Plain of Santiago, Chile, from the Cuesta del Prado, Jany 7th 1851

Mounted in album with PAI4605-PAI4652, PAI4654-PAI4670.; No.46. S.P.A.31. No. 46 in Fanshawe's Pacific album, 1849-18 52. Captioned by the artist on the album page below the image, as title. Fanshawe was at Valparaiso over the winter of 1851, enjoying the hospitality of Rear-Admiral Phipps Hornby and the company of other officers, including his friend Captain Robert Stopford (junior). This is the first of seven drawings (PAI4653-PAI4659) which record a trip made at this time, as explained in his 1904 biography: ' While at Valparaiso E. [Fanshawe] was strongly recommended by Bob Stopford to go for a riding tour and see something of the Andes, following a route which he himself had taken with the Admiral. He described the scenery as magnificent and E. determined to see something of it, and started early in January 1851 with Mr Holmes, the "Daphne's" naval instructor, as a companion, following pretty nearly the same track....E. made beautiful sketches of the magnificent scenery passed through on this trip, the headings of which give some dates and particulars as follows (pp. 264-65)': the album titles of all seven drawings are then cited, in date order. On 19th January, Fanshawe himself wrote to his wife of the 12-day trip (6th - 17th): ' We left Valparaiso on Monday morning (6th) early for Santiago, having sent a baggage mule and native on before. We spent some hours at Casa Blanca ... and slept at another called Curacavi. Thence the next morning we proceed[ed] over the Cuesta del Prado, a pass in a range of mountains, running parallel to the main chain of the Andes, and about forty miles distant, the space between being the plain of Santiago. From this pass is one of the finest views in the Andes. We reached the capital [Santiago] in the afternoon of Tuesday and stayed there till the following Monday, except an excursion in a "birlocho" or cab of the country to Lake Acoleo...' (p.266). His letter ends: ' This journey cost me about Õú10, and my horse about Õú5, for which I shall sell him again as soon as his back, which is chafed, gets well. I have a few sketches, but they will give you a very poor idea of the grandeur of these scenes...' (p. 267).
Edward Gennys Fanshawe

Original size: 225 mm x 322 mm