Prints and Drawings Room
View by appointment- Artist
- Paul Sandby c.1730–1809
- Medium
- Watercolour and graphite on paper
- Dimensions
- Support: 324 × 508 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Presented by William Sandby 1901
- Reference
- N01856
Display caption
Sandby has treated the medieval gateway with the care associated with topographical draughtsmanship (the accurate recording of particular places) but here it forms the backdrop for a humorous and incident-filled scene of daily life.
Topographical draughtsmanship was an important skill in the military, used in the surveying of land and fortifications. Sandby was trained as a military draughtsman, but he developed original approaches. By the 1790s Sandby was thought of as the crucial figure in British landscape art, who had forged a specifically ‘national’ style of watercolour.
Gallery label, September 2004
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