Palace of Charles V

[1] The palace commissioned by Charles V in the middle of the Alhambra was designed by Pedro Machuca, an architect who had trained under Michelangelo in Rome and who was steeped in the culture of the Italian High Renaissance and of the artistic circles of Raphael and Giulio Romano.

[5] The construction of a monumental Italian or Roman-influenced palace in the heart of the Nasrid-built Alhambra symbolized Charles V's imperial status and the triumph of Christianity over Islam achieved by his grandparents (the Catholic Monarchs).

After Machuca's death in 1550 it was continued by his son Luis, who finished the façades and built the internal courtyard.

Work was still unfinished when Philip IV visited in 1628 and the project was finally abandoned in 1637, leaving the structure without a roof.

The lower consists of a Doric colonnade of conglomerate stone, with an orthodox classical entablature formed of triglyphs and metopes.

This organisation of the patio shows a deep knowledge of Roman architecture, and would be framed in pure Renaissance style but for its curved shape, which surprises the visitor entering from the main façades.

Finally, in 1994–1995 it became the current Alhambra Museum, laid out in its present location on the ground floor of the palace.

Among the highlights are The Burial of Christ by Jacopo Torni, Thistle Still-Life by Juan Sánchez Cotán, a Limoges enamel piece, and paintings by 20th-century artist Manuel Angeles Ortiz.