Chapel of the Villa Viciosa. Cordova

Chapel of the Villa Viciosa. Cordova    

John Frederick Lewis, 1836 

Lithograph 

Several male figures, a woman and child are seen at prayer in the Villaviciosa chapel in the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba. Originally built by the Umayyad rulers between the eighth and eleventh centuries, it was adapted to Christian use following the conquest of the city by Ferdinand III in 1236. The Villaviciosa chapel, which is depicted here, was the first space consecrated for Christian worship in the monument. 

For Lewis and his British audiences, the combination of Catholic ritual and Islamic architecture perfectly conveyed the idea of Spain as an exotic country, different from northern Europe. A tonsured monk, with his head lowered and hands folded, kneels in front of an altar, which features an illuminated missal and a candelabra, positioned beneath a sculpted crucifix and three paintings hanging on the wall. Deep in prayer, he is isolated from the family towards the left, dressed in traditional clothing: a woman wearing a mantilla is seated on the ground, with her daughter sitting behind her next to a rustic straw basket, while the husband/father stands between them, dominating the group. The scene is framed by two bearded men in the corner and another ecclesiastical figure on the left. The artist meticulously rendered the Islamic-style architecture and décor of the space.   

The lithograph is part of Lewis’s second album of Spanish images, focusing on everyday life and single stock types of traditional society, including bullfighters, dancers, bandits, monks, and priests, alongside beautiful women, either devout or flirtatious. Lewis dedicated the album to the Scottish genre painter Sir David Wilkie in acknowledgement of the inspiration he provided to Lewis. Wilkie’s travels in Spain between 1827 and 1828 had led to a series of narrative pictures and writing on art, which inspired both Lewis and David Roberts to travel there. Lewis also exhibited his lively watercolours of Spanish scenes in London between 1833 and 1841, which brought him renown.   

Title: Chapel of the Villa Viciosa. Cordova.    

Author/Artist: John Frederick Lewis.  

Technique and Material:  Lithograph, paper.  

Size: 365 x 255 mm (image), 550 x 370 mm (page).   

Published: Plate 21 from John F. Lewis, Sketches of Spain and Spanish character made during his tour in that country in the years 1833-4. London: F G Moon and John F Lewis, [1836].  

Date: [1836].  

Marks and Inscriptions: Lower right: ‘Cordova J.F.L. 1835’.  

Institution: Barry Ife collection.