Painted in 1903, when Mariano Bertuchi was only nineteen years old, this work depicts the Patio del Ciprés de la Sultana (Cyprus courtyard of the Sultana), in the garden of the Generalife Palace in Granada, the artist’s hometown. This magnificent villa in the vicinity of the Alhambra, where ornamental gardens and orchards are integrated into the architecture, was the retreat of the Nasrid kings of Granada. Its construction was initiated at the end of the thirteenth century. The Patio del Ciprés de la Sultana was also built in this period, though its current appearance is the result of major changes in the Christian era. This courtyard, whose name derives from a century-old cypress tree that appears at the bottom of the present painting, was the scene of a legend of Granada. According to this legend, here, Morayma, wife of Boabdil, the last sultan of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, would meet her illicit lover, a noble member of the clan of the Abencerrajes. This led to the death of the lords of this tribe, whose throats were slit.

Despite the macabre quality of this story, the legend was a popular theme for many artists of the time, among them Santiago Rusiñol. While Modernist Naturalism was still booming, Spain’s gardens were a meeting place for artists, particularly the Palaces of Andalusia with their oriental architecture. Bertuchi painted a number of comparable compositions such as the Patio de los Arrayanes, finished five years earlier.

Bertuchi’s style centred on the luminist technique, which the artist had inherited from his Valencian master Antonio Muñoz Degrain at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid. This painting demonstrates his proximity to the Valencian luminists; the real protagonists of the canvas are the warm light, vibrant reflections, and profusion of colour. As he aged, Bertuchi’s tendency to create contrasts between light and shadow became more prominent, so much so that the painter was classified as Impressionist and even as a Post-Impressionist.

In this magnificent painting from his youth, Bertuchi expresses himself with quick and thick brushstrokes, making it one of the best from his entire production. This is confirmed by the honourable mention that the painting received in 1904 at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Exhibition of Fine Arts), Madrid.