In this painting, the artist has included a view of Salisbury Cathedral as the focal point of the composition.

The stonework shown just under the open window is the eastern buttress of the original medieval Castle Street Gate. The western buttress had long since gone (in 1788) and this one was removed in 1906. At that time the plaque on the stonework was carefully taken down and is now fixed to the wall of Husseys Almshouses which stand more or less opposite. The kink in the road has now been straightened and offices built on the site. The George and Dragon Inn on the right still bears the same name and the sign further down the road, marking another inn, is now the Avon Brewery Inn. Most of the buildings on the right of the picture survive almost intact, as does the little arch, Avon View, which leads through to the River Avon behind.

Provenance

Christie's, 4/11/94, lot 16.


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