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Notes

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This painting is the earlier of the two by De Loutherbourg in the Abbot Hall collection. As a pair, they are probably the two most important Romantic depictions of the Lake District, painted at the height of the Picturesque movement. De Loutherbourg, often thought of as the master of dramatic effects, successfully evokes storm clouds and tumultuous waves.

The focus of the painting is the imminent shipwreck which derives from the local folk memory of ‘The Mournefull Marriage’, when 47 people and 11 horses, comprising a wedding party, were drowned as a sudden storm at sunset sank the Windermere ferry on 19 October 1635.
(Collection tags: Weather, Storm, Boat, Lake, Blue, Dark, Blue, White, Brown)

Abbot Hall

Kendal

Title

Belle Isle, Windermere, in a Storm

Date

1785

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 136 x W 202 cm

Accession number

LAT:2009.0001.01

Acquisition method

purchased with the assistance of the Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund, the National Art Collections Fund, the Friends of Abbot Hall and the National Heritage Memorial Fund, 1988

Work type

Painting

Abbot Hall

Kirkland, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 5AL England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.

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Artist or maker

Philip James de Loutherbourg

1740–1812

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