Windsor Castle from the South
Unknown artist
after 1681
King Charles II spent a fortune remodeling the ancient castle at Windsor to designs by the architect Hugh May. This depiction of Windsor derives from one of a pair of views painted for the king in the late 1670s or early 1680s by the Dutch émigré Jan Vorsterman. The same view of Windsor appears in another painting that is still in the Royal Collection, signed by Jan Griffier the Elder, but with a markedly different landscape. This picture is quite probably a replica of that landscape by Griffier himself. In this version we are gazing north in late afternoon light as the sun begins to set. In the foreground, two hawkers approach a stream with their dogs; a woman lifts her skirt as she crosses to meet them. Beyond is a pasture with livestock and another figure, possibly a milkmaid. On the far left, a lone pilgrim hikes up the lane, followed by his dog.
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven · Image: Yale Center for British Art, Public domain · Text: Yale Center for British Art, CC0