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Untitled [Montevideo, outer wall]


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Abstract

A town in its landscape; buildings, human figures and activities.

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Drawing. The sky is blank, the sun shining from high in the sky behind and to the right of Martens' vantage point. The vantage point is perpendicular to that in 14, ie from somewhere on the pathway occupied by the convoy in that picture, and closer to the town. In the midground, the entrance to the town seems to have been cut through a dune or other ridge of soft material, which supports much low vegetation, and stretches across the whole width of the picture to the full height of the town wall, which is just visible behind it here and there, and is some 7m high. In the background, the outlines of rooftops project above the wall, and are depicted only in outline from the left-hand edge to the centre right. In the centre right Montevideo Cathedral rises prominently above the wall and verdant ridge, and is shown in much greater detail than in previous pictures. The towers below their conical tops are square, and of two upper `storeys', each of which has a slender window opening on each visible face. The storeys are separated by coping that juts out. The facade between the towers shows the top of an arched entrance, above which there is a wide semicircular arc topping a rectangular stone frame. To either side of the main entrance, below the towers, there are indications of large rectangular openings, only the tops of which are visible above the town wall. In the midground, two figures approach the ridge before the gateway on a broad walkway or road; another figure is passing through the gateway itself. Nearer the left of the picture a thatched shed or barn-like structure is indicated, with two figures directly to its right, a third further to the right and forward. To the right of the gateway and in front of the ridge, three figures stand behind three large apparently unladen carts with 2m wheels and open-slatted sides, which may not be attached either to each other or to the pair of horses standing to their right, the left-hand horse facing away from the viewer while the other faces to the right. In front of them there appears to be a horse lying on the ground. This group stretches from the centre to the right of the picture. The foreground is occupied by slightly uneven ground, with a covering of very low scrappy vegetation indicated.

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