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19th-century Britain

Works made in Britain in the 19th century.

40 works · hang 1767 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

Section 1, 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. Weymouth Bay, by David Lucas, 1830
    Weymouth BayDavid Lucas, 1830Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. The image shows a landscape scene with a frontal view of a dense forest. A wooden bridge spans across a narrow ravine or creek. The painting features vigorous and textural brushstrokes with dark tones creating a shadowy effect. The color palette includes deep blacks, dark browns, and occasional highlights of light filtering through the canopy. In the distance, lighter areas suggest a path leading further into the woods, surrounded by trees and undergrowth.
    A Dell at Helmingham Park, SuffolkDavid Lucas, 1830Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  4. Descent into the Plain of Granada, by David Roberts, 1834
    Descent into the Plain of GranadaDavid Roberts, 1834Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 1, south wall

  1. 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
  2. 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
  3. 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

Section 2, south wall

  1. Armies of men march and battle along a rocky outcropping set among huge rock formations and massive buildings under a stormy sky in this horizontal landscape painting. The people we can see all have pale skin. Sheets of rain fall from flint-gray clouds on our left into a valley, though hints of peach brighten the clouds along the mountainous horizon there. In the right half of the sky, light pours down from a brilliant white sun that breaks through white clouds to reveal topaz-blue patches of sky. The horizon comes about halfway up the composition and is lined with rugged white, pale pink, and olive-green mountains on our left and silvery-white buildings along the right half. These structures include two domed buildings and a colosseum among many others. The buildings are all enclosed within city walls buttressed with towers. The land dips precipitously from the rocky cliffs supporting the buildings, to sweep down toward us. A huge outcropping angles up like a ramp between us and the buildings in the distance. A road runs from the walled town toward us, down along the ridge and in front of the outcropping. Countless warriors march in rows of four or five across on the road past a man wearing a feathered helmet and armored breastplate. This man, Joshua, stands on a rocky precipice facing away from us with his right hand raised. He wears a scarlet-red toga under his breastplate, and a royal-blue cape flutters at his left side. He holds a round, copper-colored shield and a spear in his other hand. Two men with gray beards stand near Joshua with their backs to us. Both gesture up to the sky. One holds a slender staff and the other a curling horn. They and another pair of men, who stoop to hold poles used to carry a chest, all wear long, ivory-white robes, cherry-red drapery, and white turbans. The column of soldiers on foot and horseback pass in front of Joshua to a massive battlefield to our left. The fight takes place in a valley that leads back to a river. A bolt of lightning zigzags from the storm clouds and strikes a city in the deep distance. The artist signed the painting in the lower right, “J. Martin.”
    Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still upon GibeonJohn Martin, 1816Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
  2. Egypt and Nubia, Volume III, No. 26, Cairo, Looking West, by Louis Haghe, 1848
    Egypt and Nubia, Volume III, No. 26, Cairo, Looking WestLouis Haghe, 1848Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. 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

Section 2, north 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. Whalers, by Joseph Mallord William Turner, ca. 1845
    WhalersJoseph Mallord William Turner, ca. 1845Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Painting of a dark-skinned man seated and wearing a red open-necked tunic. He looks up to the right. His wrists are shackled and a large chain rests at his right, running down the bench he sits upon.
    The Captive Slave (Ira Aldridge)John Philip Simpson, 1827Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 3, north wall

  1. Large marine landscape of boats on rough waves, storm clouds.
    Fishing Boats with Hucksters Bargaining for FishJoseph Mallord William Turner, 1837–38Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of oil on canvas.
    The FestivalSir John Edward Poynter, 1875Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. A light-skinned woman in a long, shiny white dress sits at a desk reading a book. The book is propped on a large red pillow. Her head is propped in her hand.
    Isabella WolffThomas Lawrence, 1803–15Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago