Artwork
Llanbadarn Fawr Church and 'Black Lion' Inn
Llanbadarn Fawr Church and 'Black Lion' Inn is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Alfred Worthington. It dates from 1896 and is held in the collection of the National Library of Wales.
About this work
Overview
It belongs to the National Library of Wales as part of its framed works of art collection, under accession number PA06019.
Llanbadarn Fawr Church and 'Black Lion' Inn is a landscape painting by Alfred Worthington, dated to 1890. Executed in oil on slate, the work measures 22.5 cm in height and 35.8 cm in width. It belongs to the National Library of Wales as part of its framed works of art collection, under accession number PA06019. The painting is a topographical record of St Padarn's Church and the neighboring inn in Llanbadarn Fawr near Aberystwyth, capturing the site under a blanket of snow.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on St Padarn's Church, a stone building with a square tower and pointed spire topped by a weather vane. To its right sits the Black Lion Inn, a stone structure with a thatched roof identified by a visible sign. A low curving stone wall encloses the churchyard, entered through a small lychgate with an arched entrance. Another stone structure with arched openings appears on the left. The entire scene is covered in snow, with faint tracks and footprints marking the road. Leafless trees frame the view, and distant hills fade into a hazy background. The depiction serves as a straightforward topographical record of a popular local scene.
Technique & Style
Worthington applied oil paint to a slate support, a choice that lends the work a distinct material texture. The palette is muted, relying on grays, browns, and dull greens, punctuated by the white of the snow under a pale, overcast sky. Brushwork varies across the composition: architectural elements like the church, inn, and lychgate are rendered with smooth, precise, and illustrative detail, while the sky and distant hills receive looser handling. Bare branches are finely delineated against the light background, and shadows remain soft and diffused throughout. Window openings in the buildings are dark or shuttered, reinforcing the quiet atmosphere of the winter setting.
History & Provenance
Created in 1890, the painting entered the National Library of Wales in 1939 as a gift from Mr. A. R. Beddows. Its accession number is PA06019. Other versions of this scene by Worthington exist in different media and sizes, such as unframed oils on canvas bearing the stamp of the Aberystwyth supplier Wneatley on the reverse, measuring 53.3 cm wide by 43.1 cm high. These alternate versions, which appeared on the antiques market, highlight the commercial reproduction of the composition. The National Library's slate version remains the institutionally held work.
Artist & collection
Artist
English painter in the 1880s–90s, Worthington captured Welsh coastal life and village scenes in oil.
