Page 25 - cn - ah national trust society and nature 25-03-24

Croome Court , Worcestershire.

The “Alter Realist” composition focuses on the statue of Sabrina in isolation from the surrounding Pleasure
Garden Grotto, thereby relating to John Milton’s poem, wherein he describes the mythological roots of Sabrina
(a water nymph.)

The grotto was introduced by Capability Brown to his pleasure garden scheme and work began in 1765. Between
1781 and 1786 it was covered with tropical shells and corals, semi- precious stones, fossils and polished pebbles.
Grottos were considered to be the home of water nymphs. Hence within the grotto is placed, the Latin inscription
from Virgil’s epic poem, The Aeneid; it translates as “Behold! a cave beneath the overhanging rocks. Inside,
fresh- water springs, and seats formed from living stone. This is the home of the Nymphs!” The statue was added
to the grotto in 1804 and probably designed by John Bacon. Sabrina, who according to the medieval chronicler
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a water nymph inhabiting the River Severn {Sabrina is Latin for Severn}. Sabrina is part
of the foundation myth of Britain, which told how the ancient Britons were descended from the classical hero
Brutus, Great son of Aeneas of Troy.

The treatment of the painting partly animates the statue. In reality, water pours out of the vessel. In the painting I
have included water spilling out onto rocks which in turn replenishes the nearby pool, this being symbolic of the
source of the life- giving qualities to the river. The colourisation and drama of chiaroscuro is in terms that relates
to the water world of the Nymph and the timeless esoteric state of a mythological figure.

Sabrina, Croome Park,

High Green, Worcester.
Oil on canvas 48 x 401/8 inches