Photograph by Charles Clifford, 'Alhambra, Court of the Lions', albumen print, 1854

A mounted sepia-coloured photograph showing a view of a circular fountain of which its basin is supported by twelve marble lions, in the centre of a rectangular courtyard surrounded by colonnated galleries with a pavilion at each shore.

The photograph illustrates the Fountain of the Lions without water, north gallery and west pavilion of the Court of the Lions, situated in the Palace of the Lions, Alhambra. It documents palatial architecture of the Alhambra.

Transferred from the British Museum

This photograph was acquired by the British Museum in 1857 than transferred in 2000 as plan to rationalise the collection and house objects at the V&A where greater expertise and national collections of particular media reside.

Charles Clifford is considered among the finest photographers in nineteenth-century Spain, where he spent most of his career. Settling in Madrid in the early 1850s, Clifford became court photographer to Isabella II and accompanied the Queen on a number of royal tours within the country.
Clifford specialised in the photography of architectural subjects and industrial projects and his work is particularly notable for his technical mastery of the large format view. His unusual treatment of architectural spaces has made him one of the most famous 19th century photographers in Spain. He belonged to both the Sociéte Française de Photographie and the Architectural Photographic Association.

E.1249-2000