Fernando Brambila, painter of the Royal Sites

In 1799, Brambila was appointed Painter, Architect and Decorator to the Royal Household. However, this position did not necessarily entail commissions or financial benefits, so he had to repeatedly press for work to be assigned to him. During this period, he must have devoted himself to decorative and stage-set painting, about which very little information survives.  
In 1801, he designed a temporary structure—a grand triumphal arch for the Puerta del Perdón of Toledo Cathedral—to mark the appointment of Cardinal Luis María de Borbón as archbishop. It was probably at this time that he drew the View of Cervantes’ Old Castle in Toledo, which was later produced as a print.  
In 1814, he was appointed director of the Perspective Department at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. He also produced a number of engravings in his capacity as court painter. Furthermore, he undertook decorative work on various recreational buildings in the Buen Retiro Gardens and at the Moncloa Palace. 

The production of the series of intaglio prints of the Ruins of Zaragoza represents a chapter of great interest in the history of printmaking in Spain. Brambila worked on this ambitious project alongside the painter Juan Gálvez (1774–1847). The two travelled to Zaragoza in 1808, shortly after the end of the first siege by French troops. They portrayed the key figures in the city’s defence—General Palafox, Agustina de Aragón, María Agustín and Mariano Cerezo, amongst others—and witnessed the devastation, which they rendered on the plates with an almost pre-Romantic sense of reflective and philosophical contemplation in the face of the ruins.
Following their stay in Zaragoza, Gálvez and Brambila were forced to flee as Napoleon’s troops advanced. In Madrid, they managed to continue engraving the plates under very precarious conditions and eventually moved to Cádiz to attempt to complete the project. Between 1811 and 1813 they resided in the city, where they were able to carry out their work thanks to the support of the School of Fine Arts.

Painting of urban views and royal residences saw significant development during the eighteenth century at the courts of Europe. The Spanish Royal Sites had already been depicted in the seventeenth century by Jusepe Leonardo (Calatayud, 1601-Zaragoza, ca. 1653), Félix Castello (Madrid, 1595-1651), Pedro Núñez del Valle (Madrid, ca. 1597/1598-1649) and Juan de la Corte (Antwerp, ca. 1585-Madrid, 1662) in a series of canvases intended for the Torre de la Parada at El Pardo. Michel-Ange Houasse (Paris, ca. 1680-Arpajon, 1730) painted a series of highly accurate topographical views for the Palace of La Granja. During the reign of Charles III the image of the Royal Site of Aranjuez as a model of the Enlightenment city was disseminated through engravings based on drawings by Domingo Antonio de Aguirre (Oran, 1741-Madrid, 1805). In addition, there is a clear precedent for the work of Brambila in the drawings by José Gómez de Navia (San Ildefonso, 1758-Madrid, ca. 1815) of the Royal Sites of San Lorenzo de El Escorial and La Granja de San Ildefonso.

The Series of Views of the Royal Sites by Fernando Brambila was a major project comprising a total of ninety-five oil paintings. The first to be executed were the depictions of the Royal Site of San Ildefonso. They include various general views in which the landscape setting acquires particular importance. The largest group, however, focuses on the fountains in the gardens, with strolling figures that bring the scenes to life. Brambila probably counted on the assistance of Rafael Tegeo (Caravaca de la Cruz, 1798-Madrid, 1856), who probably also established himself at La Granja in order to undertake the project.
The paintings of El Escorial adhere to the model of panoramic general views but now combined with depictions of the interior of the monastery, showing ceremonies and public acts attended by the monarch.
The paintings of Aranjuez emphasise the presence of visitors enjoying leisure activities in the gardens. For these works Brambila collaborated with other artists, principally Manuel Miranda y Rendón (Grazalema, 1800-San Lorenzo de El Escorial (?), 1857).
The views of Madrid primarily depict the Royal Palace, the Buen Retiro and other iconic landmarks, such as the Paseo del Prado. 

From 1832 to 1835, the Royal Lithographic Establishment published "The Collection of Views of the Royal Sites", lithographed by order of the King of Spain. The prints were advertised by highlighting the diversity of the Royal Sites: Aranjuez was associated with lush vegetation; La Granja de San Ildefonso stood out for the uniqueness of its numerous fountains; and the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial conveyed the austerity of its stone architecture. The publication of this collection of prints led to the inclusion of views of Madrid in the pictorial series. 
Later artists followed in the footsteps of Fernando Brambila, such as Pedro Kuntz and Valentini (1795–1863) and the aforementioned José María Avrial. Over time, Brambila’s works became the most memorable image of the Royal Sites, constituting his principal contribution to the visual history of nineteenth-century Spain.