Door of the Hall of the Two Sisters

The decorative design of the Door of the Qubba Major, known as Hall of the Two Sisters (Sala de las Dos Hermanas), is the piece of the month of the Museum of the Alhambra in January 2011. This free activity, organised by the Patronato de la Alhambra y Generalife, is to be held every Saturday in January, starting at 12:00 in Room V, by Gloria Aljazairi, Doctor of Art History. The presentation will reveal the specialties of this master piece of Nasrid art.
From a new perspective, the expert will deal in depth with the artisan and empirical processes used to put into practice the rich geometric lazo design of this object. Therefore, avoiding the mystical or cabalistic view, the lecturer will show the simplicity of the process of manufacture, design and pattern, based on the application of simple rules. This perspective aims at promoting the knowledge of the manufacture guidelines of Nasrid geometric lazo design, which fits this geometric decoration on any surface, on the basis of canons, standard patterns and proportions.
The generating motif of the Door of the Qubba Mayor, which defines its total geometric decoration, is the rueda de lazo (geometric lazo wheel) of eight. Also the artisan’s wise criterion, with which he is able to incorporate subtle variations, avoided the monotony in its ornamentation.
The reason for the originality of the design process applied to Hispanic-Islamic carpentry is using tools for the application of the geometric lazo decoration, known as set squares, which are necessary for the design of the Door of the Qubba Mayor with different forms: the set square of eight, the set square of four/square and the set square called “blanquillo”. Here will be explained the manufacturing process of the object, the simple use and manipulation of this tools to produce wonderful geometric lazo decoration of this palace door.
Opening hours: Every Saturday in January, at 12:00 noon.
Location: Room V, Museum of the Alhambra, Palace of Charles V.

Palace of Charles V