Historical restorations of the Maqṣūrahglass mosaics from the Great Mosque of Córdoba

The Great Mosque of Córdoba is the only medieval Islamic monument in al-Andalus that still contains some of its original 10th-century glass mosaic decoration, even though they were significantly altered and restored several times in the 18th, 19thand 20thcenturies. By examining analytical, textual, and graphic evidence, this study attempts to reconstruct the different transformations of the Maqṣūrah,focusing on the glass mosaics in order to assess possible implications for their state of preservation. The results show that high-alkaline glass, which can be associated with modern tesserae,was used to restore the Miḥrāband Sābāṭmosaics. Modern pigments were also detected in the paints that were applied in situto the surface of the colourless glasses. Textual and analytical evidences prove that Bāb Bayt al-Mālmosaic was completely removed in the 20thcentury and a replica with high-lead tesseraewas installed in the same place.