''Boabdil's Farewell to Granada'' ''(french: L'Adieu du roi Boabdil à Grenade)'' is an oil-on-canvas painting by

Alfred Dehodencq Alfred Dehodencq (23 April 1822 – 2 January 1882; born Edmé-Alexis-Alfred Dehodencq) is a French Orientalist painter known for his vivid oil paintings of Andalusian and North African scenes. Life Dehodencq was born in Paris on 23 April 1822. ...

. It was first exhibited at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

of 1869 and is currently in the collection of the

Musée d'Orsay The Musée d'Orsay ( , , ) ( en, Orsay Museum) is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art ...

. There are numerous drawn studies and two painted sketches by Dehodencq that show little variation with the finished work. One of these is at the Arnoldi-Livie Gallery in Munich and the other is in the

Snite Museum of Art The Snite Museum of Art is the fine art museum on the University of Notre Dame campus, near South Bend, Indiana. With about 30,000 works of art that span cultures, eras, and media, the Snite Museum's permanent collection serves as a rich resource ...

at the University of Notre Dame. The Louvre also has a sketch for a figure who may be Boabdil.

Subject

The painting depicts an episode in the life of the last Emir of Granada, Mohammed XII, known as Boabdil. Sent into exile after Granada fell in 1492, he turned back for one last look at his city, and wept. The high-angled perspective of the viewer and Boabdil's backward turn, against the forward movement of his horse and groom, make the composition particularly lively and moving.

History

*1869 - Salon - Paris, then First International Art Exhibition, Glaspalast, Munich: bought from the artist by the state for the musée de Roubaix *1869 - Musée de Roubaix *1940 - musée des Beaux-Arts, Tourcoing * 1984, musée d'Orsay, Paris

Critical reception

Paul Armand Silvestre Paul Armand Silvestre (18 April 1837 – 19 February 1901) was a 19th-century French poet and ''conteur'' born in Paris. He studied at the École polytechnique with the intention of entering the army, but in 1870 he entered the department ...

noted that the style of the painting owed much to Eugène Delacroix, but was unlikely to please his supporters. Théophile Thoré-Bürger agreed that Denhodencq imitated Delacroix, and described the painting as "a composition without character, poorly drawn and heavily painted. Maurice Cristal felt that the composition was not above reproach, but the artist's the use of colour and light was remarkable, producing a canvas that radiated life. Gabriel Jean Edmond Séailles was more generous in his judgement, praising the grandeur of its melancholy beauty. As he saw it, Denhodencq's mastery ensured that the bitter sadness of Boabdil transcended his person and situation and became part of an impersonal and universal sadness at the human condition. He also detailed how the concept of the painting evolved through the artist's sketches. The first version showed Granada far off in the distance, and close to Boabdil a group of Arab women including his mother, who is said to have jeered at him "weep, weep like a woman for the city you could not defend like a man." This early version was a narrative painting, full of corroborative detail about the famous anecdote. However the final version strips out these details, leaving nothing but Boabdil, his horse and groom, and nothing to distract the viewer from the intensity of his feeling. This radical simplicity makes his suffering universal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boabdil's Farewell to Granada 1869 paintings French paintings Orientalist paintings Paintings in the Musée d'Orsay

Subject

History

Critical reception

See also

References