Belle Isle, Windermere, in a Storm

Belle Isle on Windermere appears battered by a storm in this dramatic 1785 painting at Abbot Hall Art Gallery in Kendal, the Lake District's principal art gallery. Belle Isle, the largest island on Windermere, with its distinctive round house built in 1774, was a landmark that de Loutherbourg painted in both stormy and calm conditions. The paired paintings demonstrate his theatrical ability to transform the same location through contrasting atmospheric conditions.

Storm clouds drive across the sky while wind-whipped waves surge around the island, creating a composition of dynamic diagonal movement. De Loutherbourg's rendering of storm light—the breaks of brightness amid dark clouds—demonstrates his mastery of atmospheric drama. The island and its buildings provide a stable reference point against which the violence of the weather can be measured.