Study, probably for 'Columbus at the monastery of La Rabida', ca. 1872

Charles Lucy (1814 - 1873)

RA Collection: Art

In the centre of the page is a drawing of the head of an old man in profile. He is shown with his chin resting on his left hand. The features are not drawn in detail but the shape of the face is indicated by dark shading and white highlights. On the lower left is a detail of a right hand.

According to the inscription on the verso of the mount, these drawings relate to 'Columbus' and the date given is '1870-71'. This almost certainly refers to the painting that Charles Lucy exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1872, Columbus at the Monastery of La Robida [sic], A.D. 1471. In the catalogue the painting was accompanied by the following quotation:

'Columbus, at this time in the prime of life, careworn and prematurely grey, with his young son, arrived at the Monastery of La Robida. He was hospitably received by the Prior, Juan Peres, a man of great learning, and formerly confessor to the Queen. The Prior was so interested and convinced of the soundness of Columbus's theories relating to the discovery of the New World, that he found him the means of travelling, and furnished him with an introduction for the Queen Isabella, who warmly espoused his project.'

The painting is currently untraced but from the description above and from this drawing it appears that the scene depicted was that of Columbus showing the Prior his plans and maps. The same or similar scenes in the Monastery (in fact a Franciscan friary) of La Rabida were painted by David Wilkie (1834; North Carolina Museum of Art) and Eugène Delacroix (1838; National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.) as well as a number of Spanish and American artists.