Granada, Plaza del Campillo  

Granada, Plaza del Campillo   

Louis Haghe after George Vivian, 1838 

Hand-coloured lithograph 

Vivian’s lithograph depicts the Campillo square in the centre of Granada, surrounded by traditional houses. In the far distance, the towers of the Alhambra palace-fortress rise from the hill above the town. Like John Frederick Lewis, who often captured a slice of Spanish life in his urban scenes of Spanish cities, Vivian and his lithographer Haghe have inserted a range of groups of figures and animals. On the left, a sprawling market stall can be seen, while three men sit on a nearby bench, allowing life to pass them by. In the central foreground, two clergymen wearing shovel hats, a woman with a mantilla shawl, and three men in dark cloaks are depicted either walking or standing. On the right, two figures are seated on a bench. Further back, several figures and laden donkeys draw the eye towards the narrow street away from the square. 

Richard Ford drew a very similar view (private collection). In his Handbook, Ford noted the square for its theatre and nearby hotels, but he also recommended that ‘the real thing is to live in the Alhambra. There everything is Moorish, while below, Granada is no better than any other Spanish town’. 

 Title: Granada, Plaza del Campillo.   

Author/Artist: Louis Haghe (1806-1885, lithographer) after a drawing by George Vivian (1798-1873).  

Technique and Material: Hand-coloured lithograph, paper.  

Size: 270 x 405 mm (image), 550 x 380 mm (page).   

Published: Plate 27 from George Vivian, Spanish Scenery. London: P & D Colnaghi, 1838.   

Date: 1838.   

Marks and Inscriptions: on the plate, bottom left: ‘George Vivian del. Louis Haghe Lith.’; right: ‘Granada Plaza del Campillo’.  

Institution: Barry Ife Collection.