- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
- Date
- (?) 1796
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 26.6 × 20.7 cm, 10 ½ × 8 ¼ in
- Object Type
- On-the-spot Colour Sketch
- Subject Terms
- Durham and Northumberland; Monastic Ruins
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
(TG1110)
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church (TG1111)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1109
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 163i as 'Lindisfarne Priory'; 'Water-Colour, unfinished'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and 2018
Provenance
Thomas Calvert Girtin (1801–74); then by descent to George Wyndham Hog Girtin (1835–1911); then by a settlement to his sister, Mary Hog Barnard (née Girtin) (1828–99); then by descent to Francis Pierrepont Barnard (1854–1931); presented to the Museum, 1915
Exhibition History
Newcastle, 1982, no.76
Bibliography
Mayne, 1949, p.45; Brown, 1982, pp.337–38, no.736
Place depicted
Other entries in The 1796 Northern Tour to Yorkshire, the North East and the Scottish Borders:
Sketches and Subsequent Watercolours
Bamburgh Castle, from the South
Cragside House, Northumberland (National Trust)
Durham Cathedral, from the South West
British Museum, London
The Ouse Bridge, York, from the North Shore
British Museum, London
The Ouse Bridge, York, from Skeldergate Postern
York Art Gallery
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the Ouse
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
York Minster, from the Ouse, with St Mary’s Abbey
Harewood House, Yorkshire
The South Side of York Minster, Showing the Transept and the Western Towers
Private Collection, Yorkshire
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
British Museum, London
Unidentified Gothic Ruins, Said to Be St Mary’s Abbey, York
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Harewood House, Yorkshire
A Distant View of Rievaulx Abbey
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Private Collection
Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Manchester Art Gallery
Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Church Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
British Museum, London
Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool
Richmond Castle and Town, from the South East
Private Collection
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
British Museum, London
Egglestone Abbey, from the River Tees
Gallery Oldham
Egglestone Abbey, on the River Tees
British Museum, London
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Private Collection, Norfolk
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir; Dryburgh Abbey with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Durham Cathedral, from the South West
Private Collection
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Private Collection
Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Cleveland Museum of Art
Bothal Castle, from the River Wansbeck
Private Collection
A River Scene with a Tower, Said to Be the Tyne near Hexham
Leeds Art Gallery
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Private Collection, Norfolk
The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Castle Beyond
Untraced Works
Dunstanburgh Castle, Viewed from a Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Dunstanburgh Castle: The Lilburn Tower
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
An Interior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Lindisfarne: The Nave and Crossing of the Priory Church
British Museum, London
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Private Collection
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept Looking North
Private Collection
Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept from the Cloister
Private Collection
Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Cooper Gallery, Barnsley
Melrose Abbey, from the North East
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York
Jedburgh Abbey, from the North East
Private Collection
Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
British Museum, London
The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
Private Collection, Bedfordshire
The West Front of Jedburgh Abbey
British Museum, London
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Blickling Hall, Norfolk (National Trust)
The Ruins of the Lady Chapel, near Bothal
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Bamburgh Castle, from the Village
Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool
Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
Private Collection
An Interior View of Fountains Abbey: The East Window from the Presbytery
Graves Gallery, Sheffield
St Mary’s, Old Malton, on the River Derwent
Untraced Works
York: Pavement, Looking towards All Saints
Private Collection
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About this Work
This view looking east along the south flank of the ruins of the priory church of Lindisfarne on Holy Island, with the castle in the distance, was probably made in 1796 on Girtin’s first independent sketching tour. Only one of the twenty or so pencil drawings and on-the-spot colour sketches that survive from the trip is dated, but it is still broadly possible to trace Girtin’s progress through Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland and the Scottish Borders from the titles of the works that he sent to the 1797 Royal Academy exhibition, and from the dated watercolours that were subsequently produced from these and other untraced sketches. The larger of the two watercolours based on this sketch is dated 1800 (TG1111), but the view closest in spirit to the sketch dates stylistically from around 1797 (TG1110). Given that two works with the title ‘St. Cuthbert’s Cathedral, Holy Island’ were shown at the Royal Academy in the same year (Exhibitions: Royal Academy, London, 1797, no.434 and no.763), there can be little doubt that this and two other sketches of Lindisfarne (TG1105 and TG1112) were made on the 1796 trip.
Compared to the on-the-spot study of the interior view of the priory ruins at Lindisfarne (TG1105), which employs a simple monochrome palette to record the distribution of light and shade, this work is not just more colourful; another contrast is that the effect is built up by superimposing washes of different tones. Because this would have required the artist to have left each area to dry before applying the next wash of colour, I initially resisted the idea that the work was coloured on the spot, not least because the artist also reserved two spaces in the foreground for cattle, indicating a degree of planning not normally associated with the practice. However, the drawing additionally includes passages where the rapid application of very liquid washes has resulted in blotting and a loss of control. This is particularly apparent in the sky, which, in contrast to the carefully planned effect seen in a view of Newcastle upon Tyne (TG1080), displays all of the problems associated with sketching out of doors with a watery medium. If this is indeed the case, the question might be asked as to why it was that, alone of the architectural scenes sketched on the 1796 tour, it was the priory church at Lindisfarne that Girtin chose to work on in full colour. Although it is not possible to be sure, perhaps it was the case that Girtin wished to record the unusually dark red sandstone from which the priory church is built, and the colour, moderated by the play of sunlight, is indeed replicated in some of the finished studio watercolours of Lindisfarne scenes (TG1107 and TG1110), though, ironically, both versions of the latter composition depart from the colouration shown here (TG1110 and TG1111).
1800
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
TG1111
1797 - 1798
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
TG1110
(?) 1796
Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
TG1105
(?) 1796
Lindisfarne Castle
TG1112
(?) 1796
Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
TG1105
(?) 1796
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
TG1080
1797
An Interior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
TG1107
1797 - 1798
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
TG1110
1797 - 1798
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
TG1110
1800
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
TG1111