- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after Edward Dayes (1763-1804)
- Title
-
- Hereford Cathedral
- Date
- 1792 - 1793
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 22.9 × 29.5 cm, 9 × 11 ⅝ in
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0070
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 18 as '1792'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2015
Provenance
Walker’s Galleries, London, 1921, £75; Victor Rienaecker (1887–1972)
Exhibition History
Walker’s Galleries, 1921, no.62
Place depicted
Other entries in Master and Pupil:
Edward Dayes and the Industrious Apprentice
An Icelandic Woman in Her Riding Dress
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
An Icelandic Woman with Her Young Daughter
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
The Great Geysir, Iceland, as It Appeared during Its Eruption to Sir Joseph Banks in September 1772
Private Collection
Mount Hekla, with Sir Joseph Banks and His Party Descending from the Volcano
Private Collection
Lava as It Has Run Over the Ridge of a Hill, Iceland
Private Collection
The House of Thorstein Jonsson at Hvaleyri, Iceland
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
A Section of the 'Boiling Fountains' (Geysers) and the Surrounding Country, Iceland
Private Collection
The Basalt Pillars near Laugarnes, Iceland
Private Collection
An Icelandic Woman in Her Bridal Dress
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik
Durham Cathedral, from the River Wear
The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg
Eton College, from the River
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
London: Interior of St Stephen Walbrook, Looking East
Private Collection
Rochester, from the River Medway
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
St Mary’s Church, Battersea
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Unidentified Coastal Village, Said to Be Clovelly
Private Collection
The Monument to Anthony and Anne Forster, Cumnor Church
Private Collection
The Interior of Buildwas Abbey Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Somerset House: The Strand Front and the Royal Academy
Untraced Works
An Exterior View of Henry VII’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Westminster Bridge, from the North East
Untraced Works
The Oxford Street Facade of the Pantheon
Untraced Works
The Interior of Westminster Abbey: The Nave Looking East
Untraced Works
The Queen’s Palace, or Buckingham House
Royal Collection Trust (Windsor)
The King’s Mews, Charing Cross
London Metropolitan Archives
The East Front of St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of St Martin-in-the-Fields
Untraced Works
The Banqueting House, Whitehall
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Interior of St Paul’s Cathedral: The Nave Looking East
Untraced Works
St Paul’s Cathedral, from the South West
Untraced Works
The West Front of St Paul’s Cathedral
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The West Front of Westminster Abbey
Untraced Works
Interior of St Stephen Walbrook, Looking East
Untraced Works
A French Lady of Quality in 1581
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Edward VI in 1550
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Noble Virgin of Bologna in 1581
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Persian Lady in 1568
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An English Nobleman in 1559
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Henry VIII in 1520
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Marlow, from across the River Thames
Private Collection
Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
The River Wensum at Norwich
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Rochester Castle, from the River Medway
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Tintern Abbey, from the River Wye
Courtauld Gallery, London
All Saints' Church, Fulham, from the Seven Bells, Putney
Private Collection
London from Highgate Hill
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
'First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Officer and Subaltern
British Museum, London
'First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Sergeant and Private
British Museum, London
First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660: Drummer and Private
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
'Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650': Officer and Sergeant
British Museum, London
'Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650': Sergeant and Private
British Museum, London
Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650: Drummer and Corporal
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
'Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Officer and Sergeant
British Museum, London
'Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Grenadier and Private
British Museum, London
Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660: Drummer and Private
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
Christ Church, Southwark
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Llanthony Priory
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Rochester, from the North
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The View from the Great Boathouse, Lake Windermere
Private Collection
Westminster Abbey and Bridge, from Lambeth
Private Collection
The Dover Mail, Dover Castle in the Distance
Private Collection
Rochester Cathedral and Castle, from the North East
Eton College, Windsor
Worcester, from the River Severn
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
Lake Windermere and Belle Isle
Wordsworth Grasmere (Dove Cottage and Wordsworth Museum)
London Bridge, from the South Bank
Private Collection
The Demolition of a Building, Said to Be Part of the Ruins of Old Drury Lane Theatre
Private Collection
Dover Castle: The Constable's Tower
Untraced Works
A Cottage on the Solent
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Hereford Cathedral, from the River Wye
Hereford Museum and Art Gallery
Chepstow Castle, on the River Wye
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Warehouse and Shipping at Wapping
Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
A Distant View of Hereford Cathedral
