- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after Edward Dayes (1763-1804)
- Title
-
- Hereford Cathedral, from the River Wye
- Date
- 1793
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour, gum arabic and scratching out on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 35.6 × 47.6 cm, 14 × 18 ¾ in
- Inscription
‘T. Girtin 1793’ lower centre, by Thomas Girtin
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0155
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 109 as 'Hereford Cathedral, From the River'; '1795'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2015
Provenance
'Gregory'; bought from him by J. Palser & Sons (stock no.18498); bought by Charles Anthony Benn, 19 August 1924; presented to the Gallery, 1936
Exhibition History
Agnew’s, 1953a, no.5
Bibliography
Bury, 1959, p.4
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
Private Collection
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About this Work
Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak read the inscription on this view of Hereford Cathedral from the south east as ‘T. Girtin 1795’ and almost certainly misdated the work by two years (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.145). Careful examination of the date shows that the upper part of the ‘3’ collides with one of the horizontal bands of dark pigment used by Girtin to articulate the gentle ripples of the river, and this effectively changes the number into a ‘5’. Looking at the stylistic evidence, the earlier date certainly makes greater sense. As with A Distant View of Hereford Cathedral (TG0166), which shows a similar view, the artist adapted a series of conventions derived from his master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804). These include an overarching tree in a darkened foreground, a carefully lit architectural middle ground with the buildings placed as a simple band, and a fluid skyscape. Other features, such as the rapid hatching in the foliage and the horizontal bands of the water, are again familiar features of works executed by Girtin during his apprenticeship to Dayes, such as Rochester Castle, from the River Medway (TG0057).
Even though it has not been possible to trace the source of Girtin’s work, it is clear that the artist did not travel to Hereford at this point in his career and it is almost certain that the work was based on a composition by Dayes. The latter produced a series of watercolours of the cathedral and the river Wye following his visit in 1792 (see TG0070 figure 1), including a major exhibition piece (see figure 1), and it was presumably from a sketch made on that trip that Girtin developed his composition. The central tower was undergoing work at this time, following the collapse of the western tower in 1786, and Girtin’s view, like Dayes’ watercolours, shows it clad in scaffolding. This area of the drawing is particularly noteworthy, because perhaps for the first time in Girtin’s career the high quality of his pencil work shows through, confirming that his skill as a draughtsman predated his mastery of the watercolour medium, which was still heavily dependent on the example of Dayes. Girtin’s watercolour is also notable for the growing assurance of the artist’s treatment of figures, with a statuesque man with a fishing rod dominating the foreground and another with a boat hook crouching on the prow of a carefully depicted trow, the typical vessel of the river Wye.
1792 - 1793
A Distant View of Hereford Cathedral
TG0166
(?) 1791
Rochester Castle, from the River Medway
TG0057