''Dolbadarn Castle'' is an oil painting by
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulen ...
(1775–1851) depicting
Dolbadarn Castle, created in 1798–1799. It is part of a body of work completed by Turner during a tour of the region, which included
Dolbadarn,
Llanberis and other parts of
Snowdonia. Many supporting studies can be found in a sketch book now held by
Tate Britain (Record: TB XLVI).
When Turner returned to his London studio he developed these sketches into a number of more accomplished paintings of North Wales, including this one, which is now kept at the
National Library of Wales
The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million boo ...
.
This painting is particularly notable as it is one of two that Turner submitted as Diploma works to the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
in 1800.
Historical event
The painting is an artist's impression of a 13th-century event of some importance in Welsh history. It depicts
Owain Goch
Owain ap Gruffudd (also known as ''Owain Goch'' wain the Red (died 1282) was brother to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd and Dafydd ap Gruffudd and, for a brief period in the late 1240s and early 1250s, ruler of part of the Kingdom of Gwynedd (in modern-day n ...
, the brother of
Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (LLywelyn the Second), being taken by soldiers to prison at Dolbadarn Castle. Owain was imprisoned at the Castle between 1255 and 1277, when he was released. The imprisonment of Owain, dressed in red in the painting, left his brother Llywelyn free to concentrate on uniting Wales against the English.
Travel through Wales
Turner first visited Wales in 1792, when he traveled through the south of the country. On his second visit in 1794, he visited
Flintshire and
Denbighshire. In 1798 he paid a much longer visit to Wales, travelling through Dyffryn Wysg,
Ceredigion,
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...
,
Gwynedd
Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...
and
Llangollen.
Details of the picture
The frame was especially commissioned for the painting from John Jones of London, in the 1940s. The picture was purchased by the Library with the help of the
National Art Collection Fund
Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...
and the
National Lottery. The medium is oil on a wood panel and the visible area measures 45.5 x 30 cm., and the frame 62 x 50 cm.
BBC website
retrieved 13 April 2016 Turner also submitted this work with some lines of verse related to the painting's themes, a relatively common practice of his. The verse reads, "How awful is the silence of the waste,/ Where nature lifts her mountains to the sky,/ Majestic solitude, behold the tower/ Where hopeless OWEN, long imprison'd, pined/ And wrung his hands for liberty in vain."
See also
* List of paintings by J. M. W. Turner
This is an incomplete list of the oil paintings of J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is ...
References
{{J. M. W. Turner
1790s paintings
Paintings by J. M. W. Turner
Paintings in the National Library of Wales
Wales in art