Floor plan

Time and place19th-century Britain

19th-century Britain

From a grassy riverbank, we look across the placid surface of a river lined along the far bank with trees and farm animals in this horizontal landscape painting. The scene is painted loosely with brushstrokes visible throughout, so some details are difficult to make out. For the surface of the river, russet-brown and steel-gray paint skims lightly across the canvas and leaves some unpainted areas visible, creating the effect of light shimmering on the still water. On our left, a shallow wooden barge is propelled along the stream by two men in red caps with long poles. The boat carries a white horse wearing blinders and a harness. The riverbank beyond is lined with pale, sage-green grass tinged with gold, growing in front of a tangle of darker green trees and bushes. Across the water from us near the middle of the picture, a small rowboat sits in the shallows at the foot of a steep riverbank. Above, a white cottage with a reddish roof and chimney is tucked behind the trees, with a wooden rack full of hay next to it. Nearby, a plow and wheeled cart, highlighted with strokes of white, sit near more mounds of hay. Rocky fields reach into the distance. The vista is blocked to our right by another clump of trees and a rocky outcropping, rising from the stream, to our right of center. The steep, dark roof of a farmhouse is barely visible among the trees. Along the riverside to our right, a small group of cinnamon-brown and cream-white cows stand at water's edge. A rolling pasture stretches behind them to meet blue hills in the distance. Above, in the upper third of the painting, mottled white, pale rose, and gray clouds rolling across a steel-gray sky are reflected in the water below.
Serene red-haired woman, framed with allegorical symbols of red bird, sundial.
Bray Church Yard, by John Varley, 1807
Descent into the Plain of Granada, by David Roberts, 1834
The image displays a man in a portrait from the waist up, in a three-quarter view. He is facing slightly to the right and looking into the distance with a calm expression. The man has fair skin, light reddish-brown hair, sideburns, a defined nose, and a slightly upturned chin. He is wearing a black double-breasted coat with a high collar, a dark waistcoat, a white shirt, and a medal on his chest with an insignia and ribbon. The background is plain and deep brown.
The painting depicts an equestrian scene with people and horses in a green landscape. There are several people on horseback, and others standing by horses. Some people are also sitting in horse-drawn carriages. The horses are in a variety of colors, and the people wear formal clothing like suit jackets, top hats, vests, or colorful dresses. People fill the middle of the scene and the green hills that rise to the left, while a wide path is marked off on the right, bordered by fences. There are some tall trees around the area, with people gathering below them. In the distance, a large white building with columns and blue roofs can be seen. There is also a white tent partially behind a hill on the left. The sky above is blue and filled with white and gray clouds.

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Works made in Britain in the 19th century.

First room, north wall

  1. From a grassy riverbank, we look across the placid surface of a river lined along the far bank with trees and farm animals in this horizontal landscape painting. The scene is painted loosely with brushstrokes visible throughout, so some details are difficult to make out. For the surface of the river, russet-brown and steel-gray paint skims lightly across the canvas and leaves some unpainted areas visible, creating the effect of light shimmering on the still water. On our left, a shallow wooden barge is propelled along the stream by two men in red caps with long poles. The boat carries a white horse wearing blinders and a harness. The riverbank beyond is lined with pale, sage-green grass tinged with gold, growing in front of a tangle of darker green trees and bushes. Across the water from us near the middle of the picture, a small rowboat sits in the shallows at the foot of a steep riverbank. Above, a white cottage with a reddish roof and chimney is tucked behind the trees, with a wooden rack full of hay next to it. Nearby, a plow and wheeled cart, highlighted with strokes of white, sit near more mounds of hay. Rocky fields reach into the distance. The vista is blocked to our right by another clump of trees and a rocky outcropping, rising from the stream, to our right of center. The steep, dark roof of a farmhouse is barely visible among the trees. Along the riverside to our right, a small group of cinnamon-brown and cream-white cows stand at water's edge. A rolling pasture stretches behind them to meet blue hills in the distance. Above, in the upper third of the painting, mottled white, pale rose, and gray clouds rolling across a steel-gray sky are reflected in the water below.
    The White HorseJohn Constable, 1818-1819Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Serene red-haired woman, framed with allegorical symbols of red bird, sundial.
    Beata BeatrixDante Gabriel Rossetti, 1871–72Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Bray Church Yard, by John Varley, 1807
    Bray Church YardJohn Varley, 1807Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

