Plaza-Catedral. Valencia

Plaza-Catedral. Valencia  

James Carter after David Roberts, 1838 

Steel engraving 

Valencia Cathedral is seen from an oblique angle, with the Gothic-style entrance to the left and its emblematic bell tower, the Torre del Micalet, further back. Figures animate the architectural image, adding a sense of scale and anecdotal interest. 

As the inscription indicates, Roberts’s image is based on a sketch by a military officer and it was subsequently engraved to illustrate Thomas Roscoe’s The Tourist in Spain and Morocco (1838).  Roscoe explained that Roberts’s image corresponded to his impression of this space: ‘We observed numbers of loungers, ballad-singers, and more than one group of mendicants in the Plaza Catedral after service, as we were admiring that fine entrance to the edifice called the Gate of the Apostles. The view here given of the square, the peculiar architecture, and the rich elaborate ornaments, is a lively representation of the scene at the period we saw it.’ While he felt that the Cathedral was not comparable to the one in Seville, he was struck by its dimensions and variety of styles.   

Roscoe’s comments on Valencia were generally positive. Reflecting on its history, he emphasized that it ‘owed its magnificence’ to the achievements of the medieval Muslim rulers: ‘The grand system of irrigation, and the culture of silk with which its prosperity was so closely connected, both came from the East. Literature, art, and science flourished coeval with Moorish industry. As a seat of learning, and of the useful and noble arts in the best days of Mohammedan Spain, Valencia ranked second only to the once royal Cordova. Although Valencia had been conquered by Alfonso VI in the thirteenth century, Roscoe felt that the ‘Valencians retain something of the spirit and ingenuity of the departed Moors’.  

Title: Plaza-Catedral. Valencia. 

Author/Artist: James Carter (1798-1855, engraver) after a drawing by David Roberts (1796-1864).   

Technique and Material: Steel engraving, paper.  

Size: 140 x 94 mm (image).    

Published: Plate [7] from Thomas Roscoe, The Tourist in Spain and Morocco, London: Robert Jennings & Co, 1838, facing page 148.  

Date: 1838.  

Marks and Inscriptions: lower edge, left: ‘Drawn by David Roberts from a sketch by Lieut. Edridge of the Royal Artillery’; centre: title as above / ‘London. Published Oct. 28, 1837. by Robert Jennings & Co. 62, Cheapside’; right: ‘Engraved by J. Carter’.  

Institution: Barry Ife Collection.