Bridge of Llangollen
Maker
1743-1801
Title
Bridge of Llangollen
Date of Production
1788
Dimensions
Height: 26.4 cm (primary support)
Width: 36.6 cm (primary support)
Width: 36.6 cm (primary support)
Accession Number
D.2023.XX.9
Credit
The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Location
Not currently on display
Label Text
Michael ‘Angelo’ Rooker (1743-1801) was born in London and trained with his father, Edward Rooker, and Paul Sandby, the latter of whom gave him his nickname. He worked as an illustrator for newspapers and magazines and as chief scene-painter at the Haymarket Theatre, but also exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy. From 1788 he made regular autumn tours of various areas of Britain, which provided material for most of his watercolours. Bridge of Llangollen derives from the first of these tours, to Denbighshire; it depicts the 16th-century bridge over the River Dee, a celebrated landmark. The watercolour’s large size, ambitious composition and high degree of finish suggests that Rooker intended it for exhibition.
Provenance
J. Leger and Son, London, where purchased by the donor, November 1959; gifted to The Courtauld in November 2023.
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