An extensive river landscape with travellers and donkeys crossing a bridge with a fortified castle beyond

This is an impressive example of Sandby's later landscapes, wherein he experimented with combining watercolour and bodycolour. It is particularly unusual being executed on linen.

Though working on a larger scale Sandby maintains his customary fidelity to detail. As drawings master at the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich (1768-1796), accuracy and precision were skills he both demonstrated and encouraged. However his role as innovator in the history of topographical painting rests upon his ability to add humour and incident to landscape views. The present picture is no exception. Despite its scale, the narrative elements are numerous. From the fighting dogs in the foreground, to the millwheel in the far distance, Sandby alerts us to the life and movement which add temporal drama to a capriccio view.