Private Collection
The Gatehouse and Barbican, Warwick Castle
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Chepstow Castle, from the River Wye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Interior of a Ruined Abbey Church
Private Collection
The Head of Ullswater, from Goborrow Park
Private Collection
Part of the Ruins of Roche Abbey
Private Collection
The Transept of St Saviour’s, Southwark
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Durham Cathedral, from the River Wear
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
All Saints' Church, Marlow
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Caesar’s Tower, Warwick Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Bronze Age Palstave and a Roman Bow Brooch
Society of Antiquaries of London
All Saints' Church, Marlow
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Unidentified Monastic Ruins next to a River
Private Collection
Westminster, from the Ruins of the Savoy
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Manchester: Chetham’s College from Hunt’s Bank, with the Bridge over the River Irwell
Untraced Works
Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Private Collection
The Oriel Window of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Private Collection
A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
Private Collection
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Private Collection
Buildings in the Process of Demolition, Said to Be the Ruins of the Savoy Palace
Tate, London
An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Tate, London
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Tate, London
St Mary’s Church, Monken Hadley
Tate, London
An Exterior View of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Private Collection
The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Private Collection
The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
St Mary's Church, Putney High Street
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About this Work
This watercolour by Girtin of Hereford Cathedral from the south east is taken from the same angle as his river view (TG0155) but from much closer, so that it includes a magnified view of the tree that occludes the southern transept in the larger dated scene. A centrally placed tree is a prominent feature of another of Girtin’s early watercolours produced whilst he was still an apprentice to Edward Dayes (1763–1804), the view London from Highgate Hill (TG0060), but in this case the feature was copied from a composition by his master (see figure 1). Dayes visited Hereford in 1792 as part of a tour of the Wye valley and he executed a series of watercolours from sketches that, in turn, provided Girtin with the basis for this and perhaps two other views of the cathedral (TG0155 and TG0166 (attribution uncertain)). Dayes’ watercolour of this composition is not dated, but it would seem to date from later and Girtin presumably worked from the same sketch, probably copying it first in pencil. It is not known when Girtin’s apprenticeship came to an end; however, given that he did not travel to Hereford at this time, he must still have had access to Dayes’ sketches well into 1792.
Figure 1.
Edward Dayes (1763–1804), Hereford Cathedral, graphite, watercolour and pen and ink on paper, 39 × 51.8 cm, 15 ⅜ × 20 ⅜ in. Victoria and Albert Museum, London (E.1979-1919).
Digital image courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum (All Rights Reserved).
The close links between this composition and the 1793 watercolour of the cathedral from the river Wye (TG0155) extend to every aspect of its treatment, demonstrating a clear, deep and continuing connection with Dayes’ work as a watercolourist. Girtin’s treatment of the foliage of the tree with its cursory, schematic handling of the leaves and branches, together with the fluid sky and the spotlit central band of buildings, recurs across the group of Hereford subjects and, indeed, is repeated in an extensive group of works that can all be shown to have been executed during, or immediately after, Girtin’s apprenticeship to Dayes. The very subtle and clearly evident pencil work in the tower suggests that this work – like TG0155, which has a similar detail – also dates from around 1793.
Hereford Cathedral is one of eight watercolours that were sold at Walker’s Galleries in London in 1921; they were said to have been commissioned from the young Girtin and had subsequently remained in the same family collection (Exhibitions: Walker’s Galleries, 1921). The group included views of Warwick Castle (TG0168), Chepstow Castle (TG0170), Lindisfarne Priory (TG0210), Warkworth Castle (TG0177) and Valle Crucis Abbey (TG0208), none of which Girtin could have visited, and all of the watercolours seem to have been made after compositions by either Dayes or James Moore (1762–99), Girtin’s first patron. It is likely that the commission as a whole came through Girtin’s continuing association with Dayes, though he clearly did not consign the watercolours to the auction houses, as seems to have been the case with Rochester Castle, from the River Medway (TG0057) and others. The income from the works may still have gone to Girtin’s master as part of the price of paying off his indentures, however, and this would explain why Girtin still had access to Dayes’ sketches after he left his studio, whenever that might have been. The watercolours in the group vary in size, but this work and the view of Chepstow Castle share the same dimensions and probably formed a pair; indeed, the former is inscribed on the back as ‘T. Girtin / pair’.
1793
Hereford Cathedral, from the River Wye
TG0155
1792
London from Highgate Hill
TG0060
1793
Hereford Cathedral, from the River Wye
TG0155
1792 - 1793
A Distant View of Hereford Cathedral
TG0166
1793
Hereford Cathedral, from the River Wye
TG0155
1793
Hereford Cathedral, from the River Wye
TG0155
1792 - 1793
The Gatehouse and Barbican, Warwick Castle
TG0168
1792 - 1793
Chepstow Castle, from the River Wye
TG0170
1792 - 1793
Lindisfarne Priory Church, Looking West from the Choir
TG0210
1792 - 1793
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
TG0177
1792 - 1793
The East End of Valle Crucis Abbey Church
TG0208
(?) 1791
Rochester Castle, from the River Medway
TG0057