First room, south wall

  1. Descent into the Plain of Granada, by David Roberts, 1834
    Descent into the Plain of GranadaDavid Roberts, 1834Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. The image displays a man in a portrait from the waist up, in a three-quarter view. He is facing slightly to the right and looking into the distance with a calm expression. The man has fair skin, light reddish-brown hair, sideburns, a defined nose, and a slightly upturned chin. He is wearing a black double-breasted coat with a high collar, a dark waistcoat, a white shirt, and a medal on his chest with an insignia and ribbon. The background is plain and deep brown.
    Francis Charles Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of HertfordThomas Lawrence, c. 1822/1823Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  3. The painting depicts an equestrian scene with people and horses in a green landscape. There are several people on horseback, and others standing by horses. Some people are also sitting in horse-drawn carriages. The horses are in a variety of colors, and the people wear formal clothing like suit jackets, top hats, vests, or colorful dresses. People fill the middle of the scene and the green hills that rise to the left, while a wide path is marked off on the right, bordered by fences. There are some tall trees around the area, with people gathering below them. In the distance, a large white building with columns and blue roofs can be seen. There is also a white tent partially behind a hill on the left. The sky above is blue and filled with white and gray clouds.
    Heaton Park RacesJohn Ferneley, 1829Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington

Second room, south wall

  1. GEORGE JAMES DRUMMOND'S ROOM AT OXFORD, 1853
    George James Drummond's Room at Oxford, 1853George Pyne, 1853Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  2. Loggia of the Ducal Palace, Venice, by John Ruskin, 1849–50
    Loggia of the Ducal Palace, VeniceJohn Ruskin, 1849–50Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. A work made of brown and black chalks on cream wove paper.
    Study for FestivalSir John Edward Poynter, c. 1875Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  4. Egypt & Nubia, Volume III, No. 8: Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Cairo, by Louis Haghe, 1842–49
    Egypt & Nubia, Volume III, No. 8: Mosque of Sultan Hassan, CairoLouis Haghe, 1842–49Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Second room, north wall

  1. A work made of oil on paperboard.
    Lane Scene at NightJohn Atkinson Grimshaw, 1872Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. The Love Song, by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, 1868–77
    The Love SongSir Edward Burne-Jones, 1868–77Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Portrait of Charlotte and Sarah Carteret-Hardy, by Thomas Lawrence, 1801
    Portrait of Charlotte and Sarah Carteret-HardyThomas Lawrence, 1801Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Third room, north wall

  1. The Lake of Zug, by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1843
    The Lake of ZugJoseph Mallord William Turner, 1843Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Lear and Cordelia, by Richard Hatfield, 1845
    Lear and CordeliaRichard Hatfield, 1845Courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
  3. We look out onto a landscape with low, grassy hills to the left, a lake to the right, and a brick building in the center distance below a sky filled with towering white clouds in this horizontal painting. A wooden fence closer to us crosses the landscape from the lower left corner and disappears where the land slopes down to meet the water at the center of the painting. Several black and white cows graze in the field beyond the fence to our left. Two men in a wooden boat pull in nets on the lake to our right near a pair of swans. The lake crosses the composition in the near distance, disappearing into a culvert farther back. A donkey pulls a small carriage with two people near a bridge that crosses the lake in the distance to our left. The brick manor house is visible through a break in the full, deep green trees that line the horizon, which comes halfway up the composition. The clouds cast noticeable shadows in the brightly sunlit scene.
    Wivenhoe Park, EssexJohn Constable, 1816Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington