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Bridgenorth, Shropshire

Anonymousc. 1790

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

The medium of watercolor has a richer tradition in England than almost any other country, and its rise in importance was closely connected to the development of landscape painting. Paul Sandby was among the first British artists to produce a substantial body of landscape watercolors. Early in his career, Sandby worked as a mapmaker, surveying the Highlands in Scotland while working for the government. His mature work combines topographical accuracy with picturesqe compositions and carefully observed figure groups. This watercolor shows a gated medieval bridge across the River Severa near the town of Bridgenorth, in western England, near Wales. Sandby depicted the subject several times in both watercolors and prints. Here, the rustic merrymakers dancing to a fiddler's music add a social dimension to the scene.

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  • Title: Bridgenorth, Shropshire
  • Creator: Anonymous
  • Date Created: c. 1790
  • Physical Dimensions: Sheet: 35.5 x 51.7 cm (14 x 20 3/8 in.); Secondary Support: 43 x 57.2 cm (16 15/16 x 22 1/2 in.)
  • Type: Drawing
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1997.69
  • Medium: watercolor over graphite
  • Inscriptions: signed, lower right, in watercolor: P. Sandby 1783 ; SECONDARY SUPPORT, lower center, in graphite: Bridg[e?]north, Shropshire ; VERSO: upper right, in blue ballpoint pen: Bridgenorth. / Sandby 1783 [the 7 written over an 8] ; upper right, in graphite: Shropshire
  • Department: Drawings
  • Culture: England, 18th century
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. King Rosendale in honor of Beatrice R. Grubb
  • Collection: DR - British
  • Accession Number: 1997.69
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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