past

Introduction

Gilpin's Journal

The Claude Glass

The Origins and Development of Picturesque
Taste and Picturesque Tourism

On a sunny day in the summer of 1770 a vicar and a few traveling companions departed Ross-On-Wye (Wales) towards Monmouth in a covered boat, directed by three hired men. This journey, the first of many by William Gilpin, the Vicar of Bodre and the author of eight

travel journals, would serve to launch a devoted following of other travelers in search of what was understood as Picturesque Beauty. The trip would take three days total, travelling from Ross to Chepstow and back. The journey required overnight stays in local inns, meals, maps, and some knowledge of the arts to fully understand and appreciate the sights along the river.

“Gilpin, "Observaions on the River Wye...”, 2nd ed. 1789

Gilpin’s Journal
Gilpin wasn't the first to travel the Wye River for pleasure, but his account, published in 1782 became a primary source for early Romantic period excursions into the countryside of England and Wales in search of the landscape, using the rules Gilpin penned during his several 'observations relating chielfly to Picturesque Beauty" tours. This journal, was reprinted five times between 1782 and 1838.Other notable travelers would visit the Wye Valley in the late 18th or early 19th century -- Thomas Gray, Samuel Coleridge, William and Dorothy Wordsworth and William Henry Fox Talbot and members of his family. Talbot's mother, Elisabeth, visited the river in 1812 and William Henry in 1830.
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Claude Glass, Victoria & Albert Image Collection

Claude Glass,Collection of Nicholas Graver

The Claude Glass
Tourists flocked to the area (many carrying copies of Gipin's journal) to pursue sketching, writing, and "taking views" of the landscape with a small device known as a Claude Glass. A Claude Glass (sometimes called Gray Glasses for the color of the glass surface) was a small convex mirror which would be held aloft to compose and view landscapes over one's shoulder. Similar to looking into a rear view mirror in today's automobile, this visual act provided tourists with a complete picture, albeit of a very transient nature. Named for the widely popular painter, Claude Lorrain (Gellee), the glasses began their history as an artist's aid to reduce contrast in a scene. Thomas Gray, a well known pre-Romantic poet, was so fond of the glasses he is quoted as saying the view could sell for 1000 pounds...if only one could fix the image!
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19th Century French optical catalog listings

Tourism
The impulse and desire to make pictures (by sketching or via Claude Glasses) was understood to be the sign of an educated and refined person. This aesthete practice would spread to the middle class as the industrial revolution would bring wealth, property and leisure to many citizens anxious to show their accomplishments and new social position. Landscapes and their control was a large part of this expression -- from landscape park designs, to large estate gardens, landscape painting collections, and travel. As the Napoleonic Wars curtailed much of the travel through France, the traditional rites of passage for educated young gentlemen, known as the Grand Tour, was unavailable or unsafe. English tourism would satisfy the needs for such travel, especially Picturesque touring. The English landscape provided a ready resource for displays of taste, power, and consumption. Once a region spurned by the upper class, Wales became popular for its rugged and rolling landscape and seemingly unspoiled natural state. Improvements in transportation, including new roads and tollways, but especially the bulidup of railways provided another stimuli to the increasing demands for travel and experiencing picturesque lands.
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All Images © Darryl Baird, 2005 unless otherwise credited