Capturing Windsor Castle: Sandby Watercolours

This official app from Royal Collection explores Windsor Castle and its grounds through Sandby's extraordinary eighteenth century watercolours and contemporary photographs, capturing one of the world's greatest and most iconic landmarks.

Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world, is an official residence of Her Majesty The Queen and has been the home of British kings and queens for almost 1,000 years. It has been captured by artists and photographers throughout the centuries but few are more intriguing than the watercolours created by the brothers Paul and Thomas Sandby in the late eighteenth century. Forty-five of their finest views of the Castle, the town, and the surrounding countryside have been gathered together in this free app and paired with photographs of the same views as they appear today.

Paul Sandby has been called ‘the father of English watercolour’. With his brother Thomas, he produced dozens of watercolours recording the world-famous Windsor Castle and its surroundings in the reign of George III (1760–1820), including scenes of everyday life with soldiers on duty, deliveries being made, and the visiting public enjoying the Castle as they do today.

The app was originally published as a companion to the exhibition 'Capturing the Castle. Watercolours by Paul and Thomas Sandby. It is now a popular and intriguing way to explore the Castle as it was before its transformation in the nineteenth century. Retina-quality images of the watercolours are at your fingertips, all helpfully geo-located, plus an imaginative slider function enabling you to time - and media - travel from one image to the other.

Additionally, using this app you can take your own photo of one of the featured views, providing a personal memento of the visit. There is also an in-app sharing facility making it easy to share your images and favourites via your chosen social network.

Key features of the app:

- See on the main map where the watercolours are located in and around the castle
- Compare Sandby watercolours with modern day photos of the same view
- Take your own photos when visiting Windsor and add them to the app, to compare against the watercolours.
- Browse, bookmark and share watercolours and photos.

The watercolours themselves are part of the Royal Collection, and are kept at Windsor Castle.

The Royal Collection

The Royal Collection is one of the largest and most important art collections in the world. Comprising almost all aspects of the fine and decorative arts and running to more than a million objects, the Collection is a unique and valuable record of the personal tastes of kings and queens over the past 500 years.

The Royal Collection is held in trust by The Queen as Sovereign for her successors and the nation. The care and conservation of the Royal Collection is funded entirely by Royal Collection Trust, a registered charity, with income raised from the public opening of Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and from associated trading activities. This income also supports educational activities, loans and projects to increase public access and enjoyment. The activities of Royal Collection Trust are undertaken without recourse to public funds.

To find out more please visit www.royalcollection.org.uk