Gustave Dore's Illustrations of the Alhambra

A little while ago I posted a series of prints by Gustave Dore of Victorian London which you can see here; and a post on my visit to the Alhambra in June which you can find here.

I decided to write my dissertation on the Alhambra. I have had this idea in my head for a long while hence my visit there while on holiday earlier on this year, however it is only now that I am feeling the pressure of my decision - because I cannot go back on it now with only 8 weeks to go until my degree is finished (fingers crossed!!!). Living in what is basically the countryside with my nearest research library a couple of hours away I am feeling a bit stupid having chosen a subject that is barely (actually, not at all) represented in my uni library.

Regardless, I have ordered loads of books and have been looking at spending a couple of days a week at the National Art Library (at the V&A). So far I have been spending a bit of time reading the books that have already arrived and to finally get to the point I read one today that mentioned that Gustave Dore paid the Alhambra a visit and produced a series of prints!

I am currently reading 'Granada and the Alhambra' by Rafael Hierro Calleja as an introduction to the whole thing. He explains that during the 19th century the Alhambra fell into a state of disrepair. This was because those who had inhabited it and used it as their royal courts had been supporters of the Austrian claim to the throne during the succession conflict of 1700-1713. Thus, when the Bourbons came to the throne they were little pleased by their standing. To add insult to the injury, Napoleon occupied Granada for four years (1808-1812) and in the meantime destroyed parts of the complex. Therefore, despite the tour guides that make a point of showing off the restorers at work while they take you around, the Alhambra was not always looked after adequately . In fact it was not until 1870 until it was given some sort of protective status. That is almost 2 centuries of neglect. The book I am reading claims that during the 18th and 19th centuries the Alhambra was turned into 'dung heaps and taverns' that were 'occupied by the lowest social class of people' and that Gustave Dore (among others) documented this in his engravings.

The Junta de Andalucía have PDF's of Dore's book and it is from there that I have found the pictures I have uploaded below. They are part of a wider collection of his 236 engravings of Spain - from his book titled Spain. Should you want to look at it click here.

 

Taylor Lautner in the Alhambra, 200 years ago lol

 

Gustave Dore's Illustrations of Victorian London

Gustave Dore (1832-1883) was a 19th century French artist that specialised in a variety of practices. He was a talented sculptor, painter and printmaker. Perhaps though, it was his printmaking that made him the venerated figure he is today. Throughout his life he was commissioned to illustrate, via the means of his woodcut and engraving skills, a large number of literature.The majority of his work seems to have been for French authors/publishers. However there is a sizeable amount of work commissioned by English patrons. Some notable works of which he was the illustrator include William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1860), Louis Viardot's French translation of Cervantes' Don Quixote (1863), Dante Alighieri's The Vision of Hell (1866), Milton's Paradise Lost (1866), Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1870) and William Blanchard Jerrold's London: A Pilgrimage (1872).

William Blanchard Jerrold joined forces with Dore in 1869 and together they painted a rather grisly portrayal of Victorian London (for the most part anyway). Although London: A Pilgrimage was a commercial success, it was heavily criticised for highlighting a lot of what proud Victorian Londoners would not like the world to see: overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, the unemployed poor etc. In the early 1870's Victorian London was fastly approaching the end of the 'Age of Equipoise' (we will get back to this later...).

The early Victorian Period was plagued by the fear of revolution (e.g the Chartists), political unrest (e.g 'Stop the Duke, Go for Gold'), tensions between civilians and the organisations that tried to control them (e.g Peterloo Massacre), a sharp rise in population (the population was 6.6 million in 1900 despite having started the Victorian Era as approx. 1 million) and deadly outbreaks of diseases like Cholera. 

However, after all the issues found in the early period the middle of the Victorian Era is considered the age of balance, hence 'the Age of Equipoise' as mentioned earlier. We held the most spectacular exhibition the world had seen in 1851 (the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace), Londoners had begun to adapt to cosmopolitan living, unemployment basically did not exist and the failure of the Chartist Movement laid to rest any worries about revolution. Londoners thought of themselves as above the rest of Europe because unlike the rest, England did not stage a revolution in 1848. 

This was short lived though, and to bring it back to Dore's time London was leaving this age of balance for a darker, more difficult late Victorian Era. Unemployment was back up as casual employers began to replace permanent employers (for example working at the docks) and horrific crime began to dominate the underdeveloped and overpopulated East End. For example, Jack the Ripper in the late 80's.

 Not surprising though that Dore should choose to illustrate such images, given the latest trend back home in Paris was realism: a real portrayal of everyday life for the largest section of the population - the lower classes. Dore was paid handsomely and because of the nature of his work (walking around the streets to observe the conditions) he had to stay in London for about 3 months at a time. The book included 180 illustrations. It is near impossible to find all of them on the internet however the British Library have quite a comprehensive collection which I have uploaded below:

P.S if the images appear pixelated click on one of them to open the picture library and navigate that way.