Descent into the Plain of Granada | Cleveland Museum of Art

Later celebrated for his topographical landscapes of the Middle East, David Roberts’s first extended trip abroad was in 1832 when he traveled through France to Spain over a period of 10 months. This watercolor records a scene from Roberts’s journey from Madrid to Andalusia. He described the trip in a letter to his sister: "I jogged on a considerable part of the way on foot, happy and contented. Granada is in the most beautiful situation that can be imagined. It lies at the foot of a ridge of high mountains, called the Sierra Nevada, or the Mountains of Snow." Replete with burdened mules, a lone figure on foot, and sun-drenched mountains with a view of Granada in the distance, this watercolor vividly illustrates the artist’s recollections.