Spanish tiles

The Alhambra of Escher

M.C. Escher is one of the most famous artists the Netherlands has ever produced. He is known worldwide for his studies of infinity, interlocking geometric patterns and impossible constructions. What many people do not know is that Escher was born in 1898 in the Princessehof, which at the time had a residential destination. He spent the first five years of his life in Leeuwarden.

At the age of 24, he went traveling with two friends and ended up in Spain and Italy. After his marriage to the Russian Jetta Umiker, he settled in Italy. There, Escher started making lithographs and woodcuts based on Italian landscapes. He had a few exhibitions during this period, but they did not yield much money. Fortunately, he could count on financial support from his wealthy parents.

In 1922 and 1936 Escher visits the Alhambra in Spain, the fortress of the Moors who ruled Andalusia in the Middle Ages. Here he comes into contact with Islamic art. The Islamic Moors built palaces covered with tiles in geometric shapes, with the Alhambra as the best-known example. The tile field depicted here also comes from Spain and was made in the sixteenth century. The decoration builds on the Moorish style. These types of tiles were originally made using the mosaic technique. In this technique, all the colours in a tile are baked separately and then combined into a whole. This was a time-consuming process.

In the fifteenth century, the cuerda seca technique was introduced. This technique (cuerda seca is Spanish for ‘dry cord’) originally came from Iran and used wax. This allowed multiple colours to be applied to a tile at the same time. The wax prevented the colours from running during firing. This production technique was much faster, which allowed the increased demand for tiling to be met.

Tile field Spain, 1500 – 1600, quartz fritware, l. 20,8 cm, br. 20,8 cm, on loan from Stichting Van Achterbergh-Domhof.

His last visit to the Alhambra marks a turning point in Escher's work. He must have been impressed by the lavish ceilings of fine wood and stucco, the walls covered with impressive calligraphy and the arched vaults with geometric figures. In the Alhambra he makes several sketches that form the basis for his research in the years that follow. He becomes fascinated by the principle of regular division of the plane and combines mathematics with art by converting geometric shapes into recognizable figures, such as people, lizards, birds, horses and frogs. In order to make optimal use of the available space, he lets patterns and figures merge into each other. Despite the bustle of all these figures, a balanced and harmonious effect is created. We know this principle from his work today, but the tile field depicted shows that it was already present in Islamic art much earlier.

Middle East

Ceramic tiles play an important role in the Middle East in the beautiful decoration of public buildings. The Princessehof collection includes tiles from Iran, Syria, Turkey and Egypt. These tiles are small works of art in themselves and together form an impressive mosaic of colours and figures. Many examples feature Arabic script with texts from the Quran. Cypresses are also often depicted, surrounded by floral tendrils. These cypresses symbolise eternity and together with the floral tendrils they refer to the heavenly paradise. The Middle East naturally has many dry areas. Fertile land with trees, flowers and water therefore form a true paradise on earth.

Eline van den Berg, curator Asian ceramics at Princessehof National Museum of Ceramics.