The Convent of San Payo, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Sir Muirhead Bone was a Scottish printmaker and watercolor artist noted for his depictions of architectural subjects, city views, landscapes, and his work as a war artist in both the First and Second World Wars. For centuries, Santiago da Compostela, the capital of the region of Galicia in northwest Spain, has been a popular holy destination for religious pilgrims. In this print, Bone depicted the long, stark walll of the Convent of San Payo (or Pelayo; also called, Mosteiro de San Paio de Antealtares) in dramatic receding perspective. Originally built for Benedictine monks, the monastary became a nunnery in 1499; the building remains the most prestigious convent in Galicia. This massive wall, viewed from the top of a wide staircase, faces the large square of Praza da Quintana; in the background is the portico of the late seventeenth-early eighteenth-century Casa da Conga, built to house the canons of the nearby Cathedral. Although Bone's intent was primarily to render the impressive architecture and the interplay of light and shadow on the expanse of stone, he also animated the scene with beggars, priests, soldiers, and other pedestrians. A fine example of Bone's mastery of the drypoint technique, this image ranks among his best architectural prints.