moothāˈhär, name given to the Moors who remained in Spain after the Christian reconquest but were not converted to Christianity, and to the style of Spanish architecture and decoration, strongly influenced by Moorish taste and workmanship, that they developed. In erecting Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance buildings, elements of Islamic art were used, achieving sometimes striking results. The dominant geometrical character, distinctly Islamic, emerged conspicuously in the accessory crafts—tilework, brickwork, wood carving, plaster carving, and ornamental metals. Even after the Muslims themselves were no longer employed, many of their contributions remained as an integral part of Spanish building. A particularly fine Mudéjar example is the Casa de Pilatos, of the early 16th cent., at Seville.

See G. G. King, Mudéjar (1927).

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