Art

Alhama is a pretty, ancient spa town near Granada. This dramatic engraving, as seen from a nearby hilltop, shows the town perched above the Rio Alham in rolling countryside, while in the foreground, travellers wend their way on the hilly road from Granada. At the bottom of the hill is a bathhouse with steaming cones - 'los bainnos'. In the background, clouds swirl around the mountain tops. The engraving was published in Braun & Hogenberg's Civitates, an encyclopaedic atlas of town plans, that gives a fascinating insight into sixteenth-century Europe. Copper engraving. Uncoloured. Very ample margins, crease towards lower edge, rust spot on upper margin, neither of these minor blemishes affect this superb engraving. Fine condition. Size: 45 x 34 cm. (17½ x 13½ inches)