Tintern Abbey on the river Wye

Tintern Abbey on the river Wye

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Reference

2737

Edwin Aaron Penley (1826-1893)
Tintern Abbey on the river Wye

Signed lower right: Edwin A. Penley. 1873
Watercolour over pencil heightened with touches of bodycolour
45.2 by 37 cm., 17 3/4 by 14 1/2 in.

Penley was a self-taught artist who achieved notable success as a drawing master and painter in both watercolour and oils. He travelled widely and achieved Royal patronage, when he was appointed Painter in Watercolour to Queen Adelaide. Queen Victoria sat for a miniature, and he also taught Prince Arthur. Apart from his private practice, Penley was appointed Professor of civil drawing at the East India Company's college at Addiscombe. Following the closure of the college in 1861, he moved to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

The present view shows the ruins of Tintern Abbey on the banks of the River Wye, from the hills on the English side of the border with Wales. The view was probably taken from near the Devil's Pulpit, where local folklore recorded that the devil sat to tempt the monks in the abbey below. Tintern Abbey, founded in 1131, stood until September 1536 when as a result of Henrys' falling out with Rome, it became one of the early casualties of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. During the eighteenth century, the romantic roofless, ivy clad ruins became a popular destination for writers, artists and tourists in search of suitable Picturesque subjects.