Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, France

In September 1066 the fleet of William, Duke of Normandy, lay in the mouth of the Somme at Saint-Valery for about two weeks, waiting for a wind that would carry it across the Channel to England. When Boudin painted the place in 1890, it was a small harbour town on a bay that had been silting up for centuries. In his view, boats are moored along the bank on the left, a sailing ship flies a flag from its mast, people walk along the path, and a couple of rowing boats sit out on the flat water. Most of the canvas goes to the sky, a low spread of grey and violet cloud. It came to Scotland in 1936, when Aberdeen Art Gallery bought it with income from the Webster Bequest.