Guiding the Imagination: Perception and Inscriptions, The Court of the Lions at The Alhambra

This paper explores perception by examining various elements of The Court of the Lions at The Alhambra in Andalusia, focusing mainly on the fourteenth century. The position of The Court of the Lions in relation to the site of The Alhambra is set out within its historical context. The paper outlines the relationship of The Court of the Lions to its adjacent spaces: The Hall of the Two Sisters, The Hall of the Abencerrajes and The Lindaraja Mirador. The muqarnas prisms in the domes of the two halls are described and explored, particularly in terms of how they might function perceptually. The overall context of The Court of the Lions is briefly described in terms of outside and inside spaces. Architectural inscriptions are described and interpreted, particularly poetic epigraphs on specific locations. The perceptual effects produced by all these architectural and poetic features, as well as by still and moving water in the courtyard, do not have a merely aesthetic effect; they are also designed specifically to release and guide our imagination.