Arco Herradura

[Derrik Navarro]

Enel arte musulmn hay numerosas variantes de arcos, casi todos derivados del arco de herradura, arcos de herradura apuntados (o tmidos), arcos lobulados (del siglo X en adelante), arcos entrelazados, arcos mixtilneos, arcos cortina (que aparecen en el siglo XI) y angrelados-acampanados (desde el siglo XIV). En todo caso, estos arcos se enmarcan con un alfiz y sus dovelas suelen turnar los motivos decorativos (esta alternancia en el dovelaje tambin se toma del arte hispanovisigodo o, incluso, del arte hispanorromano).

Los primeros usos de esta forma se encuentran en la arquitectura tardoantigua y sasnida, pero se convirti en un emblema de la arquitectura islmica, especialmente del estilo arquitectnico morisco. Tambin apareci ms tarde en el estilo neorabe y en el Art Nouveau. Los arcos de herradura pueden tener forma redondeada, apuntada o lobulada.

El arco de herradura (llamado arco de ferradura en cataln) fue muy utilizado por la arquitectura visigoda en Espaa, de la que solo quedan iglesias rsticas de campo, datadas de la segunda mitad del siglo VII (desde alrededor del 660 al 700), habiendo desaparecido las grandes iglesias urbanas de la poca visigoda.

El arco de herradura est representado en las iluminaciones merovingias y luego carolingias, probablemente inspiradas en monumentos de la poca, de los que lamentablemente se tienen muy pocos vestigios.

Por el contrario, esta forma de arco era comn en la arquitectura visigoda anterior a la arquitectura omeya en Espaa: se puede suponer por ello que el arco de herradura muy utilizado por la arquitectura omeya de al-ndalus (Emirato de Crdoba), resulta de

Esta mezquita fue construida sobre una antigua baslica urbana visigoda, la baslica de San Vicente, que fue transformada gradualmente y luego reemplazada por la mezquita. Por ello es muy probable que esos arcos procedan de los de la antigua baslica: las columnas de mrmol son todas de spolia provenientes de la antigua baslica y de otros monumentos de la ciudad. Las primeras fases de construccin de la mezquita son bastante sobrias. La ampliacin de Alhakn II en el siglo X es, con mucho, la ms suntuosa, y los arcos adquieren un desarrollo ms complejo y ornamental, e incorporan ricos motivos decorativos de inspiracin bizantina.

El arco de herradura tambin adorna en abundancia las puertas de la mezquita. La copia ms antigua adorna la puerta conocida como Bb-al-Wuzara o puerta de los ministros del ao 785, que sigue siendo sencilla y sobria pero fue el modelo de todas las dems puertas de la mezquita, que se vuelven mucho ms refinadas en el siglo X. Tambin se encuentran como adorno a nivel de las arcadas ciegas que rematan las puertas, constituidos por arcos de herradura entrecruzados o no.

El arco de herradura es el elemento predilecto en la arquitectura de los omeya de Crdoba, siendo uno de sus elementos ms llamativos, y se encuentra en muchos otros edificios omeyas, tanto de la poca del emirato de Crdoba como del califato de Crdoba:

Utiliz el arco de herradura, por tanto, por dos razones, aunque estos arcos son claramente de tradicin cordobesa, ms cerrados y abovedados que los arcos de tradicin visigoda. Aqu tambin, el arco de herradura encuentra mltiples aplicaciones:

El arco de herradura fue utilizado por la arquitectura de los reinos de taifa, que sucedi en el siglo XI a la arquitectura omeya. Adorna por ejemplo la puerta que da acceso a la mezquita del palacio de la Aljafera de Zaragoza as como uno de los accesos a la Sala Dorada. Tambin hubo una evolucin especfica: el arco de herradura quebrado, que apareci en la propia Aljafera entre 1065 y 1081.

Durante el romnico, las regiones constitutivas de la antigua Septimania, el Roselln y el Languedoc, siguieron caracterizndose por el uso del arco de herradura heredado de la tradicin visigoda (de posible influencia califal).

En Saint-Gnis-des-Fontaines y en Saint-Andr-de-Sorde (en el Roselln) se encuentran dos bajorrelieves romnicos de principios del siglo XI que representan a Cristo en la gloria enmarcado por personajes alojados cada uno bajo un arco de herradura. Inicialmente, cada uno de estos bajorrelieves constituira probablemente un frente de altar, luego reutilizados como dinteles a nivel del portal.

The horseshoe arch (Arabic: قوس حدوة الحصان; Spanish: arco de herradura), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is a type of arch in which the circular curve is continued below the horizontal line of its diameter, so that the opening at the bottom of the arch is narrower than the arch's full span.[1][2][3] Evidence for the earliest uses of this form are found in Late Antique and Sasanian architecture, but it became emblematic of Islamic architecture, especially Moorish architecture. It also made later appearances in Moorish Revival and Art Nouveau styles. Horseshoe arches can take rounded, pointed or lobed form.

