First View of the Coast of Virginia

Description

Watercolor on paper drawing of "First View of the Coast of Virginia", March 3, 1796, by Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Following the death of his first wife Lydia Sellon Latrobe (1760-1793), Benjamin suffered a breakdown and decided to emigrate from Great Britain to the United States. He boarded the sailing ship "Eliza" and spent four months at sea, before arriving in Norfolk, Virginia in March 1796. This scene features two schooners and the visible Virginia coast line on that "Hazy morning" of March 3. He also notes that the low shore was covered in pine woods as well as Cape Henry at right in the distance.