Fragment from the Mantle of Don Felipe

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Luxury textiles produced in Islamic Andalucía were so highly valued by Christians living in northern Spain—and indeed throughout Europe as a whole—that they were sought by the nobility and worn not only in life but also in death. Such was the case with this woven silk fragment, found in the tomb of Don Felipe (died 1271 or 1274) and his second wife, Doña Inés de Guevara y Cisneros at the Church of Santa María la Blanca in Villalcázar de Sirga. Their tombs were set on either side of the main altar in the sanctuary of a fortress-temple dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The miraculous powers of Our Lady of Villasirga are recorded in the Cantigas de Santa Maria, a collection of songs attributed to King Alfonso X of Castile and León (ruled 1252-84), Don Felipe's brother. These works were written in Galician, a Romance language, but utilized the zajal, a poetic form of Andalusian Arabic origin. Such cultural hybridity reflects the temper of Alfonso's lively court, in which Christians, Jews, and Muslims were active participants. Despite this climate of interchange, Christian armies fought to expand their domain during his reign and were only stopped at the border of the Islamic kingdom of Gra

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