The vantage point

We are at the north of Port-Vendres on a slight hill above the lane to the Mauresque (Moorish) fort. The fort is situated on the ‘Cap Gros’, to the west of the Mauresque Bay, situated to the north-west of Port-Vendres.

We are looking in the easterly direction.

This watercolour represents, in the foreground the fort of the Mauresque with the entrance and the access lane. At the time (of painting) it was intact. Nowadays the entirety is in ruins.

In the background of this watercolour is the entrance to the port of Port-Vendres and the sheltering jetty with its lighthouse at the end. The lighthouse represented seems to be  that of Fort Fanal is not situated in this location…

Pictorial analysis

1. “This now largely ruined fort, to the north of Port-Vendres, is dramatically located on the edge of the Anse Mauresque. In the picture, Mackintosh has swung the lighthouse and foreland from the other side of the harbour into the top right corner, effectively drawing the mouth of the harbour together.” Translated from the English with the kind authorisation of professor Pamela Robertson – University of Glasgow.
2. Mackintosh uses lighting extensively as medium for constructing space and volumes that are extremely simplified.

The flat areas of light and shadow are juxtaposed in this essentially ‘mineral’ watercolour, along a Z-line from the right, to reach the sea at the top of the image.

Historical guideline

An earlier fort had been constructed at the end of the XVth century, under Spanish domination.

The Maureque Fort, under the impulse of a military commission, was reconstructed in the 1850s, with the aim of defending the entrance to Port-Vendres. This apparently, because of its position as the only Mediterranean port, with Toulon, able to receive warships. A ten-room battery was established there and all the necessary arrangements for its operation(housing of the garrison, kitchen, munitions depot …).

Subsequently the fort was populated by the German occupation troops during the 1940-1945 war. Many blockhouses were built there and then destroyed during their retreat, damaging the ancient buildings.

The vestiges of the fort are listed as historic monuments by decree of 23^rd April 1991. The abandoned ruins are now the property of the municipality of Port-Vendres.

This watercolour represents in the middle ground the entrance to the port of Port-Vendres and the sheltering promontory with its lighthouse at the end.

The lighthouse represented resembles that of the Fort Fanal which is not situated in this position…

Above the actual lighthouse …

And below, the lighthouse in the painting …

How to get there