After 1500, and following the expulsion of the

Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...

by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella,

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

carpet A carpet is a textile floor covering typically consisting of an upper layer of pile attached to a backing. The pile was traditionally made from wool, but since the 20th century synthetic fibers such as polypropylene, nylon, or polyester hav ...

design began to prefer classically inspired

European Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

styles to the middle eastern designs they had known.¹Although the exact region to begin to produce the new style is not yet known, historians have attributed the move towards European design primarily to the Alcaraz in southern Castile.² When executed by the Alcaraz designers,

styles over-took the carpet field in the form of acanthus vinescrolls. On occasion, carpets motifs also included animal features within detailed design. ³ With the advance of European design, colors became more muted. ⁴ The shift in color palette was due to two main factors: the loss of the

saw the loss of master dyers and new dyes on the market were being experimented with. Popular color schemes of 16th century Alcaraz design include dark green on green and dark yellow on yellow.⁵

References

*Gardiner, Roger F. “Spuhler Revisited: Further Thoughts on the West Berlin Rug Catalog.” November, 198

*Dimand, M.S. “Two Fifteenth Century Hispano-Moresque Rugs.” 196

*Sherrill, Sarah B.Carpets and Rugs of Europe and America.New York: Abbeville Press, 1996.

External links

History of Hand-woven European and American Rugs
{{Rugs and carpets Rugs and carpets