Artwork
Waterfall at St Nighton's Kieve, near Tintagel
Waterfall at St Nighton's Kieve, near Tintagel is an oil painting by Daniel Maclise. It dates from 1842 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1842, this oil painting by Irish artist Daniel Maclise captures a quiet moment at St Nectan’s Glen, a waterfall near Tintagel in Cornwall. A solitary woman stands on a rock amid the falling water, her gaze directed downward, evoking a sense of calm reflection. The work combines natural scenery with a modest figure, rendering a tranquil genre scene.
Subject & Meaning
The central figure, a young woman dressed in a flowing blue‑and‑yellow garment, holds a jug in her right hand and a white cloth in her left. Her posture and contemplative stare suggest a pause within the landscape, perhaps alluding to themes of purity and solitude. The surrounding foliage and cascading water reinforce a mood of peaceful isolation.
Technique & Style
Maclise employed a smooth, detailed brushwork typical of mid‑nineteenth‑century genre painting, rendering the water’s movement and the textures of rock and vegetation with careful observation. The palette balances cool blues and greens of the waterfall with warm earth tones, while the luminous handling of light creates depth and a gentle atmospheric effect.
History & Provenance
After the Royal Academy exhibition of 1843, Dickens acquired the painting through an intermediary to avoid a discounted price.
Maclise sketched the site during an 1842 holiday in Cornwall with Charles Dickens and Clarkson Stanfield. Dickens’ sister‑in‑law, Georgina Hogarth, modeled for the figure. After the Royal Academy exhibition of 1843, Dickens acquired the painting through an intermediary to avoid a discounted price. Following his death, friend John Forster purchased it and bequeathed it to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1876.
Legacy
In 1848, engraver Frederick Bacon reproduced the image as "The Nymph of the Waterfall" for the Art Union of London, extending its reach to a broader audience. The work remains a notable example of Maclise’s early landscape genre, illustrating the interplay between literary circles and visual art in Victorian England.
Artist & collection
Artist
Daniel Maclise (25 January 1806 – 25 April 1870) was an Irish history painter, literary and portrait painter, and illustrator, who worked for most of his life in London, England.
