Valle Crucis Abbey, Denbighshire

This watercolor was probably painted during Thomas Girtin’s tour of north Wales in the summer of 1798. However, this work is not typical of Girtin’s touring sketches, in which he often sketched a panoramic view surrounding picturesque ruins; it is striking in its intimate and informal nature. It contains traditional elements of a picturesque landscape, such as a clearly defined foreground, middle ground, and background, and a modified repoussoir tree along the left edge, and rustic cows acting as staffage in the foreground. The dappled lighting across the scene softens the work with a gentle glow.