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Works Thomas Girtin and (?) Joseph Mallord William Turner after (?) John Robert Cozens

A River Scene, Possibly in the Roman Campagna

1794 - 1797

Primary Image: TG0793: Thomas Girtin (1775–1802) and (?) Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), after (?) John Robert Cozens (1752–97), A River Scene, Possibly in the Roman Campagna, 1794–97, graphite and watercolour on wove paper, 15.5 × 25.8 cm, 6 ⅛ × 10 ⅛ in. National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin (NGI.2403).

Photo courtesy of National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin (All Rights Reserved)

Description
Creator(s)
Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) and (?) Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) after (?) John Robert Cozens (1752-1797)
Title
  • A River Scene, Possibly in the Roman Campagna
Date
1794 - 1797
Medium and Support
Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
Dimensions
15.5 × 25.8 cm, 6 ⅛ × 10 ⅛ in
Object Type
Collaborations; Monro School Copy
Subject Terms
Italian View: The Roman Campagna; River Scenery

Collection
Catalogue Number
TG0793
Description Source(s)
Viewed in 2015

Provenance

Henry Vaughan (1809–99); bequeathed to the Gallery, 1900

Bibliography

Armstrong, 1902, p.274 as 'The Tiber and Mt Soracte' by Joseph Mallord William Turner; Dawson, 1988, pp.60–61 as 'A River in the Roman Campagna, Italy' by Joseph Mallord William Turner; Hodge and Mac Nally, 2012, pp.52–53

About this Work

This river scene has appeared in a number of catalogues of the work of Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), beginning with that of Walter Armstrong, who believed that it showed a view of the river Tiber looking towards Monte Soratte (Armstrong, 1902, p.274). The form of the mountain is not definitively that of Soratte, though, and recently the scene has been referred to more generally as the Roman Campagna. The river view indeed has a number of elements in common with other Monro School subjects, such as The Roman Campagna, from the Villa Madama (TG0572), which includes a view of the Tiber, as well as another panoramic view from Monte Mario (TG0571). However, since no similar topographical detail is featured here, such that might establish the location beyond doubt, a more general title is surely preferable.

The attribution of the watercolour to Turner working at the house of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) is equally problematic. The watercolour does indeed have a number of features in common with the work that Turner produced with the help of Girtin in the years between 1794 and 1797 at the home of their mutual patron. However, whilst Girtin generally ‘drew in outlines and Turner washed in the effects’ of the copies that they made from the ‘outlines or unfinished drawings’ of John Robert Cozens (1752–97), this work does not follow the characteristic division of labour that they themselves described to Joseph Farington (1747–1821) (Farington, Diary, 12 November 1798).1 The pencil lines may have been produced by Girtin, though they lack much of the inventiveness and subtlety of his best work, but the flat, very generalised colour washes do not look to be by Turner. If anything, they appear to have been added by Girtin, and the combination of an olive green over an ochre ground is particularly characteristic of his work around the years 1797–98. Monro’s posthumous sale included a number of ‘views in Italy’ that were attributed to just Girtin, including ‘Three, by Girtin, after Cozens’ (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 2 July 1833, lot 35). Although it is impossible to prove, I suspect that this work could have been one of those.

1794 - 1797

The Roman Campagna, from the Villa Madama

TG0572

1794 - 1797

Rome: The River Tiber from Monte Mario, Looking towards the Sabine Hills

TG0571

by Greg Smith

Footnotes

  1. 1 The full diary entry, giving crucial details of the artists’ work at Monro’s house, is transcribed in the Documents section of the Archive (1798 – Item 2).

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