The Manor House, Cresswells

The Anglo-Dutch painter, Hendrick Danckert, made this panoramic view of the manor house at Cresswells, Bray, in Berkshire, England around 1670. The drawing was preparatory for a painting of the house, presumably commissioned by its owner, Henry Somerset, 1st Duke of Beaufort. The genre of topographical painting that flourished in England beginning in the 17th century accompanied the building boom after the Restoration (1660), which was funded in large part by the American colonies. Many Dutch artists, trained in landscape painting in their native country, emigrated to England to meet the demand. Danckerts was among the first to incorporate watercolor into his drawings, a genre that would flourish in England in the following centuries.