The Cathedral at Havana, August-September 1762

1770 · Private collection

historical

This is one of two scenes painted by Serres showing Havana after its capture by the British in 1762. Historically the painting has always been known incorrectly as 'The Cathedral at Havana'. The central building is in fact the late colonial baroque church of San Francisco de Asís, a monastic church from the 1730s.

The Cathedral at Havana, August-September 1762

About the Artist

Dominic Serres

1722 – 1793

French marine painter, part of a family of painters and draughtsmen, active in England. Dominic Serres had at least five children: three daughters, all of whom were amateur painters (mostly in watercolours), and two sons, also painters: Dominic M. Serres (c. 1761-after 1804) and John Thomas Serres (1759-1825). Dominic Serres was strongly associated with the English school of painting, he became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and was later briefly (from 1792 until his death) its librarian. Born in Auch, Gascony, he was initially expected to train as a priest but instead travelled to Spain and became a ship's captain, sailing to Cuba. He was taken prisoner by the British navy towards the end of the 1740s and eventually settled in London in about 1758. He trained as a painter under Charles Brooking. Many of his paintings have naval themes. Working for a publisher documenting the events in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), he painted a series of depictions including the capture of Havana (1762). He also painted events in the American War of Independence (1776-1783). In 1780, he was appointed Marine Painter to King George III.

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