Ink washes on paper

signed and dated

Purchased by The Herbert for the Warwickshire Watercolours Collection, 1959.

The Subject

The priory at Kenilworth was founded between 1123 and 1129 by Geoffrey de Clinton. At the same time Geoffrey de Clinton was constructing the first version of Kenilworth Castle. The priory underwent a number of rebuildings, so that not so much of the first construction remains. However the nearby parish church of St Nicholas has a magnificent Norman doorway built onto one side. It is believed that this was taken from the priory, probably after it was closed by King Henry VIII in the 1530s.

In 1447 the priory was raised to the independent status of an abbey, so that this work could equally be titled 'The Abbey Gate'.The priory was the home of a community of Augustinian canons. These took as their spiritual guide Saint Augustine of Hippo who lived in the fifth century AD. Curiously, the nearby Coventry Priory, which held an early relic of this saint, was of the Benedictine order.

The Artist

Thomas Hearne was born near Malmesbury and was apprenticed from 1765 to 1771 to the engraver William Woollett. For three years from 1771 he drew in the Leeward Islands, working for the Governor-General, Sir Ralph Payne.

He then toured England and Wales with the purpose of recording medieval antiquities. Assisted by antiquarians, the work appeared in 1778 and 1781 as the two volume 'Antiquities of Great Britain - illustrated in views of monasteries, castles and churches now existing'. In 1781 he placed fifty views from the completed enterprise on exhibition.

Later in life he worked on a number of projects, working up the drawings of others and illustrating aspects of landscape gardening. He never developed his style in the manner of the younger generation of artists, continuing to work mainly in shades of grey.

The Place of Thomas Hearne in Art

In his early work Hearne was influenced by Paul Sandby who combined architectural accuracy with elegant landscape settings. His art was a development from the cautious drawing of Moses Griffith's work. The texture of decayed stonework began to be of interest him and historical ruins were made 'picturesque'.

His work was eagerly scrutinised during Dr. Monro's famous drawing sessions, and influenced the young Girtin and Turner who were studying there. They would have combined Hearne's interest in observation with the compositional effects they learned from the blot drawings of John Robert Cozens, also on display during those sessions.

Other works by the artist in the collection of The Herbert

The Herbert also holds two other wash drawings by or attributed to Thomas Hearne.

The first is entitled 'Mill (man with large wheel)' and appears to show a kind of cider press in operation as there is a basket of apples next to it. This was acquired from Stanhope Shelton Pictures, Suffolk, in 1974.

The other work, also unsigned and undated shows the ruins of an as yet unidentified manor house. This was purchased from The Fine Art Society Ltd. Bond St. in 1967.