The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-02-23
A DAY IN THE ALHAMBRA,
THE GREAT DAT OF DAYS IN
 STAIN
The Aesthetic sense FuJIy Satisfied Wonderful Architecture and scuIp-

ture.
 Special Correspondence of the Journal
 and Courier)
 Feb 2.--To describe anew the Alham-
 bra, already athousand times described,
 would be like Carrying coals to New
 castle" We are not going to attempt it
 the reader and I; but with Irving
 and Goutier's vivid descriptions in
 hand (both writers having had the ad- vantage of living long in Grenada), will wander at random through the wonder ful halls and gardens and patios-avoid- ing guides" as a pestilence, though sometimes losing ourselves in the mar ble forest of pillars whose carven foli-
 age and pendant fruits and flowers, all richly colored, green and orange and
 blue, are fresh as if wrought this year, though many centuries old. As a pre- paratory measure, like the piquante be- fore feast, you have read a dozen or so of the most famous accounts of the Alhambra, and perhaps after your eyes have become somewhat accustomed to the glories of the place, you spend days
 
 which has escaped hysterical pens and pencils-some hiddenmaryel that may be viewed from different angle of vi- sion Vain effort! Too many enthusi- asts have been here before you-not only tourists of ordinary mental calible, but the geniuses of the world have lav- 1Shed their art upon it. Anr the longer you look, the more you realize that not one of thenl-not even our own incom- parable Irving-has come up to the glorious mark. No doubt he did in emo tions of the inner man'-but thouhg words of classic elegance like his may paint the lily, what printers ink can add its subtle fragrance? To this day painters swarm all over the Alhambra while photographers, professional and amateur, crowd each other at every turn. And of course ubiquitous scrib- blers. made and female, rush about, notebooks in hand, jotting down items for their papers concerning the work of pious hands that went to dust centu- Ties ago--fairy tracery as fragile and delicate as veil of lace, yet which has withstood wars and earthquake shock and wear and tear of hundreds of years; making paltry commerce of the whole thing. as they do of the inscru- table face of the Sphinx and the mys- tery of the Pyramids.
 Probably one reason why the AL hambra makes such deep impression upon the most stolid visitor is because every aesthetic sense is fully satisfied in all it's adjuncts and surroundings. First, its situation is the most pictur- esque in Europe, with the snow-moun- tains on one side, the boundless plain on the other, and the Darro, below, through wild canyons to meet the wilder Xenil. The Darro, spanned have by Gothic bridge and thereby a broken Moorish arch as it rushes from It's mountain gorge through the town is !, lined with the quaintest of houses, all l messy with age, leaning, bracketed, over the torrent, as If they might topple in at any minute. Balconies are thick upon every wall and every balcony is aflame with bright-hued garments, hung out to dry in the sunshine; while all the parapets are lined with huge red vases in which purple hyacinths and yellow gladoli are growing, fanlzed by ooxes of pinks and trailing nasturtiums. And then the mediaeval towers and churches and Qualifications, and the | great cathedral in which the fihst Chris of Grenada sleep side by side; the rich foliage and flowers, the | forests of cypress and elm, the abun- liant fountains, the murmuring | streams; the Vega, green as emerald, shut in on two sides by beautiful moun- ains, backed by the Sierra Nevada one sheet of untarnished snow, too dazzling I 10 look upon under this bright blue sky! What picturesque figures are con- ,tantly passing to and fro-what com ,inations of color to delight an artists Ioul! Copper-skinned gypsies, with ,lue-black hair, lounge about every where, as if watching a favorable op- for sticking a knife under vour ribs and making off with your ,urse-the men in embroidered jackets with hanging silver buttons, scarlet fa- as around their waists, and wide- slouchad sombreros; the wo- nen in bright pink and yellow petti- oats, with enormous punches of flow IFS pinned in their raven locks. None f the old masters could have asked for nore effective groupings of figures han these-with their strange medley f gipsies, beggars, Moors, gandess nd foreigners from every country;- heir pigs, goats, donkeys, dogs-the alter always named either Maampo, ,ubilon or I4ubina because those were he names of the three favored animals hat accompanied the shepards to look pon the newly-born Infant at Bethle- em, and dogs so named never go mad! , mother charming peculiarity of the re- ion is the great number of singing irds, and especially of nightingales. ; hey fit at will through all the courts [ the Alhambra, sacred and unmolest- |, q everywhere in Spain, because it is /, elieved that they plucked the thorns 7 ,om the crown of our Savior as He = ung upon the cross. Again you tarry beneath the great :, ra bian arch of the Gate of Justice and .udy the gigantic Hand and Key en- z. raved above it. Those who claim &C., uaintance with Mahometan symbols | firm that both hand and key were I nblazoned on the Alnohades' stand q rd in opposition to the Christian en- . lem of the Cross when the Moslem | lbdued Andalusia. Some see the Ori- ' ltal symbol of power in the sculptured sy, referring for proof to Isaiah xxi. ( {; and others the key of David, de- | ribed in RaypIatiOnS iII I Others 1 =