Alfiz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The alfiz (perhaps from Hispanic Arabic alḥíz, it from alḥáyyiz, and it from Classical Arabic ḥayyiz [1]), architectonic adornment, is a moulding, usually a rectangular panel, which encloses the outward side of an arch. It's an islamic architectonic ornament but by its influence, appears in the christian spanish architecture since 8th century.
It's very frequent in the Islamic Hispanic art and mozarabic art (related habitually with the horseshoe arch). As the image illustrates, there are two alfiz variants:
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- A Alfiz starting from the impost.
- B Alfiz starting from the floor.
The space between the arch and the alfiz is called enjuta or arrabá, usually richly decorated (iron-gray in the illustration). Each curved triangle is called albanega (spandrel).
