The North East Prospect of Kirkstall Abbey

This fascinating allegorical oil painting attributed to John Bouttats has the rather mundane title "The North East Prospect of Kirkstall Abbey - Ano Dom. 1738". Above a reasonably straightforward painting of the ruined abbey in a romantic rural landscape (with rustic figures in the foreground) there are a group of strange figures in the sky. These figures with chariots who are holding up the painting's title scroll represent the "Overthrow of Catholicism".