Rocky wooded landscape with waterfall, castle and mountain, 

Thomas Gainsborough made this small drawing, "Rocky wooded landscape with waterfall, castle and mountain," with black chalk and grey wash. Gainsborough lived during a time of emerging romanticism where nature was seen as sublime and a source of emotional experience. However, English society was structured by land ownership, class, and power. The landed gentry and aristocracy had control of most land in England. We can consider how romanticism played into class structures. Gainsborough, from a modest background, used landscapes to express a certain ideal of England. This drawing is in monochrome, heightening the drama of the scene. The dramatic landscape, with its waterfall and imposing castle, suggests power, while the trees and foliage imply untamed nature. But the figures by the river suggest human presence and scale, inviting contemplation. Although small in scale, the drawing evokes a powerful sense of nature and its place in the social and political landscape of 18th-century England.