Malines, 1867

George Jones RA (1786 - 1869)

RA Collection: Art

‘Waterloo Jones’ served as an officer in the British army during the Napoleonic Wars and subsequently established a reputation as a battle painter. However, he also produced portraits, literary and religious subjects and townscapes. This painting of the historic centre of Malines – or Mechelen – in Flanders is one of a series depicting the ‘picturesque towns of the Continent’, including Ghent, Antwerp, Cologne and Prague. Jones successfully captured the ambience of these places by filling his scenes with ‘characteristic groups and incidents’.

Here, the imposing Gothic cathedral of St. Rombout’s dominates the scene yet its ornate architecture is painted in a soft, hazy manner so as not to detract from the human interest in the foreground where a crowd of townspeople stop what they are doing to watch an impromptu puppet show in the square.