The Mosque at Cordova 1833

David Roberts made this watercolor painting of The Mosque at Cordova sometime in the 19th century. Roberts, a Scottish painter, was part of a broader European Orientalist movement that exoticized the "East," often through the lens of colonial power. Here, the architectural grandeur of the Mosque, with its rows of columns and horseshoe arches, is softened by the watercolor medium. Note how Roberts includes figures dressed in what he likely perceived as traditional Moorish clothing, small in comparison to the architecture, yet central to the scene. These figures are not merely part of the landscape, they represent the communities whose cultural heritage is being visually consumed. Orientalist art often presented a skewed view of non-European cultures, reinforcing stereotypes and power imbalances. What stories are missed when the focus is placed on Western interpretations of another culture's sacred space? Think about how cultural heritage can be both a site of reverence and, sometimes, misrepresentation.