Thirlmere, Cumberland
About the painting
Romanticism in the visual arts often sought to imply that the magnitude of the subject and the artist's conception of it could not be contained within the confines of a frame of normal size. Pyne here increases our sense of vast scale not by physically expanding his canvas but by his compositional structure. The extent of the view seems limitless, into the distance as well as to both left and right, which well suits the subject: Cumberland is the north-westernmost county in England, adjoining the Scottish border, and renowned for its spectacular scenery, in the form of the Lakes and the Cumbrian Mountains. Pyne was a keen traveller, at home and abroad, and published two volumes of views in the Lake District in the 1850s.
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The rarified atmosphere, the silvery light filtering through the mists, appealed as much to Romantic sensibilities in the nineteenth century as it had to the seekers after the 'Picturesque' in the previous century. Pyne indicates the area's attraction for artists, amateur as well as professional, by including the family in the ferns on the right, the woman with her paintbox and drawing board contemplating the magnificent view.
Victoria and Albert Museum
![Tahitian Shore [recto], Paul Gauguin, c. 1900](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/e8b52d37-d08b-41c1-bc90-6566eeaf3d58/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)