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Artesonado or Spanish ceiling is a term for 
Artesonado decoration is usually in regular recesses between the rafter beams and the woodwork is gilded or painted. It originated in the Islamic regions of 
Original artesonado ceilings, although expensive to transport and difficult to reassemble, were bought by private collectors during the 20th century and can be currently found, for example, in the
File:Universidad de Alcalá (RPS 07-06-2019) artesonado del Paraninfo, detalle.png, Detail of the coffered ceiling of the Auditorium of the
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accessed March 2019 {{Architecture of Spain Architecture in Spain Ceilings Mudéjar architecture
coffer
A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault.
A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also ...
"a type of intricately joined wooden ceiling in which supplementary lath
A lath or slat is a thin, narrow strip of straight-wood grain, grained wood used under roof shingles or tiles, on lath and plaster walls and ceilings to hold plaster, and in Latticework, lattice and Trellis (architecture), trellis work.
''Lath ...
s are interlaced into the rafter
A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as wooden beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck and its associated ...
s supporting the roof to form decorative geometric patterns", found in Spanish architecture
Spanish architecture refers to architecture in any area of what is now Spain, and by Spanish architects worldwide. The term includes buildings which were constructed within the current borders of Spain prior to its existence as a nation, when ...
. It is an example of Mudéjar style
Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for M ...
.
Artesonado decoration is usually in regular recesses between the rafter beams and the woodwork is gilded or painted. It originated in the Islamic regions of North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
and Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...
, as can be seen at the Nasrid palace of the Alhambra, and was introduced into the Iberian Christian kingdoms by Muslim craftsmen during the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. The name comes from the Spanish word ''artesa'', a shallow basin used in bread making.
Beginning in the 13th century, artesonado ceilings continued to be built through the Spanish Renaissance
The Spanish Renaissance was a movement in Spain, emerging from the Italian Renaissance in Italy during the 14th century, that spread to Spain during the 15th and 16th centuries.
This new focus in art, literature,
quotes and science inspired ...
in the 15th and 16th centuries, with a change of the motifs to a classical Greco-Roman style.
Notable examples of artesonado ceilings include those in the throne room of the Aljafería
The Aljafería Palace ( es, Palacio de la Aljafería; ar, قصر الجعفرية, tr. ''Qaṣr al-Jaʿfariyah'') is a fortified medieval palace built during the second half of the 11th century in the Taifa of Zaragoza in Al-Andalus, present d ...
(Zaragoza), the Chapterhouse of Toledo Cathedral
, native_name_lang =
, image = Toledo Cathedral, from Plaza del Ayuntamiento.jpg
, imagesize = 300px
, imagelink =
, imagealt =
, landscape =
, caption ...
, and the Royal Convent of Santa Clara
The Royal Convent of Santa Clara is a nunnery in Tordesillas, Spain. Founded by king Pedro of Castile in 1363, this convent of Poor Clares is now under the administration of Spain's national heritage organisation, the Patrimonio Nacional.
It is ...
(Tordesillas).
Original artesonado ceilings, although expensive to transport and difficult to reassemble, were bought by private collectors during the 20th century and can be currently found, for example, in the Hearst Castle
Hearst Castle, known formally as La Cuesta Encantada ( Spanish for "The Enchanted Hill"), is a historic estate in San Simeon, located on the Central Coast of California. Conceived by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon, and his arch ...
, Metropolitan Museum of New York
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), comprising the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park, is the largest public arts institution in the city of San Francisco. The permanent collection of the ...
, Tomas Aquinas College of Ventura County, Worcester Art Museum
The Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym WAM, houses over 38,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day and representing cultures from all over the world. WAM opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and ranks among th ...
and Instituto Helenístico de Ciudad de México
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley of Me ...
México.
University of Alcalá
The University of Alcalá ( es, Universidad de Alcalá) is a public university located in Alcalá de Henares, a city 35 km (22 miles) northeast of Madrid in Spain and also the third-largest city of the region. It was founded in 1293 as a ...
(Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, 1520).
File:Santo Domingo Convent, Lima, Peru - Laslovarga (24).jpg, Artesonado dated to 1580 in the Basilica and Convent of Santo Domingo
The Basilica and Maximus Convent of Nuestra Señora del Rosario, popularly known as the Convent of Santo Domingo (or Convent of the Holy Rosary), is a Catholic religious complex located in the city of Lima, Peru.
It was created in the 1530s under ...
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...
, Perú
References
*Maldonado, Basilio Pavón, "Artesonado",Grove Art Online
''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...
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accessed March 2019 {{Architecture of Spain Architecture in Spain Ceilings Mudéjar architecture