![]() I could at interval perceive a stupendous precipice on one side where the hill recedes inwards, forming a sort of theatre, with a lake at the bottom… this was so excellently spread by the admirable pencil of my countryman Mr Wilson.” ![]() I could only see the spot I was on was a rude aggregate of strangely disordered masses. Although mainly concerned with the usual antiquarian pre-occupations of history and monuments there were also comments on natural history and botany and the occasional glimpse into his appreciation of the landscape.Īnd at Cader Idris… “the day proved so wet and misty, that I lost enjoyment of the great view from the summit. The first volume of Tour in Wales was published in 1778 and it was followed by a Journey to Snowdon (part one in 1781 and part two in 1783). The next influential writer was Thomas Pennant, of Downing Hall in Flintshire where he had “laid open the natural beauties of the place”. A keen gardener, naturalist and antiquarian Pennant had already toured Scotland and the remoter parts of England, and published accounts of some of these journeys, when he turned his attentions back to his homeland. Devis began working in Wales in 1755, and exhibited atmospheric views, often in charcoal on coloured paper, drawn mainly in the valleys of South Wales at the Free Society of Artists shows in the early 176os. The Melincourt Cascade, Neath, by Anthony Devis, John Spink GalleryĪnother early exponent of Wales and its scenery was Anthony Devis who featured in other recent posts. On his return from Rome in 1757 Wilson not only churned out real or imaginary classical Italianate scenes, which he called “good breeders” but, more significantly from our point of view, he played a pioneering role in the artistic discovery of his native principality, even if sometimes he made it bear a striking resemblance to Italy. In fact Caernarfon was a busy port, rather than the virtually deserted backwater he portrays, so perhaps he was already ahead of the game demonstrating the presence of the ancient past in contemporary Wales. His picture of the ruins of Caernarfon Castle, was painted before he followed the usual artists’ route to Italy in 1750, but, as you can see, he had already started romanticizing. ![]() Born in Montgomeryshire Wilson began by following a conventional early career as a portraitist, whilst only dabbling with landscapes as a sideline. Indeed, as you might have guessd from the images so far, even the first artist that I can find recording the Welsh landscape is Richard Wilson (1712-82). and thee are no other contemporaray descriptions. Since most 18thc bishops, especially of poor rural dioceses, were complete absentees the fact that Herring visited North Wales at all was rare enough, but his correspeondence, finally published in 1770 showed how much he appreciated the natural beauty that he saw on his “very romantic and most perilous journeys” and was in awe of it.īut Herring was exceptional. ![]() Herring was Bishop of Bangor and he wrote to friends about his travels between 1737-41 through the remoter and most inhospitable parts of his diocese which included Snowdonia. In terms of an aesthetic appreciation of the scenery, however, there seems to be little evidence before some letters from the 18thc cleric Thomas Herring, So where did this all this start? We could go back to the mediaeval chronicler Gerald of Wales, or the early antiquarian William Camden, but generally these early writers were more concerned with ancient monuments and history than landscape. ![]() Thomas Herring (1693-1757), Archbishop of Canterbury, by Joseph Webster, Lambeth Palace ![]()
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