Street in St Lo, Normandy

Street in St Lo, Normandy from 1845 by David Roberts captures the medieval architecture of a Norman town that would later suffer devastating destruction in World War II. Roberts's pre-war documentation gives his paintings additional historical value. Roberts, the son of a Scottish cobbler who became one of Britain's most celebrated topographical painters, documented the architecture and landscape of Europe and the Middle East with meticulous accuracy and atmospheric warmth.

The Norman street scene combines architectural precision with atmospheric town-life detail, Roberts rendering both buildings and figures with characteristic attention.