A Spanish Good Friday (Ronda)

Sir Muirhead Bone was a Scottish printmaker and watercolor artist noted for his depictions of architectural subjects, city views, landscapes, and his work as a war artist in both the First and Second World Wars. Bone was particularly acclaimed for his drypoints of picturesque scenes he witnessed during his travels in Europe. This image depicts a traditional procession through the streets of Ronda, Spain, which is renowned for attracting crowds to its holy processions occurring right before Easter (Passion Week). Bone depicted a street filled with penitents (dressed in long robes and tall, conical hats), nuns, ladies dressed in mantillas, and sauntering men in hats. All the pedestrians cast dramatically long shadows. A woman watching from a balcony at the right guides the viewer's gaze to the procession's main focus in the far right background, where members of religious associations carry a large statue of the crucified Christ, as well as a large float with the Virgin Mary. Bone skillfully used his drypoint needle to create deep grooves in the plate so those lines would hold more black ink, creating rich dark areas throughout the image, such as to render the building at the right; each pedestrian dressed in black; the roofs of the buildings lining the street; and the distant mountains -- all beneath a cloudy night sky.