Berry Pomeroy Castle in Devon

1773–80, with additions in 1805

Not on view

Towne’s composition focuses on a famous ruin and eighteenth-century tourist attraction. Berry Pomeroy Castle sits over a gorge of the river Dart, near Totnes, in Devonshire, its high position suggested by tiny figures that descend a steep lane at right. Greatest emphasis is given to crumbling walls overgrown with bushes and ivy. Unusually, the artist worked on this drawing in two, widely separated, stages. In the 1770s, he sketched the composition in graphite while at the site, then developed it with colored washes. Decades later he enriched it further, mixing his washes with gum to achieve effects comparable to oil.

Artwork Details

Title: Berry Pomeroy Castle in Devon
Artist: Francis Towne (British, Isleworth, Middlesex 1739–1816 Exeter)
Date: 1773–80, with additions in 1805
Medium: Watercolor and pen and ink on two joined sheets
Dimensions: Sheet: 12 1/16 × 18 7/8 in. (30.7 × 48 cm)
Mount: 13 7/8 × 20 11/16 in. (35.2 × 52.6 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Brooke Russell Astor Bequest, 2013
Object Number: 2013.73
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Francis Towne

In the same medium

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A View near the Arco Scuro, looking towards the Villa Medici, at Rome, Francis Towne British, Watercolor over graphite with pen and brown ink — A View near the Arco Scuro, looking towards the Villa Medici, at Rome
Francis Towne
1785

An ivy covered ruin, Francis Towne British, Watercolor with pen and brown ink with traces of graphite — An ivy covered ruin
Francis Towne
late 1780s–early 1790s

View of Lake Como, Francis Towne British, Pen and brown ink and watercolor — View of Lake Como
Francis Towne
August 27, 1781

View of Lake Como with Monte Legnone, Francis Towne British, Pen and brown ink and watercolor — View of Lake Como with Monte Legnone
Francis Towne
August 27, 1781

Near Glaris [Glarus], Switzerland, Francis Towne British, Pen and black ink, brush and gray wash, over traces of graphite — Near Glaris [Glarus], Switzerland
Francis Towne
C. & I. Honig
September 2, 1781

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