The origins of the horseshoe arch are controversial.[5] It appeared in pre-Islamic Sasanian architecture such as the Taq-i Kasra in present-day Iraq and the Palace of Ardashir in southwestern Iran (3rd century CE).[6][5][4] It also appeared in Late Roman or Byzantine architecture, as well as in Roman Spain.[7] In Byzantine Syria,[5] the form was used in the Baptistery of Saint Jacob at Nusaybin (4th century CE)[8] and in Qasr Ibn Wardan (564 CE).[9]

Another possible origin of the horseshoe arch motif is India, where rock-cut temples with horseshoe arches are attested at an early period, though these were sculpted into rock rather than constructed.[10][4] For example, horseshoe arch shapes are found in parts of the Ajanta Caves and Karla Caves dating from around the 1st century BCE to 1st century CE.[11]

Horseshoe arches made of baked brick have been found in the so-called Tomb of the Brick Arches in Aksum (present-day Ethiopia), built during the Kingdom of Aksum and tentatively dated to the 4th century CE.[10][12] In a 1991 publication, archeologist Stuart C. Munro-Hay suggests that these could be evidence that transmission of architectural ideas took place via routes not previously considered by scholars. He suggests that the brick-built horseshoe arches could have been an Aksumite innovation based on ideas transmitted via trade with India.[10]

Further evidence of their use is also found in early Christian architecture in Byzantine Anatolia and became characteristic of Christian architecture in Cappadocia,[13][14][15] though the origins of this regional feature are sometimes debated.[a] An early example of its use in Anatolia is found at the Alahan Monastery in present-day southern Turkey,[13] dating most likely from the 5th century CE.[19] In Visigothic Spain, horseshoe arches are found, for example, in of the Church of Santa Eulalia de Boveda near Lugo and the Church of Santa Maria de Melque near Toledo.[20] Some tombstones from that period have been found in the north of Spain with horseshoe arches in them, eliciting speculation about a pre-Roman local Celtic tradition.[21]

In early Islamic architecture, some horseshoe arches appeared in Umayyad architecture of the 7th to 8th centuries. They are found in the Umayyad Mosque of Damascus, though their horseshoe shape is not very pronounced.[23][24] They are also found in the Umayyad Palace at the Amman Citadel in present-day Jordan.[5]

In the northern Iberian Peninsula, where Asturias and other Christian kingdoms ruled, the use of horseshoe arches continued under the influence of previous Visigothic architecture and of contemporary Islamic architecture.[35] The addition of an alfiz around horseshoe arches was one detail more specifically borrowed from Islamic styles.[35] Starting in the 9th century, some Mozarabs (Christians living under Muslim rule) left al-Andalus and settled in the northern Christian territories,[b] where they contributed to popularizing this form locally, as exemplified by San Miguel de Escalada (10th century).[36][37][38] The Mozarabs also incorporated horseshoe arches into their art, such as in illuminated manuscripts.[39][40]

As Muslim rule retreated in Al-Andalus, the Mudjar style, which developed from the 12th to the 16th centuries under Spanish Christian rule, continued the tradition of horseshoe arches in the Iberian Peninsula.[41] Horseshoe arches also continued to be used in the Maghreb, in the architecture of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.[42][28]

Horseshoe arches were also common in Ghurid and Ghaznavid architecture (11th-13th centuries) in Central Asia, though in this region they had sharp pointed apexes, in contrast with those of the western Islamic world. Sometimes they were cusped or given multifoil flourishes.[47] Around the same time or not long afterward, they begin to appear as far east as India,[47] in Indo-Islamic architecture, such as in the Alai Darwaza gatehouse (dating from 1311) at the Qutb Complex in Delhi,[48] though they were not a consistent feature in India.

Some pointed arches with a slightly horseshoe shape appear in Ayyubid architecture in Syria.[49] It appears, exceptionally, in some instances of Mamluk architecture. For example, it appears in some details of the Sultan Qalawun Complex in Cairo, built in 1285.[50] Andalusi-style horseshoe arches are also found alongside the minaret of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo, probably dating from 13th-century renovations ordered by Sultan Lajin to the older 9th-century mosque.[51]

In addition to their use across the Islamic world, horseshoe arches became popular in Western countries in Moorish Revival architecture, which became fashionable in the 19th century. They were widely used in Moorish Revival synagogues.[53][54] They were employed in the Neo-Mudjar style in Spain, another type of Moorish Revival style.[55] They are used in some forms of Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture, a 19th-century style associated with the British Raj.[55]

El arco de herradura ( derecha) no es ms que un arco de medio punto prolongado por debajo de la lnea de arranques. El arco de herradura est fuertemente ligado a dos arquitecturas: la rabe y la visigtica.

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