No other is so
clearly complete in itself, without the intrusion of features from
surrounding buildings and courts. No other has the same effect of
cloistered seclusion partly because each of the others is open on one
side. And certainly no other indicates so clearly the touch of the
artist, of the poet-architect, from the organic structural plan to the
finest bit of detail. Even the massive central fountain, though
conceived in such different spirit, has no power to dispel the almost
ethereal charm that hovers over the place.
The distinctive note of the court is one of exquisite richness. As one
enters from any side the impression grows that this is the most
decorative of all the courts; and yet one is not conscious of any
individual bit of decoration as such. Everything fits perfectly: arches,
tower, cornices, finials, statues, planting-it all goes to enrich the
one impression. Someone has said that the court is not architecture, but
carving; and that suggests perfectly the decorative wealth of the
composition.
Architecture
The style of architecture has been guessed at as everything from
Romanesque and Gothic to Flamboyant Renaissance and Moorish. The truth
is that the court is a thoroughly original conception; and the architect
has clothed his pre-conceived design in forms that he has borrowed from
all these styles as they happened to suit his artistic purpose.
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