The Avon Gorge

1816 - 1818

Francis Danby captures the sheer drama of the Avon Gorge just before the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge was even built. Towering, rugged cliffs dominate the left side, casting deep shadows over the lush greenery below, while a winding river snakes through the distant valley. Tiny figures in the foreground emphasize the overwhelming scale of nature, a classic trick of the Romantic movement to make humans feel small and awestruck. Danby painted this during a turbulent time in his own life, fleeing debt collectors, yet he managed to create a scene of such serene, majestic beauty that it became one of his most celebrated early works.

Related Artworks

Morning on the Banks of Lake Zurich, with Pilgrims Embarking on their way to Einsiedeln Abbey Francis Danby
A Mountain Chieftain’s Funeral Francis Danby ca. 1848
The Mountain Torrent Francis Danby 1820 - 1830
Three Women Seated by a Wooded Lake Francis Danby c. 1826
Saint Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge Francis Danby 1815-1818
The three sisters of Phaeton weeping over the tomb of their brother Francis Danby 1845
The Ferry Francis Danby ca. 1840
Children by a Brook Francis Danby ca. 1822
Landscape near Clifton Francis Danby 1822
The Haunted Wood Francis Danby
The Avon Gorge at Sunset Francis Danby ca. 1850
Panorama of the Coast at Sunset Francis Danby c. 1813
The Nightmare Henry Fuseli 1781
Der Postbote Carl Spitzweg 1860
Horse Frightened by a Lion George Stubbs between 1762 and 1768
Der Arme Poet (The Poor Poet)@Figurative Carl Spitzweg
The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons, 16 October 1834 Joseph Mallord William Turner 1835
Yosemite Albert Bierstadt 1868
Death of Sardanapalus Eugène Delacroix 1827
Der Student im Karzer Carl Spitzweg 1860
On Walchen Lake (Am Walchensee) Lovis Corinth 1923
A Side Canyon, Grand Canyon of Arizona Thomas Moran 1915
View from Mount Pilatus John Singer Sargent 1870
Mountainous landscape (1860–70) 2 Frederic Edwin Church