Harlech Castle, from Tygwyn Ferry, Summer's Evening Twilight

Harlech Castle was constructed by the English king Edward I as part of his conquest of Wales in the thirteenth century. Here it is depicted by J. M. W. Turner, the landscape and history painter, who made five journeys to Wales in the 1790s. Although best known for landscapes incorporating grand mountains and rough oceans, Turner here focuses on the expanse of light and space in the coastal setting of Harlech, capturing a melancholy mood. This particular landscape displays people, albeit in a small scale, which is fitting of the Romantic, grand nature of ruins. A modern shipyard takes center stage, while the castle is seen far in the background.