"Mudejarismo" and "Moorish Revival"

The reception and reinterpretation of the Islamic heritage of al-Andalus during the Iberian Middle Ages and the global nineteenth century in art and architecture was the focus of a research project undertaken by an interdisciplinary research team led by Francine Giese. Titled “Mudejarismo and Moorish Revival in Europe” and running from 2014 to 2019, the project was based at the Institute of Art History of the University of Zurich and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Selected buildings and interiors throughout Europe were studied for a critical analysis of the two phenomena commonly referred to as “Mudejarismo” and “Moorish Revival”. Though controversial today, both terms were used within the Zurich project and its scientific output to identify a specific moment in time when nineteenth-century art historiography sought to construct a history of styles based on a largely Eurocentric view of the different artistic trends of the past and present.

In cooperation with the Deutsches Dokumentationszentrum – Bildarchiv Foto Marburg, extensive photographic campaigns were conducted in Spain, Italy, Germany, and Russia, with the Photothek of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz – Max Planck Institute being responsible for organising and carrying out the campaigns in Italy (Florence, Reggello and Riola).

Alongside an impressive number of scientific publications issued from the project, the photographs made available on the database Bildindex der Kunst und Architektur and in the online catalogue of the Photothek are a major contribution to the appreciation of this hitherto widely neglected built heritage. This online exhibition, conceived by Ariane Varela Braga, who formed part of the project team, presents a selection of the Italian buildings and interiors included in the project.

go to the online exhibition