Very little is known of Samuel’s career except that he joined the Sketching Society formed in 1799 by Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) and Francois-Thomas-Louis Francia (1772-1839). The fact that this is not by a major artist makes its exceptional quality all the more surprising. The colour is fresh and bright, and vividly evokes light and space, especially in the veiling of the Castle in a luminous blue haze. The view-point is perspectivally precise and 'modern' in seeing the Castle as glorious but incidental to the mundane and public space of a river bank. This work allows one to see how far landscape painting in oils had advanced in England, perhaps inspired by the lighter, more informal and topographical character of watercolour. This view was engraved as the frontispiece to volume I of Pyne's 'Royal Residences' of 1819; it shows Windsor Castle from the north-west, looking across the River Thames, on which is a ferry transporting two huntsmen and their dog; on the left bank is a party of young men, three of whom are bringing in a small boat. Signed and dated: 'G. Samuel. 1816'