Peter Monamy (1681-1749)

Ships of the fleet becalmed off Castle Cornet at St Peter Port, Guernsey

oil on canvas

23 x 64 in. (58.4 x 162.5 cm)

28 x 70 in. (71 x 178 cm) framed



Provenance:

Arthur Ackerman & Son, Inc, New York;

Mr and Mrs Edison Dick, Lake Forest, Illinois by 1932, thence by descent;

Private collection.



Literature:

Frances Elkins, Interior Design. Illustrated pp. 96-97.



Built on a small tidal island just off St. Peter Port on Guernsey, Castle Cornet was constructed over a fifty-year period from 1206-56 following the division of the Duchy of Normandy in 1204.  Besieged and captured by the French in 1339, when its garrison was massacred, the castle remained basically unaltered until 1545-48 when it was extensively remodelled to reflect the new realities of the age of cannon and gunpowder.  The official residence of the Governor of Guernsey until 1672, when it was severely damaged by a lightning strike on its powder magazine, the castle later became permanently joined to the island when it was integrated into the new southern breakwater completed after the Napoleonic Wars.

 

Peter Monamy had strong links with the Channel Islands – his family were prominent merchants who had been residents on Guernsey since the 1560s and he received significant patronage from the region’s famous naval families. This included the Saumarez family, who had a manor house on Guernsey just out of view to the left of this picture. With this in mind, it is tempting to conclude this panoramic vista might have been commissioned by the family, perhaps to commemorate the serene scene before departing on a major expedition.