The constellation of ten images in Charles Knight’s volume on British history creates a rich set of perspectives on the historic site of Pevensey Castle. The picturesque aesthetic, first advocated by the Rev. William Gilpin, was often applied to medieval ruins.
Commenting on Romantic ruin painting, Louis Hawes states that medieval ruins were popular subjects for topographical artists and watercolorists. Indeed, the portfolios of Samuel Prout and Samuel and Nathaniel Buck—trained topographers of the Romantic era—all include medieval ruins.
The architectural patrimony of the Middle Ages received greater attention in the Romantic era because of three major factors. The first was the boom of domestic tourism beginning in the 1790s as a result of political tension on the Continent.
Angelica Kauffman was commissioned to paint four allegorical figures representing the four components of painting: design, composition, invention, and color.
George III is portrayed as Prospero the wizard in his long black cloak, holding a book bearing the words “justice” and “integrity” and a long, whip-like wand. He stands on a landmass labeled “Albion,” a tattered French flag under his feet. A gold and blue flag patterned with lions, a harp, and several fleurs-de-lis flies behind him. The sun smiles above his head.
