작품 상세

Oil on Canvas Signed and dated 1872 lower right 79 x 112 cm. (31 1/8 x 44 in) Exhibited: Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts, 1872, no.41 Constructed in 1828, the iron suspension bridge seen in Beechey's painting replaced the traditional method of crossing the channel, which was said to have been by a basket that was suspended on a hemp cable. Holyhead, located on Holy Island, is a major sea port serving Ireland, with people having sailed between Holyhead and Ireland for possibly over 4000 years. The maritime importance of Holyhead reached its zenith in the 19th century with the construction of a 3km long sea breakwater, the longest in the UK, and was constructed in order to provide a safe harbour for vessels caught in stormy waters on their way to industrial ports such as Liverpool and Lancashire. The peripheral islands surrounding Holy Island, including the North Stack, the South Stack (depicted in the present painting), and their cliffs and jagged rocks were a great danger to sailors, even after the construction of the South Stack Lighthouse. The looming darkness and imposing cliffs in the present painting suggest a tense atmosphere, and the isolation of the sailing boats in the lower right evidently adds a sense of perspective allowing one to appreciate the scale of cliffs.