The larder doors from the Palacio de los Infantes

The larder doors from the Palacio de los Infantes is the piece of the month in the Museum of the Alhambra. This is a free activity, organized by the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife and held by the restorer María José Ortega, graduate in Fine Arts, every Saturday from 12:00 noon on, in Room V of the Museum. The doors, originally from a larder in the Casa de los Infantes, are made of cypress wood and decorated with intarsia of inlaid wood, bone and ivory.
In Mesopotamia, around 2600 BC, the technique of intarsia was already known. This technique is introduced into the West by al-Andalus. The overwhelming beauty of the doors is due to the excellent handcraft and its fine geometric interlaced decoration. The doors consist of two leafs connected to a frame by little bronze hinges.
The hinges are, together with those of the lattice from the Major Qubba / Sala de las dos Hermanas (Hall of the two Sisters), unique for their composition: on both, the leafs and the frame, there are fixed two little interlaced rings held by a pintle, which makes it possible that the leafs are linked to the frame and that they can open and close.
The leafs are decorated on both sides, but the frame only on the external side. Each side of the doors is different. On their inner side, the decoration with ivory, bone or different wood types is inlaid in the structure of each door. On the external side, the decoration consists of a series of coloured wood and bone pieces, masterly combined forming interlaced geometric patterns, which covers the entire surface with stuck intarsia pieces, not inlays.
Opening hours: Every Saturday in August, at 12:00 noon.
Location: Room V, Museum of the Alhambra, Palace of Charles V.