Torre de las Infantas, Alhambra, Antique Engraving after C. Werner, circa 1878

About this sheet

The view looks through a horseshoe-shaped Moorish arch into a quiet chamber of the Alhambra in this upright steel engraving. The walls are covered with carved stucco ornament, honeycombed arches and inscription bands, and at the far end a scalloped archway frames a window open onto a hillside of tall cypresses. A young woman sits reading in the window seat, a large dog sleeps at her feet, and a table with a vase and a mirror stands against the wall. A tall jug rests on the threshold in the foreground. Through the window the cypresses and a distant hillside appear in soft, silvery tones, a brief glimpse of the gardens and landscape that surround the palace.

The plate is lettered "Torre de las Infantas, Alhambra." The Tower of the Princesses is one of the small residential towers along the walls of the Alhambra in Granada, built under the Nasrid sultans and admired for its decorated interior. The drawing is credited to C. Werner, the German painter Carl Werner, who traveled widely in Spain, and the engraving to T. Heawood. The imprint is that of Cassell, Petter & Galpin of London.

This is a steel engraving printed in black on wove paper, without color. Heawood achieves a remarkable range of tone, from the deep shadow of the outer arch to the bright light of the window, and the lacelike stucco work is rendered with patience and precision.

Atmospheric and intimate, it would make a lovely focal point in a bedroom or a quiet reading room, framed in dark wood or antique gold.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.