Burgos

Burgos 

Louis Haghe after George Vivian, 1838 

Hand-coloured lithograph 

 In his preface to Spanish Scenery Vivian makes a strong claim to realism in his drawings. In making them, he writes: ‘strict fidelity has been observed in delineating the face of the country, of the buildings and productions, and the dress and manners of its people. Upon an adherence to truth in these respects the value of drawings of scenery must principally depend.’ 

Comparison of this plate with the original on-the-spot sketch in the Biblioteca Nacional de España is very revealing. The view is from the west, probably just off the road to Las Huelgas, across the river Arlanzón. For the most part, the lithographer Louis Haghe follows Vivian’s sketch with ‘strict fidelity’. But because Vivian’s sketch leaves the foreground empty, Haghe has added several details to fill the space. While they may have been intended as merely decorative, these figures have the effect of rendering the composition much more interesting. 

In the sketch, the cathedral dominates: it is drawn with a much harder pencil than the rest and its forest of pinnacles over the transept and the chapel of the Condestable are sharply delineated. It really stands out, as Vivian clearly intended. But in the plate, the cathedral is itself dominated, not just by the ruins of the castle, destroyed by the French in 1813, but by the rural scene in the foreground. Here, three head of cattle and a lone pedlar go about their business with complete disregard for the pomp and circumstance in the distance. And two mounted carabineros—a paramilitary force set up in 1829 with responsibility for, among other things, customs and excise—add a hint of menace. In his re-working of Vivian’s sketch, Haghe perhaps plays into a sub-genre of popular indifference exemplified at its best by the lone ploughman in Pieter Breugel the Elder’s Fall of Icarus (c. 1560). 

Title: Burgos. 

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

Technique and Material: Hand-coloured lithograph on paper. 

Dimensions: 130 x 385 mm (image), 550 x 365 mm (page). 

Published: Plate 9 from George Vivian, Spanish Scenery. London: P & D Colnaghi, 1838.   

Date: 1838. 

Marks and Inscriptions: on the plate, lower left: ‘Burgos’; lower right: ‘G. Vivian del. L. Haghe Lith.’ 

Institution: Barry Ife Collection.