This impressive pair of large watercolor paintings are surrounded by elaborate hand carved fruitwood frames which depict the interior of the famed Rosslyn Chapel.
The Rosslyn Chapel is a 15th century chapel located in Roslin, Scotland, just outside of Edinburgh. Originally built as a college church founded by William Sinclair, the chapel was open for public worship until the Scottish Reformation in the mid 16th century. The spectacular Gothic chapel may be best known for the legend which states that the treasure of the fabled Knights Templar is hidden in a deep vault whose entrance is sealed off by a stone wall.
The paintings are signed S.D. Swarbreck and dated 1836. Samuel Dukinfield Swarbreck (1799-1863) was a British artist from London that painted landscapes and town scenes. Swarbreck might be best known for his 1839 endeavor, Sketches In Scotland, which was a self-published book containing lithographic prints of his drawings of Scottish streets and architecture from his art show in 1837. Swarbreck had cloister scenes similar to this in his book. They ended up being a useful tool for historians to analyze the conditions of the chapel in the early to mid 19th century.
The expertly carved frames surrounding the paintings are done in a fruitwood with a giltwood interior border spacer and modern glass covers. Carved in intricately high detail, the frames have great depth and movement, and motifs include C scrolls, floral vines and large stylized acanthus shells. The frames are shaped with slightly concave sides.
These tall chapel paintings in highly detailed frames show great depth, and are very decorative. They have neutral tones which allow them to be placed in almost any room of a house.
CONDITION: Good antique condition. Small losses and repairs to frames, with more recent varnish. Very minor tear to bottom of one paper.