DAVID ROBERTS R.A., H.R.S.A. (SCOTTISH 1796-1864)
FIGURES OUTSIDE A CHURCH, AMIENS
£1,890
Scottish Paintings & Sculpture
Auction: Day Sale | Lots 1-110 | Thursday 05 June from 2pm
Description
Signed and dated 1830, pen and ink and watercolour
Dimensions
30.5cm x 22cm (12in x 8.5in)
Provenance
With the remains of a Thos. Agnew & Sons Ltd, London label verso
Footnote
David Roberts is thought to have visited Amiens when he travelled to northern France in 1825. This accomplished watercolour, dated 1830, is most likely to have been painted from on-the-spot sketches rather than in-situ.
It is very similar to an oil composition, 'a small picture of the Church of St Remy at Amiens', which Roberts painted for Mr Scarnel in 1829 and which is included in Roberts's Record Book.
The church of St Remy is situated south-west of the Cathedral of Nôtre Dame in the city and this watercolour most likely shows the tower of St Remy in the centre, with the Cathedral in the distance left, and the former cloister of the Convent of the Cordeliers on the right.
Roberts was very interested in the regional dress of different areas in northern France and Belgium as exemplified by his focus on the characteristic head dresses of the figures here.