These are part of Colección de diferentes vistas del Magnífico Templo y Real Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Collectionof Different Views of the Magnificent Temple and Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial). One of Spain’s principle goals during the Enlightenment was to spread knowledge of its monumental and artistic wealth through engravings. Calcografía Nacional (The Royal Chalcography Bureau) was founded in 1789 to carry out the main projects arising from these Enlightenment policies, and one of its first projects was this series of prints dedicated to the monastery of El Escorial.

In the years before 1800, the Secretary of State commissioned José Gómez de Navia, one of the King’s scholarship holders and a disciple of engraver Manuel Salvador Carmona, to draw fifteen views of El Escorial that could be transferred to engravings. The drawings have not survived, but Gómez de Navía also engraved the copper plate for the cover. The other plates were engraved by Tomás López Enguídanos and Manuel Alegre, with texts by letter engraver Cipriano Maré. The resultant images are halfway between picturesque travel scenes from the 18th century and those of romantic travels from the first quarter of the 19th century.

The series was published serially and advertised in Gazeta de Madrid between July 23, 1802 and July 7, 1807. Those advertisements ceased on that date, probably as a result of the War of Independence in 1808 but the series concluded in 1809 with a total of 12 prints plus the cover. The series has been dated between 1800 and 1809 on the basis of the first date engraved on one of the copper plates from the collection and the closing date of the series’ final engraving, View of the Monument to Holy Week (Text from Vega, J., Museo del Prado. Catálogo de estampas, Ministerio de Cultura, Madrid, 1992, p. 221).