On the Road to Seville
Richard Ansdell RA

El Calvario de Churriana (Crosses at Churriana)" oil on board 14 x 21 ins Richard Ansdell

An example of an oil sketch made in Spain and which could have been the inspiration for this painting is "El Calvario de Churriana (Crosses at Churriana)" oil on board, 14 x 21 in.

​Richard Ansdell travelled to Spain in 1856 with fellow Royal Academician, John Phillip RA (known as “Spanish Phillip”), and again in 1857 on his own.  As this painting was done in 1858 it’s probably taken from sketches made in Spain and finished in his London studio (he had brought back a lot of Spanish props too, i.e. mule bridles and blankets)

After the soft, deep tones of the Scottish highlands, the critics of the day agreed that Ansdell needed the stimulus of the clear Spanish atmosphere and the vivid colours of daily life seen in Spain.  Many of the artists at that time were broadening their horizons with travel, and it was almost a rite of passage to be part of this trend if artists wanted to impress and stay commercial.  This picture is a fine example of the enrichment such an experience can bring.
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Ansdell and Phillip travelled to the Granada, Ronda, Cadiz and Seville area, taking in much of Murcia and Valencia. The town in the distance on the left is Granada with the Alhambra Palace towering above it. A letter home written by Phillip in Cadiz asks for money to be sent out and saying “we are now heartily sick of Fair Cadiz rising from the sea, and anxiously looking out for a steamer to take us onwards where we propose to take horses to ride through Murcia and Valencia . . . all our pictures sailed this morning for London from Gibraltar . . . this voyage is expected to take nine days”   I shall never know why they were sick of Cadiz but they took great delight in illustrating the life of the working people in the areas they visited.  There is especially nice detail in the boy sharing his fruit with the mule – the mule’s harness was designed to keep the flies out of his eyes.  The boy – though only about twelve – is happily puffing on a cigarette.  The herdsman is dressed in the nearest thing to a Highland shepherd’s garb that Ansdell could find.  Happiness for Ansdell is in the sheep!
 
Artists of the day were lured to Spain by the clear light, the exotic and dramatic locations and the vibrant population.  Although there is a town in the far distance, I would guess that the city of Seville lies the other side of the high mountains in the background.  Seville is bordered by the Morena Mountains to the northwest and the Algodonales and Caballo mountains to the south and southeast; the Sierra Nevada mountain range.  The location may be the low, undulating landscape of the Guadalquivir river basin.  It is known that Ansdell painted other scenes in this river basin.  The flock is about to be driven over the inhospitable mountain range and the group are resting before the arduous journey ahead.  The drovers are kitted out in their warmest clothes with plenty of warm blankets and drinking water.  The crosses are a welcome landmark and resting place where both food for the body and sustenance for the soul is catered for.  There are stripped leaves on the ground – discarded remains of the food for the animals – and the sharp-eyed will note that this is part of a huge flock, which would point to an annual migration either for the markets or for fresh grazing.
 
The detail in this painting is noteworthy, i.e. the sheep bells, which are of particular interest to collectors today, and the bottom right corner depicting the charming empathy between the young boy and his mule.  Ansdell often painted the Spanish people smoking – this is an observation that clearly fascinated him.
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A contemporary critique states: “From the year 1856 dated the most material change in the course of study, and, as a consequence, of the style, of Mr. Ansdell.  In the summer of that year he accompanied Mr. Phillip, R.A., to Spain, and again in the following year he journeyed there alone, making the province of Seville his sketching-ground.  The result of these repeated visits upon an observant eye and impressionable temperament was immediate and remarkable.  The scenery of North Britain, and the incidents appropriate to it, were abandoned in favour of those of the sunny South, and a richer tone of colouring was adopted.  His works of this class had been too recently before the public and the subject of criticism in these columns to require more than the mention of a few of them.  In 1857, “The Water-carrier,” “Mules Drinking,” etc; in 1858, “The Road to Seville,” “Crossing the Ford, Seville,” and “The Spanish Shepherd,” in 1859, “The Banks of the Guadalquiver,” and “The Spanish Flowerseller” (engraved in the Illustrated London News), etc.  Last year, at the Royal Academy, he made a slight diversion to English subjects in “The Lost Shepherd” and “Buy a Dog, Ma’am?” but he inaugurates the present season by again treating us to a Spanish subject – a group of mules, etc. drinking, under the title of “Seville,” in the British Institution.”  ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS 23 FEBRUARY 1861

Research by Sarah Kellan
​Great Great Grand-daughter of Richard Ansdell

​Acc No              81
Artist                 Richard Ansdell RA
Medium            Oil on canvas
Size                  36 x 77 in (91.4 x 195.6 cm)
Date painted    1858
Donor               Alderman and Mrs J H Dawson
Date donated   20 July 1947
Signed              Richd Ansdell

Ansdell's London address at that time was 7 Victoria Road, Kensington.

On the Road to Seville detail

On the Road to Seville detail

signature Richd Ansdell

To view the complete artworks of Richard Ansdell in the Collection please click on his name under Artists on the Home Page.

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