soon

Payne's Grey · 2026

“Torre de la Vela, Alhambra”

The Torre de la Vela of the Alhambra, squared and crenellated against the Granada light — a watchtower reduced to its bones.

Torre de la Vela, Alhambra — original ink and watercolour

Details

TitleTorre de la Vela, Alhambra
PlaceGranada, Spain
Year2026
CategoryPayne's Grey
Dimensions14.8 × 21 cm (A5)
TechniqueInk and Payne's grey watercolour on Clairefontaine paper
Palette of the work
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This piece is part of my collection. Originals will soon be available to buy online — write to me in the meantime.

The subject

The Torre de la Vela

The great square watchtower that commands the Alhambra is the Torre de la Vela — the ’watch tower’ — the highest point of the Alcazaba, looking out over all of Granada.

The Alcazaba is the oldest, military part of the Alhambra, and this tower its stronghold. From its top, on 2 January 1492, the banners of Castile were raised to mark the fall of Granada — the end of al-Andalus. Its bell still rings on that anniversary.

Seen from below it is sheer and massive, a block of warm stone against the ridge, with the Sierra Nevada often white behind it.

In Payne’s grey it loses its warmth and gains its weight — which is what I was after.

Where
the Alhambra, Granada
Part of
the Alcazaba
Means
’watch tower’
Famous date
2 Jan 1492
Still
rings its bell
The massive square towers of the Alcazaba at the Alhambra
The sheer stone of the Alcazaba — the military heart of the Alhambra.Photo: Jebulon — Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The bell at the top of the Torre de la Vela
The bell of the Torre de la Vela — rung each year on the anniversary of 1492.Photo: Alberto-g-rovi — CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
A blunt, powerful tower — I wanted its sheer weight, so I kept it grey and let it loom.

The ink draws the battlements and the small deep windows; the grey builds the mass of the stone and the shadow it throws.

It is a study in bulk — a single tower, standing for a whole fortress and a whole lost world.

See also · Payne’s Grey Alhambra, Granada · Pagoda a Kyoto · Hallstatt sul lago