Llyn-y-Cau, Cader Idris

This picture shows the lake of Llyn Cau, on the mountain of Cader Idris in North Wales. Wilson was the first artist to paint this view in Merionethshire, some seven miles from his childhood home at Penegoes. It is taken from the slopes of Mynydd Moel, looking toward Llyn Cau, near the summit of Cader Idris. The precipice of Craig Cau is heightened and schematized in the cause of primitive simplicity. The mistaken contemporary belief that Llyn Cau was volcanic in origin may have encouraged Wilson to associate this view with the volcanic landscape of the Alban hills near Rome, especially Lake Nemi.

Wilson was one of the first to adapt the conventions of landscape painting to this sort of scenery, and was a major influence on other artists, including Turner. 

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