Waltham Abbey, Essex

ca. 1840

Not on view

De Wint’s masterful control of a watercolor here evokes trees, water and sky, as well as architecture. One of the oldest monasteries in England, Waltham Abbey is situated about sixteen miles north of London. Dissolved by Henry VIII, all that survives today of the once extensive complex is a twelfth-century church founded by Augustinian canons, its tower added 1556–58, and fragments of a fourteenth-century gatehouse. De Wint brought these elements closer together than they are in reality, and reduced the impact of secular encroachments by screening or omitting them. The entrance gate, at the left end of a bridge, is pierced by two gothic arches framed with moldings, with the sixteenth-century church tower standing against the sky beyond. Contemporary life is evoked by figures in the water and leaning over the bridge who wield long poles to clear weed or some other obstruction.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

References

Title: Waltham Abbey, Essex
Artist: Peter De Wint (British, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent 1784–1849 London)
Date: ca. 1840
Medium: Graphite and watercolor
Dimensions: Sheet: 9 3/4 x 15 1/4 in. (24.8 x 38.7 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Brooke Russell Astor Bequest, 2013
Object Number: 2013.104
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Riverside Scene (Old Mill), Peter De Wint British, Watercolor — Riverside Scene (Old Mill)
Peter De Wint
1805–10 (?)

Landscape with a rock wall, perhaps in Westmorland, Peter De Wint British, Brush and gray wash, on gray green paper — Landscape with a rock wall, perhaps in Westmorland
Peter De Wint
1800–1849

Study for "The Ferry"–Snowdon from Lyyn Padran, North Wales, Peter De Wint British, Watercolor and graphite — Study for "The Ferry"–Snowdon from Lyyn Padran, North Wales
Peter De Wint
after 1829

The Lake of Zug, Joseph Mallord William Turner British, Watercolor and bodycolor (gouache) with reductive techniques over graphite — The Lake of Zug
Joseph Mallord William Turner
1843

Loggia of the Ducal Palace, Venice, John Ruskin British, Watercolor over graphite — Loggia of the Ducal Palace, Venice
John Ruskin
1849–50

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