Snowdon from Llyn Nantlle

This picturesque view is from the Western end of Llyn Nantile, Gwynedd, North Wales. The rugged beauty of the Welsh mountains is emphasised by the design and tonal values chosen by the artist.
In the foreground are two riders with horses, this detail adds scale, highlighting the grandeur of the mountains, whilst emphasising the transitory and insignificant nature of human activity.
In the central distance is the summit of Snowdon Y Wyddfa and beneath is a small knoll named Clogwyn y Gareg. Thomas Pennant the Welsh naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian commented in 1784 that ‘few are sensible of [the noble view of the Wyddfa] as few visit this spot’.
George Barret the Elder was an Irish landscape painter in oils and watercolour. He would often imitate the classical manner of his rival Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782). Wilson was first to paint this unusual view in 1765/1766.
Purchased with assistance from the V&A and the Veitch Bequest Trust Fund, 1971.