Travellers in a Cave

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Travellers in a Cave
1820s;
Richard Parkes Bonington

Bonington expresses himself in oils in a way typical of the early 19th c. water-colourists. Atmosphere is conveyed by almost impressionist use of smudges of colour. The composition of the people in the cave is ellipsoid, their outlines suggested by strong, free brush-strokes.

On the left there are five standing figures and one man who is crouching, the whole group is distinguished from the generally dark interior by a band of yellow light. On the right a woman and child are picked out in yellow, the mother is seated on a higher rock that gives her an almost Madonna-like position.