FDA-D.335-2010
Parts
Object number
FDA-D.335-2010
Object type
Identification
Title
The Patio de Los Arrayanes, Alhambra
Pilkington
Pilkington
Title Type
assigned by cataloguer
collection
collection
Comments
Lewis was in Spain at exactly the same time as David Roberts, but the two artists never managed to meet. Writing to Roberts in Granada, after he hiimself had travelled on to Seville, Lewis modestly suggested that the Alhambra was more a subject for his friend than himself, claiming, 'I regretted then for the first time in my life that I did not draw architecture, and almost intended to commence but as you are there now, lucky man am I who let it alone' (K. Sim, David Roberts, p.75).
During the weeks he spent in Granada in the autumn of 1832, Lewis had however made around 50 studies of the architecture, which formed the basis for his 'Sketches and drawings of the Alhambra', a folio volume of lithographs published in 1835. This includes no fewer than three views of the Patio de los Arrayanes or Court of Myrtles, one of the Alhambra's most exquisite spaces, built by the Moorish king Yusuf I (reigned 1334-1354). The far end of the courtyard is dominated by the Torre de Comares, containing the Hall of the Ambassadors, the throne room in which Yusuf received foreign emissaries. In the lithograph of this view by W. Gauci, the effect of this massive structure is even more forceful, as the viewer stands at the far end of the court looking directly across the pond, not to the left as here in the watercolour.
During the weeks he spent in Granada in the autumn of 1832, Lewis had however made around 50 studies of the architecture, which formed the basis for his 'Sketches and drawings of the Alhambra', a folio volume of lithographs published in 1835. This includes no fewer than three views of the Patio de los Arrayanes or Court of Myrtles, one of the Alhambra's most exquisite spaces, built by the Moorish king Yusuf I (reigned 1334-1354). The far end of the courtyard is dominated by the Torre de Comares, containing the Hall of the Ambassadors, the throne room in which Yusuf received foreign emissaries. In the lithograph of this view by W. Gauci, the effect of this massive structure is even more forceful, as the viewer stands at the far end of the court looking directly across the pond, not to the left as here in the watercolour.
Other number
Pi 121
Description
Dimensions
height (actual size): 254mm
width (actual size): 343mm
width (actual size): 343mm
Inscription
Signed 'J.F. Lewis' and inscribed, lower right, 'Patio de los Arananes/Alhambra'
Materials & techniques note
Pencil and watercolour heightened with white
Production
Person
Lewis, John Frederick, 1804 - 1876 (Artist)
Date
1832
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Collection of Alan Pilkington; by whom bequeathed to Eton College in 1973
Exhibited: 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s 2003 (catalogue number 60); 'Watercolours from the Eton College Collections', Verey Gallery, Eton College, 24 November 2018 to 24 February 2019
Exhibited: 'A Genius for Watercolour', Christie’s 2003 (catalogue number 60); 'Watercolours from the Eton College Collections', Verey Gallery, Eton College, 24 November 2018 to 24 February 2019
