1807
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Pomona Britannica: No. 82 - Pears is a 1807 by George Brookshaw, a Romanticism work, depicting Fruit, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see three ripe pears on a dark, velvety background. Their stems curl, and their skins glow with tiny speckles and blushes of red and gold. This painting comes from a book called *Pomona Britannica*, which showed off the best fruits grown in England at the time. The dark background isn’t just for drama—it makes the pears look like they’re lit from within, almost like a spotlight on a stage. Brookshaw painted every detail, from the waxy shine to the soft shadows. If you like how these pears pop against the dark, look up chiaroscuro.
Pomona Britannica illustrates fruits cultivated at Hampton Court Palace’s gardens, the most celebrated around London. It was devoted to the most handsome varieties of fruit cultivated in England. Most of the 90 plates in this large and sumptuous book, like these, have dark aquatint backgrounds.
Though pears mature on the tree, they ripen best after being plucked.
Read the full account in the museum source.
George Brookshaw (c. 1751–1823), also known as G. Brown, was an English painter and illustrator from London. His early career was spent as a London cabinet-maker specializing in painted furniture, often with floral…
See the richer artist page
