Murviedro (Saguntum) 

Murviedro (Saguntum)  

Louis Haghe after George Vivian, 1838 

Hand-coloured lithograph 

Vivian depicts a general view of the town of Sagunto, located ca. 30 km north-east of Valencia, in the Camp de Morvedre, at the foot of the Peñas de Pajarito. Seen from below, Vivian has captured the outline of the castle on the top of the hill and the town below. Marching infantry is sketched out in the middle distance. Their uniform, consisting of red coats, white trousers, and black hats, appears to reference the British soldiers who fought in the Peninsular War (1808-1814). In the immediate foreground, a group of Roma travellers rest under a tall tree.  

Vivian does not show any close-up view of the city. His title ‘Saguntum’ references its Roman heritage, which had already attracted attention from eighteenth-century scholars. The first description in English was published by the Irish antiquarian William Burton Conyngham in 1789, based on knowledge extracted from Spanish authors. Observations on the Description of the Theatre of Saguntum, as given by Emanuel Martï, Dean of Alicant, in a Letter addressed to D. Antonio Felix Zondadario were published in The Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy in 1789. 

Title: Murviedro (Saguntum).  

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

Technique and Material: Hand-coloured lithograph on paper.  

Size: 240 x 385 mm (image), 550 x 365 mm (page). 

Published: Plate 21 from George Vivian, Spanish Scenery, London: P & D Colnaghi. 

Date: 1838.  

Marks and Inscriptions: ‘Louis Haghe’.  

Institution: Barry Ife Collection.