This new book by Dr Anna McSweeney – From Granada to Berlin: the Alhambra Cupola (Verlag Kettler, 2020) – tells the long history of the Alhambra palace through the prism of one of its most extraordinary survivors: the Alhambra cupola, a carved and painted Islamic ceiling from the palace which is now in the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin.
Through a close examination of the cupola, it traces the long history of the palace from its Islamic origins, to today. The loss of the cupola from Granada, its move to Berlin and the complex reasons behind this loss are central to the biography. Through a focused study with extensive new research on this unique object and the societies through which it moved, this book cuts across academic and geographic boundaries to reveal a new perspective on the legacy of Islamic art in Europe and its continuing relevance today.
From Granada to Berlin: the Alhambra Cupola is a Connecting Art Histories in the Museum publication by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, and the Max-Planck-Institut.
Dr Anna McSweeney is lecturer in medieval and Islamic art history in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
The book is available from the publisher’s website: https://www.verlag-kettler.de/en/product/granada-berlin-alhambra-cupola
