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Pembroke Town and Castle
The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
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Richard Wilson (1713/14-1782)
Pembroke Town and Castle
c.1764-66 (undated)
Graphite on cream laid paper
294 x 522 mm
11 9/16 x 20 9/16 in.
P06223
D368
The town of Pembroke is seen from the west, across a tidal inlet of the Cleddau estuary. On the right the ancient castle with its 13th-century round keep and jagged silhouette contrasts with the town itself, dominated by the tower of St Mary's Church, left centre. Two figures are seen in a boat on the water and a third works on a boat in the left foreground.
London, Cardiff and New Haven, 1982-83 (120)
A. Molhens, London
Inscribed in Wilson's hand over areas of foliage to the left of the castle and elsewhere: Ivy
[1] Lower right corner, pencil in old hand: Pembroke Castle / Acc No D 6223 / L N. Pem. 335 f
[2] Lower left corner, pencil: C / 5992 / 3 /48
[1] Lower centre on a fictive label, an old pencil inscription: Pembroke Castle
[2] Lower right, pencil, in the same hand: Original
E29 James Mason after Wilson, Pembroke Town and Castle 1775, The British Museum and other impressions
P154 Pembroke Town and Castle, National Museum Wales, Cardiff
Clearly drawn on the spot. The precise linearity of the drawing style and the slight dissonance between the two halves of the composition suggest that it might have been executed with the aid of some optical device.
I.A. Williams, 'A Welsh Drawing by Richard Wilson', The National Library of Wales Journal, vol. 8, Summer 1953, pp. 74-76; Constable 1954, p. 143, fig. 14; Solkin 1982, pp. 227-28
Framed dimensions: 440 x 670 mm. There are pinholes at the corners, some small damages and a repaired tear, lower left. The original lower right corner is missing. Despite the appearance of a vertical join in the middle the support is one sheet of paper.