The graphic representation of Sevillian houses from the 16th century
This image could summarize the work that architect María Núñez González has been developing for over a decade on the graphic representation of Sevillian houses from the 16th century. The great work carried out by the surveyors serving the cathedral and other religious institutions, which was reflected in the property survey books between 1542 and 1585, has allowed for drawings in floor plans, elevations, and in some specific cases, infographics with BIM technology like the one we see in the image. These texts include a detailed description of the spaces in the house, with precise measurements, finishes, construction elements (types of floors, ceiling configurations, roofs, stairs, among others), and facilities related to water supply and sanitation (wells, drains, channels, waterwheels, basins, fountains, etc.). At the same time that the houses have been digitally reconstructed, the spaces dedicated to each domestic group have been analyzed, and even those belonging to converso families have been identified (see the article "Converso Houses in the 16th Century in the former Jewish Quarter of Seville", in Heritage, 2022). Some of these infographics have been published as a result of the VESCASEM project by María Núñez González in the chapter "Fear, nostalgia, and ambition in the houses of the descendants of converso families in 16th-century Seville" within the book "Feeling at home. Emotions and material culture in the 15th and 16th centuries" edited in 2022 by María Elena Díez Jorge, and in the article "Walking from the front door to the courtyard. The floors of the Sevillian house in the 16th century" (Cuadernos de Arte de la Universidad de Granada, 2022, 53, 41-63). Furthermore, this same image has been used to illustrate some terms in the "Illustrated Architectural Vocabulary. The Sevillian House of the 16th Century" published by Editorial Universidad de Granada in 2022.
La marlota
The "marlota" is a garment often cited in Christian, Mudejar and Moorish documentation from the 15th and 16th centuries, but the only image we have of it is the garment kept in the Museo del Ejército, known as the "marlota de Boabdil" (Boabdil's marlota). On the basis of this data, Dolores Serrano-Niza sets out to reconstruct this garment worn by both Christians and Muslims at the aforementioned dates. She does so on the basis of the meagre descriptions provided by documentation and some literary texts. The greatest difficulty in this recreation lay in trying to reproduce the textures, colours and decorations that were found; to simulate brocade, velvet, silk or the aljafar buttons, the caireles, as well as the greater or lesser width of the marlota in question.
An example of this elaboration process was to transform the following description by Pérez de Hita into a visual image: A very rich marlota of the same velvet, very carved with gold, with many DDs of gold sown on it, made in Arabic. And this letter was worn by the Moor as the beginning of Daraxa's name.
You can see this image made by Lorena Jiménez from the study and design of Dolores Serrano-Niza in: Dolores Serrano-Niza "El secuestro de una caja de costura en 1562. Retales para elaborar una historia de los moriscos a través de una marlota", Revista Vegueta. Anuario de la Facultad de Geografía e Historia, 23 (2), 2023. DOI: https://doi.org/10.51349/veg.2023.2.07
More reconstructions in: Dolores Serrano-Niza (2022) "Moriscas granadinas en comunidad (emocional). Indumentaria y ritos en el espacio doméstico morisco (ss. XV- XVI)" in Mª Elena Díez Jorge (ed.), Sentir la casa. Emociones y cultura material en los siglos XV y XVI, Trea, Gijón, pp. 271-299.
"Restitution of the Bajada del Pozo Amargo. Toledo, 15th century
Based on the preserved material remains and documentation from the Cathedral Archive of Toledo, Jean Passini and Matías Capuchino have been able to reconstruct this dwelling on the descent of Pozo Amargo in Toledo, numbers 2 and 4.
Detail from the 1492 documentation: “En XXIII dias del dicho mes de março del dicho anno de noventa e dos annos los dichos sennores vesitadores de las posisiones de la santa iglesia de Toledo en presençia del notario e de los testigos ynfra escriptos vesitaron estas casas e fallose en ellas a la entrada un portal que ha en luengo siete varas e en ancho tres varas e terçia, ensomo una camara de su tamanno. Iten adelante esta un patin e a la mano derecha del esta un palaçio que ha en luengo dose varas e en ancho tres varas e media, ensomo una camara de su tamanno. Iten frontero que se a fecho agora de nuevo [sic]. Iten frontero estan dos palaçios un en otro, e el primero ha en luengo con la entrada a la cueva dose varas e en ancho tres e media, ensomo dos suelos uno sobre otro de su tamanno, el segundo palaçio ha en luengo treze varas e en ancho çinco varas e debaxo un sotano de su tamanno. Iten a la mano ysquierda del dicho patin esta una despensa que ha en luengo seys varas e media e en ancho tres e media, ensomo dos suelos uno sobre otro de su tamanno. Iten adelante esta otro palaçio baxo el qual deçienden deste dicho patin por una escalera e ha en luengo siete varas e media e en ancho quatro varas, e ensomo dos suelos uno sobre otro de su tamanno. Iten adelante esta otro patin e a la manisquierda del esta un portal que ha en luengo seys varas e en ancho dos varas e terçia e ensomo dos suelos uno sobre otro de su tamanno. Iten frontero esta otro portal establo con su puerta a la calle que ha en luengo siete varas e terçia e en lo mas ancho con la nesçesaria quatro varas e media e ensomo dos suelos uno sobre otro de su tamanno, estos palaçios patin e portales es otro cuerpo de casas que se moraua apartado antiguamente. Iten con las dichas casas /f 17v/ prinçipales anda un establo que esta por sy e sale la puerta del a la calle cabe la puerta prinçipal e ha en luengo catorze varas e media e en ancho siete varas e lo de ensomo del es del dean”. This work was published in http://psig.huma-num.fr/toledo/fr/liste-des-rues/pozo-amargo-bajada-del/pozo-amargo-bajada-del-n2/
Recreation of a Microhistory: Women Weaving in the Courtyard of a House
Some textile activities were filled with emotions, especially when mending a piece that seemed useless with needle and thread, giving it new life. For example, a piece might be mended to provide warmth for a child. Other times, it was simply about enjoying the process of creating and joining threads of different colors on a brown canvas while hours passed in the courtyard.
To imagine an everyday scene, let’s recreate a moment where several women are in the courtyard of a house, spinning, winding, and sewing. It would be a time for sharing work, news, and perhaps some gossip and jokes, but also friendship and joy.
In this scene, we see several women weaving in the courtyard by the door. The sound of a spinning wheel can be heard, and in the distance, the bells of a nearby parish church ring. This small recreation of a microhistory was presented during a conference by María Elena Díez Jorge at the National Archaeological Museum (Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid) on November 10, 2021. The conference was titled “Con un dedal, aguja e hilo: moriscas y cristianas viejas tejiendo una trama común”. (With a Thimble, Needle, and Thread: Moriscas and Old Christian Women Weaving a Common Fabric). You can watch the presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdxi2xUMtQM
Additionally, an image of the same scene by María Elena Díez Jorge was reproduced in her work ‘La casa y sus ajuares. Emociones y cultura material en el siglo XVI’ published in María Elena Díez Jorge (ed,) Sentir la casa. Emociones y cultura material en los siglos XV y XVI. Gijón, Trea, 2022, pp. 15-66. The video was created by Miguel Salvatierra under the direction of María Elena Díez Jorge."