Los dibujos de Sevilla de Cecilia Montgomery (1792-1879) en su viaje por la península ibérica

Abstract

Conserved in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, are eighteen drawings of the architecture of Andalusia and seven of Portugal made by Cecilia Montgomery (1792-1879) during a journey to the Iberian Peninsula in May and June of 1838. The works arguably make her the first female artist-traveller in the south of Spain. The drawings are more thansimply mementos; rather they are depictions of architectural themes, and their historical significance can be ascribed to their originality. Some drawings are the earliest known representations of certain views, while others are unique records of lost buildings. Montgomery travelled with her husband, George Augustus Montgomery (1793-1842), who refurbished the church where he was rector with sculpture acquired in Spain on this journey. Consequently, the drawings are interpreted through the Montgomerys’ religious and architectural ideas.