Art Funded by you

The Ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, with Figures and Livestock in the Foreground, and Glastonbury Tor Beyond

George Arnald, c. 1810

The ruins of Glastonbury Abbey exerted a powerful hold on the Romantic imagination and were frequently depicted in art. This painting is among the best known images of the Abbey transformed by the prism of Romanticism and one of Arnald's most atmospheric works. Strong chiaroscuro dramatises the composition, in which the picturesque ruins are illuminated by a shaft of golden light breaking through a stormy sky, and the eye is led from the bucolic cattle and sheep in the foreground to the distant tor.

More information

Title of artwork, date

The Ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, with Figures and Livestock in the Foreground, and Glastonbury Tor Beyond, c. 1810

Date supported

2006

Medium and material

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

120 x 147 cm

Grant

10393

Total cost

24000

Content note: This object record is part of our archive and has not been updated since it was first published. It may contain inaccurate information or outdated language. Please get in touch if you think this record should be amended.

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