Artesonado orSpanish ceiling is a term for "a type of intricately joined wooden ceiling in which supplementarylaths are interlaced into therafters supporting the roof to form decorative geometric patterns",[1] found inSpanish architecture. It is an example ofMudéjar style.
Artesonado decoration is usually in regular recesses between the rafter beams and the woodwork isgilded or painted. It originated in the Islamic regions ofNorth Africa[citation needed] andAl-Andalus, as can be seen at theNasrid palace of theAlhambra, and was introduced into the Iberian Christian kingdoms by Muslim craftsmen[citation needed] during the Christian reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. The name comes from the Spanish wordartesa, a shallow basin used in bread making.
Beginning in the 13th century, artesonado ceilings continued to be built through theSpanish Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries, with a change of the motifs to a classical Greco-Roman style.[1]
Notable examples of artesonado ceilings include those in the throne room of theAljafería (Zaragoza), the Chapterhouse ofToledo Cathedral, and theRoyal Convent of Santa Clara (Tordesillas). TheSpanish National Sculpture Museum also has a Spanish ceiling collection.[2]
Original artesonado ceilings, although expensive to transport and difficult to reassemble, were bought by private collectors during the 20th century and can be currently found, for example, in theHearst Castle,Metropolitan Museum of New York,Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco,Tomas Aquinas College of Ventura County,Worcester Art Museum and Instituto Helenístico de Ciudad de México.[3][4][5][6]
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