State of the Painting Desk

The Painting Desk has not received the spotlight for awhile so focus today is on the little square of real estate I occasionally call home.

Yes, it is quite untidy but that is how a workspace is supposed to look, right?  Serious work is being done here!  On the table are figures for two units: 15 Spanish-American War Volunteer Infantry from Old Glory in the back and 13 Punic Wars Libyan spear men from Renegade in the fore.  I wonder when Renegade will resurface and begin producing again?  I hope soon.

In the left foreground are a handful of Baccus 6mm light infantry awaiting primering.  From my recent photo shoot of the 6mm Punic Wars collection and the Cannae battles, I realized that the force could use some additional light infantry components of the spear-chucking variety.  The collection has too many slingers and is understrength on light javelin foot.  Given the adage that if you've got them, paint them, I painted enough slingers to field 9 stands of 8.  Too many!  

On the figure front, several packages arrived within the last week.  Taking advantage of BTD USA's recent 50% discount offering, I picked up additional bowman and Spanish or mercenary spear men.  For the Punic Wars project, included in the order were several packs of Celts with a plan to field several warbands. 

With me beginning to plow through Americans for the SAW project, I piggybacked onto Scott's Old Glory order and added more packs for the project.  Most were Americans but one pack of Spanish infantry tagged along.  

Tales of the Alhambra

Alhambra from the San Nicolas Heights

Having pushed out two stands of heavy cavalry for the Reconquista project and with a third stand of infantry on the painting desk, my thoughts returned to Granada.  Borrowing Washington Irving's catchy book title, I wanted to chronicle my stay in Granada through photos with an emphasis on the massive palace complex on the heights above the city.

Alhambra from Generalife

The Alhambra was built, added to, and rebuilt by successive conquerors with the oldest part, the Alcazaba (fortress), likely built in the 9th century.  Some suggest that this portion of the Alhambra may have been built over Roman ruins.  Even Napoleon stationed his troops here and contributed greatly to the decay and destruction of parts of the fortress.

Alcazaba from Generalife

Alcazaba

Arms Square

Alcazaba with Arms Square

Granada Cathedral from Alcazaba

Watchtowers of Alhambra

Watchtowers of Alhambra Overlooking Valley

Garden along rampart

After defeating the Moors at Granada, King Charles V built his palace over the top of parts of the Muslim palace.  Architecturally, the palace is a circle within a square and is Spain's most impressive Renaissance palace.  Designed to have a dome covering the circular interior, it was never finished.

Charles V Palace

Charles V Palace Interior

Nasrid Palace was the royal Moorish palace in the 14th century.  The palace walls and ceilings are covered in intricate works including ornately carved wood, stucco, ceramic tiles, and plaster.  Samples of some of these exquisite works are illustrated below.

Nasrid Palace

Nasrid Palace

Nasrid Palace

Garden of the Partal

Nasrid Palace - Court of Myrtles

Beautiful oasis atop the hill and quite fun adventure winding your way through the narrow pathways and streets in the medina to reach this citadel.