Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.478
Classification:
Paintings
Collection:
Paintings and Sculpture
Subject Terms:
bridge (built work) | dock | sails | buildings | cityscape | full-rigged ship | brigantine | riverbank | boats | water | river | cathedral | castle | ships | town | marine art | church
Associated Places:
Kent | Europe | England | United Kingdom | Medway | Rochester | Rochester Castle
Currently On View:
Not on view
Exhibition History:
Art in Focus : The British Castle - A Symbol in Stone (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-04-07 - 2017-08-06)
Publications:
Malcolm Cormack, Concise Catalogue of Paintings in the Yale Center for British Art, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1985, pp. 168-169, N590.2 A83 (YCBA)The British Castle : A Symbol in Stone, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2017, p. 13, cat. 9, V2722 (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
This cityscape is full of motion: the river Medway glistens, smoke curls, and ships crowd around the docks. Rochester Castle anchors the scene with its twelfth-century tower, the tallest castle tower in all of Europe. Frederick Nash, who trained as an architect but primarily painted landscapes, carefully positions three vertical points of interest (the cathedral, the castle, and the ships) to denote three pillars of nineteenth-century British society—church, state, and commerce. Nash draws upon the historical prominence of Rochester Castle to highlight its endurance, a fortification that will stand for centuries more while modern industry develops in its shadow. Gallery label for Art in Focus: The British Castle - A Symbol in Stone (Yale Center for British Art, 2017-04-07 - 2017-08-06)