Owen Jones (London, 1809–1874) was a British architect, a decorative artist, and a writer who contributed significantly to spreading knowledge about the Alhambra of Granada in 19th-century Europe. Published during the period 1836-1845, his opus The Grammar of Ornament – with its collection of historical ornamental motifs, its delicate details, and its suggestive insights on this Andalusian palace-city – was instrumental in popularizing orientalist imagery on the continent. Considered one of the pioneers of chromolithography – the technique of lithographic printing in colors – he also played a leading role in the controversy on polychromy in architecture, sparked by the discovery of chromatic adornment in classical buildings, in which he positioned himself on the side of those in favor of color. This new technique enabled him to promote his ideas through a wealth of plates reproducing the original color schemes of ancient monuments. The volume is valuable not only as a document for the records. It became an encyclopedia of details that would serve as inspiration not only to his contemporaries, but also to later architects as prominent as Le Corbusier.


