The nave of Winchester Cathedral, looking east

James Cave is best known for his drawings and watercolours of Winchester Cathedral, and this impressive work in oil is a rare survival. Cave’s work found a wide audience through engraved illustrations in Rev. John Milner’s History of Winchester, first published in 1798 and later revised and enlarged into a two volume publication, The history, civil and ecclesiastical, & survey of the antiquities of Winchester, which is still regarded today as an important historical work of reference.

Cave was born into a local family of painters and decorators; his father William married Anne, the daughter of Thomas Broadway, described as ‘Painter in General to Winchester College’, and had three sons, William, James and John. James is believed to have been Drawing Master at Twyford School. He exhibited seven works at the Royal Academy between 1807-1817, all but one of which were interior views of Winchester Cathedral. A small group of his beautifully detailed watercolours are in the collection of Winchester College, one of which depicts the exterior of the cathedral (inv. no. Aw594; fig. 1).