both as to colour and design. But it is chiefly in the _artesonado_ ceilings that the Moorish artist is unrivalled. Here his gorgeous fancy runs riot, and the eyes are dazzled by the wonderful combinations of form and colour that have no counterpart save in his equally intricate and equally rich poetry. A verse of the Koran is just as florid and harmonious to the ear of the Arab scholar, as one of their designs must be to the eye of any artist, no matter what his nation may be.
But the simplicity of the original plan is the most striking point to consider. The Arab was as thorough a geometrician as he was an artist, and brought his geometry to bear upon his art in an extraordinary fashion.
Some of the most beautiful tiles and ceilings are to be seen at the Generalife, the summer palace of the kings of Granada. A pretty walk leads to it; and here, even in December, I found the gardens full of roses and other summer flowers in blossom. Granada is indeed a garden of roses; and the Generalife is the lightest, airiest summer-house ever reared by Oriental lover of coolness, and running streams and bosquets of myrtle. It recalls how:--