Dr Elizabeth Drayson
Andalusian Pageant
Sat 11 March 2023 - Sun 26 March 2023
Murray Edwards College
Andalusian Pageant is a painted procession of colourful historical personages who played significant roles in the most important and dramatic era in the history of the Iberian Peninsula, the time between the years 711 and 1492 when what are now Spain and Portugal were part of the first Islamic caliphate in Europe. Christians and Muslims clashed and coexisted for nearly eight centuries, until the Christian conquest of the city of Granada in 1492 established Spain and Portugal as Catholic countries, which nevertheless inherited a multicultural past and an ambivalent cultural identity.
These paintings were inspired by the books I have written, which include the story of the last Visigothic king Roderick and his fateful passion for the beautiful La Cava, the tale of the mysterious Lead Books of Granada and the plight of the Spanish Moriscos, and most recently, a life of the last sultan of Granada, Muhammad XI, known as Boabdil, and a history of the city of Granada that underlines the crucial importance of its multicultural past to Spanish and European history.
My aim has been to rethink the genre of historical portraiture by depicting Spain’s medieval history using contemporary painting techniques that reveal ambivalent or controversial aspects of the characters, both Christian and Muslim, central to that history. The pageant portrays kings and emirs, powerful Muslim women and a former slave who became a conqueror, and it embodies allusions to the myths and imaginary ideas of Spain and Portugal’s medieval past, as well as references to its social, cultural and political realities.
Dr Elizabeth Drayson, Emeritus Fellow in Spanish, Murray Edwards College
Cost: Free
Enquiries and booking
No need to book.
Please report to the Porters' Lodge on arrival
Enquiries: Sarah Greaves Website Email: skg22@cam.ac.uk Telephone: 01223762789
Timing
In person
10:00am-6:00pm daily from Saturday 11 March 2023 until Sunday 26 March 2023
All times
Sat 11 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Sun 12 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Mon 13 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Tue 14 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Wed 15 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Thu 16 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Fri 17 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Sat 18 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Sun 19 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Mon 20 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Tue 21 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Wed 22 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Thu 23 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Fri 24 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Sat 25 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |
Sun 26 March 2023 | 10:00AM - 6:00PM |