Page "Libro de los juegos" Paragraph 13

Other visual details contemporaneous of Alfonso ’ s court and social and cultural milieu infuse the Libro de juegos.

Although some of the miniatures are framed by simple rectangles with corners embellished by the golden castles and lions of Castile and León, other are framed by medieval Spanish architectural motifs, including Gothic and Mudéjar arcades of columns and arches.

At times, the figural depictions are hierarchical, especially in scenes with representations of Alfonso, where the king is seated on a raised throne while dictating to scribes or meting out punishments to gamblers.

Yet a contemporary atmosphere of Spanish convivencia is evoked by the inclusion nobility, rogues, vagrants, young and old, men, women, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish characters.

Alfonso himself is depicted throughout the text, both as participant and spectator and as an older man and as a younger.

The pages are filled with many social classes and ethnicities in various stages of solving the challenges presented by games.