Washington Irving in the Archives of Seville

Wilkie's Washington Irving in the Archives of Seville of 1828 depicts the American writer — author of The Alhambra and the first major literary interpreter of Spanish history for the English-speaking world — at work in the Seville archives researching the Columbus documents. Irving and Wilkie were both in Spain simultaneously, drawn by the same interest in Spanish history and culture that was transforming both British and American Romantic imagination. The portrait documents a historical meeting between two of the nineteenth century's most effective popularizers of Spanish subjects for Anglophone audiences.

Wilkie renders the dimly lit archive interior with the warm, Velázquez-influenced palette of his Spanish period. The atmospheric rendering of the dusty library and the absorbed figure of Irving create an intimate portrait of scholarly devotion.