Entrance to the North Transept, Cathedral of Burgos

Roberts's Entrance to the North Transept, Cathedral of Burgos from 1835 captures one of Spain's greatest Gothic cathedrals during his extended Spanish tour of 1832-33 that produced the material for his influential publication Spain and Morocco. The Cathedral of Burgos, begun in 1221, combined French Gothic ambition with specifically Spanish elaboration—its soaring spires, the Puerta de la Coronería's carved portal, and the cathedral's position above the Castilian capital giving it a dramatic presence quite different from French or English Gothic. Roberts was one of the first British artists to document Spanish monuments with the systematic thoroughness he brought to all his architectural subjects, and his Burgos drawings and paintings introduced Spanish medieval architecture to British audiences who had previously known it only through travel literature.

The cathedral entrance is rendered with Roberts's characteristic precision, the elaborate Gothic stonework captured in meticulous detail while maintaining a sense of the building's overwhelming scale. Warm light and carefully placed figures provide scale and atmosphere.