Artwork
Old Bruton Church, Williamsburg, Virginia, in the Time of Lord Dunmore
Old Bruton Church, Williamsburg, Virginia, in the Time of Lord Dunmore is an oil painting by the American Impressionist artist Alfred Wordsworth Thompson. It dates from 1893 and is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Accession no.
- 99.28
- Credit line
- Gift of Mrs. A. Wordsworth Thompson, 1899
About this work
Alfred Wordsworth Thompson painted a sunlit Williamsburg street in 1893: a white wooden church, a black carriage, women in long dresses, and gentlemen in hats. He set the scene sixty years after the Revolution, when the colonial town was already a memory. The church still stands today.
Subject & Meaning
The composition situates the colonial church building within a typical Virginia streetscape, emphasizing equestrian transport and domestic presence.
The 1893 oil on canvas by Alfred Wordsworth Thompson, titled Old Bruton Church, Williamsburg, Virginia, in the Time of Lord Dunmore, portrays the historic Bruton Parish Church surrounded by a carriage, a tree, and figures of a man and a woman. The composition situates the colonial church building within a typical Virginia streetscape, emphasizing equestrian transport and domestic presence. The inclusion of the church, a central religious institution, alongside everyday colonial activity suggests a synthesis of spiritual authority and community life during the late 18th‑century governance of Lord Dunmore.
As part of The American Wing’s cityscape genre, the work functions as a visual record of early American heritage, using iconography of architecture, nature, and human figures to convey notions of stability, continuity, and colonial identity.
Technique & Style
Old Bruton Church, Williamsburg, Virginia, in the Time of Lord Dunmore is executed in oil paint on a canvas support, a medium Alfred Wordsworth Thompson used in 1893. The work is classified as a cityscape, depicting Bruton Parish Church alongside figures, a carriage, and trees. While the sources confirm the oil‑on‑canvas technique and genre, they do not provide information about the painting’s handling, surface condition, or any specific formal qualities such as brushwork or color palette.
History & Provenance
Alfred Wordsworth Thompson created the oil on canvas painting titled Old Bruton Church, Williamsburg, Virginia, in the Time of Lord Dunmore in 1893. The work, which depicts a cityscape featuring Bruton Parish Church along with figures engaged in equestrianism, was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is currently held within the museum's American Wing collection.
The canvas measures 45.7 cm in height and 68.9 cm in width. No specific details regarding the original commission or intermediate ownership history prior to its museum acquisition are provided in the available records.
Overview
"Old Bruton Church, Williamsburg, Virginia, in the Time of Lord Dunmore" is an oil on canvas painting. It depicts a sunlit street scene in colonial Williamsburg, focusing on the prominent white wooden church. The composition includes a black carriage, figures dressed in period attire, ladies in long dresses and gentlemen in hats, and a horse.
The work captures a specific moment in the historical landscape of Virginia, offering a visual record of the era.
Context
Thompson created this work approximately six decades after the American Revolution, at a time when the colonial town of Williamsburg had already become a historical subject rather than a contemporary setting. The artist's depiction reconstructs a past era, reflecting a retrospective view of the town. Bruton Parish Church itself remains standing in Williamsburg today, connecting the historical subject of the painting to the present-day landscape.
Artist & collection
Artist
Alfred Wordsworth Thompson (1840–1896) was an artist, born in Baltimore.
Rural Feast
Park in the Vicinity of Paris
Fahrendes Volk mit Reiter bei der Rast (Nachfolger)
Drawing the Eel
Wedding in the evening
Great procession
Entry of King Charles X in Colmar on 10 September 1828
The Lost Child Returned
Village with Pond
Ved Capucinerklostret i Rom
Way to the ring- The Old Westover House
