The Inn of Cervantés, Toledo c. 1903

Joseph Pennell made this drawing of The Inn of Cervantés, Toledo, and honestly, it looks like he was working fast! There’s so much energy in the marks, those quick, scribbled lines are really evocative, like he’s trying to capture a feeling of the place, not just its appearance. The charcoal feels immediate and raw, you can almost see the artist’s hand moving across the page. Look at the upper balcony. The charcoal is smudged to create depth, but also to give a sense of the inn as a space that exists as a transient and temporal place. The whole scene is about ambiguity, an impression of a moment passing. This reminds me a little of Piranesi, who used etching to capture his own impressions of a place. Pennell, like Piranesi, isn’t trying to give us a perfect representation. He’s inviting us into his own fleeting experience of the inn, and maybe hinting at the many stories held within its walls.