Art in an Early Global World at WAM: A WAM/College of the Holy Cross CollaborationMain MenuAmanda Luyster17d39c1ecea88fb7ff282fe74a410b89478b8327Created by the Worcester Art Museum and the College of the Holy Cross, with the Worcester Public Schools AP Art History class of 2024. Financial support provided by the Medieval Academy of America and "Scholarship in Action" at Holy Cross.
12024-03-28T13:30:26-07:00Who made the Spanish Ceiling?3plain2024-04-23T10:41:50-07:00Vedanth Natarajan, Class of 2027, College of the Holy Cross
The Spanish Ceiling was commissioned, designed, and constructed by a variety of individuals from diverse backgrounds. The individual who commissioned the Spanish Ceiling would have been a nobleman who had the financial means necessary to fund such a large project. The designers of the ceiling were architects with a strong background in geometry; they would have been familiar with the artistic and architectural traditions of the region. The actual construction required the largest number of people, as it was labor-intensive. Carpenters from North Africa were known to build ceilings like this one. As with many other alfarje ceilings, the woodworkers and painters responsible for decorating the ceiling could have been Muslims who opted to stay in the region after it came under Christian rule. These Muslim artists who were skilled in and inspired by Islamic ornament may have been hired by a Christian nobleman to create the unique fusion of architecture known as the Mudejar style. The Muslim artists who crafted the ceiling may have drawn inspiration from the same Islamic design motifs used by calligraphers for the Qu'ran.
