Windsor Great Park from the Castle Terrace 

Benjamin West captured Windsor Great Park from the Castle Terrace using watercolor. At first glance, the scene evokes peace, yet the castle looms—a stoic symbol of power. The castle is not merely a building; it's an icon, a modern-day echo of ancient citadels. Think of the Tower of Babel, or the fortified cities in early Renaissance paintings. These structures symbolize not just physical dominance but also the ambition to reach the divine, to control destiny. The panoramic landscape, viewed from this elevated fortress, whispers of man's dominion over nature. Yet, nature, with its sprawling, untamed beauty, subtly questions this control. The dialogue between the controlled and the wild, the power and the serene, continues through time, a recurring motif in the theater of human history. The castle, the landscape—they are characters in an ongoing drama, their meanings shifting with each new act.