Distant view of the Palace of the Escorial and mountains of the Guadarama [sic]

Distant view of the Palace of the Escorial and mountains of the Guadarama [sic] 

Thomas Sidney Cooper after David Roberts, 1837 

Hand-coloured lithograph 

This lithograph depicts a panoramic view of the vast palace-monastery of San Lorenzo El Escorial, located at the foot of the Guadarrama mountains. The view is inspired by a sketch by an amateur artist-traveller, as Roberts himself had not been able to visit the site during his travels in Spain between 1832 and 1833. The Escorial was built between 1563 and 1584 in an austere classical style under King Philip II. It typically stirred up feelings of awe and wonder, as well as anti-Catholicism in British travellers. 

As is typical in Roberts, picturesque details have been added in the foreground to enliven the scene. The motif of the carefully drawn water-wheel is based on an earlier drawing that Roberts had made while in Málaga. The same motif appears in the foreground of his lithograph titled ‘Bridge of Toledo, Madrid’ (4.4), which is also included in Picturesque sketches in Spain taken during the years 1832 & 1833. The album includes 26 lithographs in total, most of which focus on Andalucía, which artist-travellers perceived as the ‘essence’ of Spain. Only four lithographs in the album depict sites in central Spain: Burgos, Madrid (2), and this one of the Escorial.  

Title: Distant view of the Palace of the Escorial and mountains of the Guadarama [sic]. 

Author/Artist: Thomas Sidney Cooper (1803-1902, lithographer) after David Roberts (1796-1864, artist). 

Technique and Material: Hand-coloured lithograph on paper. 

Dimensions: 270 x 390 mm (image), 550 x 370 mm (page). 

Published: Plate 23 from David Roberts, Picturesque sketches in Spain taken during the years 1832 & 1833. London: Hodgson & Graves, 1837. 

Date: 1837. 

Marks and Inscriptions: bottom left: ‘The Escurial’. 

Institution: Barry Ife Collection.