Collection of 19th-century albumen photographic prints of the Alhambra in Spain by Charles Mauzaisse (ca. 1823-1885?; fl. 1860s). The beautiful images show many different parts of the Alhambra, especially of the court and palace of lions, including the central fountain and the pavillion, with the oriental dome that was added in 1859 and later removed. The Alhambra is a medieval palace and fort of "Moorish" or Muslim rulers of the Kingdom of Granada in Andalusia in the South of the Iberian Peninsula. Additionally, the collection contains one photograph of the tomb of the Catholic monarchs, which is located in the Royal Chapel of Granada.
During the 19th century, tourism was booming. Travellers wanted to take proof of their travels home and often did so in the form of photographs. Many photographers took the opportunity to sell their work to tourists. Charles Mauzaisse, son of the painter Jean Baptiste Mauzaisse, traveled to the south of Spain and fell in love with Granada, where he would develop his professional activity alongside other renowned photographers such as Laurent, Coutourier and Dubois. All of them - aware of the lucrative field of work that the image of the Alhambra offered - settled more or less definitively in the city, just as Masson or Count Vigier did in Seville or Clifford and Laurent in Madrid.
The prints are slightly yellowed and some images were possibly overexposed or have faded slightly, all prints show clear signs of having previously been mounted on another surface. Some prints have small tears in the edges. The print of the 2 Moroccan women in the Alhambra is probably by a different photographer, but the name has been cut off. The collection gives a beautiful insight into 19th-century photography in the Iberian Peninsula - showing off the beautiful Arabic- and Muslim-influences architecture in Granada.