Francis Danby, A.R.A (Wexford, Ireland 1793-1861 Exmouth, Devon)

Danby spent July and August 1825 in Norway in search of dramatic and wild landscapes. He responded to the landscapes with mixed emotions. In a letter to his friend and patron John Gibbons, he wrote; 'it is of totally different character from what I expected, yet there are very beautiful scenes and extremely picturesque on a small scale, indeed by far the most beautiful I ever saw but in Grandure they fall short. God knows the country is wild enough, these kind of scenes are better in pictures than in reality'. However, despite these mixed sentiments, he returned to the scenery he found, in his art, throughout the rest of his life.