Battle Abbey, Sussex 

David Cox made this watercolor painting of Battle Abbey in Sussex sometime in the first half of the 19th century. Watercolor is an interesting choice of material for this subject, since it is so often associated with fleeting impressions – in stark contrast to the weight and permanence of architecture. It’s easy to imagine Cox outside on a breezy day with his portable painting kit, rapidly capturing the scene with loose washes of pigment. The quickness of the medium lends itself to the picturesque aesthetic that was so fashionable at the time. Rather than the sharp lines of a carefully rendered architectural drawing, we get a hazy, atmospheric impression. This emphasizes the abbey’s ruined state, now softened by the play of light and weather. Ultimately, this watercolor painting asks us to consider the built environment as something ever-changing, subject to the same processes of decay and renewal as any other aspect of the natural world.