Claustro de Sta Engracia en Zaragoza

Claustro de Sta Engracia en Zaragoza  

Alfred Guesdon after Genaro Pérez Villaamil, 1844 

Lithograph 

The image depicts the remainder of the Gothic-mudéjar cloister of the royal monastery of Zaragoza, which houses the relics of Saint Engratia and other martyrs.  

The inscription beneath the image indicates that the lithograph is based on a drawing supplied by Genaro Pérez Villaamil, who in turn used a sketch by Valentín Carderera as a basis. It was published in 1844 in the second volume of España artística y monumental, alongside a commentary by Patricio de la Escosura. After outlining the history of the monastery of Zaragoza, Escosura focuses on the cloister depicted in the print, which was designed in the early sixteenth century by the architect and sculptor Tudelilla. 

Escosura deplores that it had suffered during the Napoleonic occupation and had almost completely fallen into ruins, except for certain fragments, especially the ‘magnificent’ door that gave access to the church. Villaamil’s image is a romanticised depiction of this space, which partly conceals the ruined state of the building. Although some architectural fragments are seen in the foreground, the surrounding double height gallery appears to be intact. While the tall tree on the left suggests some degree of neglect, the space is inhabited by a number of ecclesiastical figures. Villaamil’s idealised image contrasts with the images of the same subject in the series Ruinas de Zaragoza by Juan Gálvez and Fernando Brambila (1812-1813), and other prints published after the Peninsular War by Brambila and Edward Locker.    

Title: Claustro de Sta Engracia en Zaragoza | Cloître de Ste. Engraicia à Saragosse. 

Author/Artist: Alfred Guesdon (1808-1876, lithographer) after a drawing by Genaro Pérez Villaamil (1807-1854), from a sketch by Valentín Carderera (1796-1880).     

Technique and Material: Lithograph on paper.  

Size: 315 x 400 mm (image), 525 x 375 (page).  

Published: Plate 93 from Genaro Pérez Villaamil and Patricio de la Escosura, España artística y monumental, Paris: A Hauser, 1842-50. Volume 2.    

Date: 1844. 

 Marks and Inscriptions: lower edge, left: ‘G.P. de Villa Amil d’après un croquis de Mr. Carderera’ / ‘Paris chez A. Hauser boul. des Italiens 11’; centre: title as above; right:  ‘Guesdon lith’ / ‘Imp. par Lemercier à Paris’. 

Institution: Barry Ife Collection.