Meet the Maker: Antonio Marin

by Federico Sheppard

Originally published in American Lutherie #117, 2014



The feet of the finest horse in Spain carefully worked their way over the mosaic of white and black stones, loping upward to the crest of the hill, where stood perhaps the most magnificent palace on earth. The rider, dressed in an elaborate Moorish caftan dress, her husband at her side, had just recently met with an odd Italian sailor who’s spying had helped in the conquest, and led to the day referred to at the time as, “The most distinguished and blessed day there had ever been in Spain.” On the other side of the hill, down narrow cobbled streets, the treasures of the former resident of the palace had been quietly removed at daybreak. A lone bird, high in his perch in a pomegranate tree, could have looked down upon that scene and remarked on the pattern of those white and black paving stones snaking up the hill, a mosaic of roses bordered by the most delicate herringbone along the edges of the road.

The day was early January 1492; the city, Granada; the lady, Queen Isabella. She and her husband Fernando, “appeared more than mortal, as if sent by Heaven for the salvation of Spain.” The Italian, looked upon as something of a bad penny, was Christopher Columbus. For many, 1492 will be remembered more for the capture of Granada than for the discovery of the New World.