A Bird's-Eye View of Charlecote Park, Warwickshire from the West
British (English) School
National Trust Inventory Number 533889
| Category |
Paintings |
| Date |
1696 |
| Materials |
Oil on canvas |
| Measurements |
1448 x 1524 mm (57 x 60 in) |
| Place of origin |
|
Summary description
Oil painting on canvas, An Bird's Eye View of Charlecote Park, Warwickshire from the West, British (English) School, 1696. An aerial view of the house seen from the west side of the river Avon, showing the formal garden (which was removed by Capability Brown in about 1770), park and surrounding countryside. On the left, at the end of a long bank between two canals running north from the house is an octagonal brick gazebo - used for dining in summer and fishing from in the winter. Parallel with the canals behind are parterres with box trees alternatively clipped into cones and balls. In the foreground are two smaller parterres between the west front and steps down to the river. On the right is a walled garden in the angle of the Avon and the Dene. Tree-lined avenues stretch to the horizon in the east and west and diagonally across the park to St Leonard's Church in the middleground. The figures, sitting on an escarpment, in the immediate foreground, are Colonel George Lucy, owner of Charlecote, on a white stallion and his wife and family with their dogs.
Provenance
Given to Colonel George Lucy by his brother Reverend William Lucy who afterwards succeeded him at Charlecote; given to the National Trust by Sir Montgomerie Fairfax-Lucy, Bt, 1946
Makers and roles
British (English) School, artist
previously attributed to Jan Stevens (d.1722), artist
References
Harris 1979 John Harris, The Artist and the Country House. A History of Country House and Garden View Painting in Britain 1540-1870, London 1979, no. 155
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