Visitors walking towards the bustling shopping streets of Chester city centre in the run up to Christmas would be hard-pressed to identify the serene scene captured by Henry Pether just two generations previously.
However, on closer inspection one can still identify several significant historical buildings which are still standing today. The principal subject of the work, Chester Castle, having been rebuilt by Thomas Harrison several decades earlier, stands proud on its elevated position overlooking the River Dee complete with its now demolished gaol. To its left at the edge of the canvas is the original Trustee Savings Bank building, identifiable by its striking corner turret and now a popular restaurant. Keen-eyed viewers might then spot the low tower of St Mary-on-the-Hill to the right of the castle, a church structure which during its 600 year history has undergone many changes. Further to the right can be seen two buildings which have now sadly been lost – the tower of St John the Baptist which collapsed in 1881 and the Dee Mills which were demolished in 1910. In the centre of the canvas stands the Old Dee Bridge, beautifully illuminated by the full moon. On the south bank lie the fishermen’s cottages of Handbridge whose occupants are in evidence on the river fishing for salmon. The changing cityscape of Chester allows art historians to identify that this work was completed somewhere between 1853-61.
Henry Pether was the last of a dynasty of landscape painters who specialised in capturing moonlight. Few painters anywhere have mastered this technique quite as successfully as Henry. The brooding sky landscapes of provincial English rivers, the River Thames and Venetian canals were hugely sought after by collectors and much admired during exhibitions at the Royal Academy. The accuracy with which the moonlight glimmers on the gentle ripples of the river is of a quality which matches that of the great pre-Raphaelite painters. Setting the horizon low on the canvas presents us with a looming skyscape which pulls the viewer right into the painting, almost as if we are standing on the banks of the Dee breathing in the cold wintery air.
This painting can be seen at the Grosvenor Museum, 27 Grosvenor Street, Chester CH1 2DD which is open daily. Admission is free.
Why you should see this painting:
This atmospheric painting offers us a rare glimpse of how different to today mid-Victorian Chester looked under the light of a crisp wintery full moon
First published in Cheshire Life January 2017
Michael Escolme 