Artwork
Cromlech, Pass of Llanberis
Cromlech, Pass of Llanberis is a drawing by Richard Redgrave. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
Richard Redgrave’s 1850 pencil drawing captures the Pass of Llanberis, a rugged mountain corridor in North Wales. Executed in fine graphite, the work bears the artist’s signature, confirming its authorship. The composition presents a stark, unpopulated landscape, emphasizing the natural forms of rock and sky rather than human activity.
Subject & Meaning
The scene centers on a narrow gorge flanked by massive, rounded boulders, their surfaces rendered with meticulous detail. A modest stream traces the valley floor, while distant hills dissolve into a muted horizon. A solitary figure, positioned near the left-hand rocks, provides a scale reference, underscoring the overwhelming scale of the terrain.
Technique & Style
Redgrave employs delicate, intersecting lines to model the texture of stone, creating a sense of roughness through cross‑hatching and stippling.
Redgrave employs delicate, intersecting lines to model the texture of stone, creating a sense of roughness through cross‑hatching and stippling. The sky is suggested with softer, less dense strokes, contrasting with the densely worked foreground. This restrained use of graphite highlights tonal variation without resorting to heavy shading, characteristic of mid‑nineteenth‑century British landscape drawing.
History & Provenance
Created in 1850, the drawing reflects Redgrave’s interest in British topography during a period of growing railway access to remote regions. The work has remained in the artist’s estate collection before entering a public holding, where it serves as a documentary record of the Pass of Llanberis before extensive modern development.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Richard Redgrave was an English landscape artist, genre painter, author, and administrator.
