- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
- Date
- 1797 - 1798
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 39.2 × 55.1 cm, 15 ⅜ × 21 ¾ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin’ lower left, by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Durham and Northumberland; Gothic Architecture: Cathedral View
Provenance
Walker’s Galleries, London; bought from them, 1928
Exhibition History
Walker’s Galleries, 1928, no.38, 450 gns; Manchester, 1975, no.17; Newcastle, 1982, no.82; London, 2002, no.53
Bibliography
V&A, 1929, p.48; Dickey, 1931, p.169; Hardie, 1934, p.14; Anonymous, 1948, p.176; Mayne, 1949, p.98; Williams, 1952, p.107; Hardie, 1966–68, vol.2, p.6, p.17; Lambourne and Hamilton, 1980, p.151; Brett, 1984, p.107; Hackney, 1990, p.47; Kriz, 1997, fig.15
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 finely preserved watercolour is the earlier of two views of Durham Cathedral and Castle taken from below the weir looking south east (the other being TG1078) that were executed from a monochrome study (TG1076) made on Girtin’s first independent tour, to the northern counties and Scottish Borders in 1796. The view was taken from further downriver than in the classic close-up scene Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear (TG1074), so that the castle and cathedral now rise up in one mass, with the crossing tower appearing as though part of the fortress’s defences. From this angle, elements of the companion view, such as Framwellgate Bridge and the waterfront buildings, contribute to a composition that locates the castle–cathedral complex within a broader landscape, with the essentially rural character of the near bank forming a contrast with the crowd of buildings opposite, which seem to have grown organically from the rocky outcrop overlooking the river. The result is close to another watercolour produced from a sketch made on the 1796 trip, Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale (TG1797), which I have dated to around 1797. This watercolour may be from a little later, but it shares many of the same stylistic features of the works that Girtin made in the year or so following his trip to the northern counties, including a closer view of Durham Castle and Cathedral also taken from the river Wear (TG1075). That work is slightly smaller and was therefore probably not conceived as part of a pair with this watercolour, but it shares the same palette and likewise depicts a sunny effect in which the image of military power is rendered in a benevolent light. In this case, Girtin followed the distribution of light that he recorded on the spot in his monochrome sketch to create a morning scene, with the sun coming from the north east. This more distant view of Durham castle and cathedral shares another arguably immature feature with a different Richmond view (TG1067); the reflection of the tower in the river is similarly implausible from this viewpoint.
On a technical note, the paper historian Peter Bower has identified the support Girtin employed as a coarse laid strong wrapping paper by an unknown English manufacturer, worked on the wireside, where the surface is impressed with the lines of the mould used in its manufacture (Smith, 2002b, p.79; Bower, Report). The drawing has been laid on a later nineteenth-century mount, which, in turn, has been covered by a modern window mount that partly obscures the artist’s signature to the left.
1799 - 1800
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir; An Unidentified Hilly Landscape
TG1078
(?) 1796
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
TG1076
1799
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
TG1074
1801 - 1802
A Farm beyond a Field
TG1797
1796 - 1797
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
TG1075
1796 - 1797
Richmond Castle and Town, from the South East
TG1067