Artistic and Monumental Spain (Collection)

Illustrated travel books became popular during the Romantic movement of the 19th century, during which time travel became progressively safer, easier, and more accessible. The three-volume Artistic and Monumental Spain is the result of a collaboration between the Spaniards Jenaro Pérez de Villamil (1807–54), a painter in the Romantic style specializing in landscapes and architectural depictions, and Patricio de la Escosura (1807–78), a politician, journalist, playwright, and author of the Romantic school. The work was published by the Parisian printing house of Veith and Hauser between 1842 and 1850. Altogether, it features 144 engravings, which make it a wonderful source for the history, art, and architecture of Spain. The work presents Spain as it was before the major reforms that transformed much of urban Spain in the course of the 19th century.

A Gorgeous Survey of Historic Spanish Architecture

Villamil created most of the paintings and the resulting plates, which are signed “GP de Villaamil pinxit”, while other plates were made from original drawings by other artists. This Romantic work consists of beautiful landscapes, cityscapes, and grand interior spaces with particular attention paid to the cities of Toledo (44 views) and Burgos (19 views) as well as other places in Castile, Aragon, Andalusia, the Basque country, Navarre, and Galicia. Rather than attempting a survey of all regions of Spain, the locations were more arbitrarily chosen for their aesthetic value and Romantic medieval charm. This is a marvelous survey of Spain’s gorgeous architectural heritage.