Old Houses at Shrewsbury

Old Houses at Shrewsbury from 1804 by Augustus Wall Callcott is an early architectural study depicting the medieval timber-framed buildings of the Shropshire town. Such architectural subjects reflected the growing Romantic appreciation for medieval English buildings, whose picturesque irregularity and historical associations contrasted with the classical order championed by the previous generation. Callcott's early interest in architectural subjects preceded his full development as a landscape and marine painter, demonstrating the variety of his youthful ambitions. The Royal Collection holds this early work, which documents the town's historic streetscape with a combination of topographic accuracy and atmospheric rendering. The timber-framed buildings of Shrewsbury, many of which survive today, represented for Callcott's contemporaries the authentic fabric of English history.

The timber-framed buildings are rendered with careful architectural detail, the medieval structures providing picturesque subject matter for the young landscape painter.