Las escenas de paisaje en el "Viaje a España" de Alexandre de Laborde

Abstract

In this article I examine the peculiarities of the representation of landscape in Alexandre de Laborde's (17731842), "Voyage Pittoresque et Historique de l'Espagne" (1806-1820). The illustrations for this work were done by a large group of draftsmen, which include Jacques Moulinier, François Ligier, Dutailly, Jean-Lubin Vauzelle, Constant Bourgeois, and Laborde himself. The different parts of the article are ordened with the purpose to introduce the reader to the universe of ideas and artistic practices that are on the basis of landscape compositions in the "Voyage". The first question analyzed are the diverse meanings of the "picturesque" and the way this concept fitted to the varied functions of the "picturesque voyage" genre in general and to Laborde s work in particular. Then, examining the drawings, prints and text of the "Voyage", I spell out the artistic patterns, graphic techniques and the literary and philosophical background that gave origin to these images, i.e. the world of references that shapes the interpretative system applied by Laborde's crew of drafsmen to carry out their compositions of the Spanish landscape.