The Fortress of the Alhambra, Granada

Roberts's Fortress of the Alhambra, Granada from 1836 depicts the legendary Moorish palace-fortress whose combination of military grandeur and exquisite decorative refinement made it the most celebrated monument of Islamic architecture in Europe. The Alhambra, built by the Nasrid dynasty in the fourteenth century and preserved when the Catholic Monarchs chose to maintain rather than demolish it after the Reconquista, was the destination of Washington Irving's Tales of the Alhambra (1832) and the subject of a European Romantic fascination that made it the most-visited monument in Spain. Roberts's view of the fortress from below, showing its towers and walls rising above the forested hillside of the Albaicín, captures the combination of military power and natural setting that gave the Alhambra its legendary appearance.

The fortress is rendered within its dramatic landscape setting, with Roberts's characteristic attention to architectural detail creating a convincing depiction of the Moorish structure. Warm, golden light evokes the Andalusian atmosphere.