2-724-759 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Bridgenorth, Shropshire, c. 1790. The medium of watercolour has a richer tradition in England than almost any other country, and its rise in importance was closely connected to the development of landscape painting. Paul Sandy was among the first British artists to produce a substantial body of landscape watercolours. Early in his career, Sandy worked as a mapmaker, surveying the Highlands in Scotland while working for the government. His mature work combines topographical accuracy with picturesqe compositions and carefully observed figure groups. This watercolour shows a gated medieval bridge across the River Severa near the town of Bridgenorth, in western England, near Wales. Sandy depicted the subject several times in both watercolours and prints. Here, the rustic merrymakers dancing to a fiddler's music add a social dimension to the scene.