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Works Thomas Girtin after Thomas Hearne

Melrose Abbey: The View to the South Transept

(?) 1795

 

Description
Creator(s)
Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after Thomas Hearne (1744-1817)
Title
  • Melrose Abbey: The View to the South Transept
Date
(?) 1795
Medium and Support
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
12.1 × 17.8 cm, 4 ¾ × 7 in
Object Type
Outline Drawing; Work from a Known Source: Contemporary British
Subject Terms
Monastic Ruins; The Scottish Borders

Collection
Catalogue Number
TG0339
Description Source(s)
Auction Catalogue

Provenance

Norman Dakeyne Newall (1888–1952); ... Christie’s, 9 February 1982, lot 13, one of three, £87

About this Work

Melrose Abbey

This pencil drawing of the ruined interior of the abbey church at Melrose, looking towards the magnificent Decorated-style tracery of the south transept, appears to have been copied by Girtin from an engraving (see source image TG0868) that in turn was made after a watercolour by Thomas Hearne (1744–1817), and it therefore predates by at least a year Girtin’s first visit to the Scottish Borders. The print, which was published in Hearne’s Antiquities of Great-Britain (Hearne, 1786–1807, vol.1, pl.27), also provided the model for a watercolour copy commissioned by Girtin’s significant early patron John Henderson (1764–1843) (TG0868). No photograph of the pencil drawing appears to exist, however, and it is therefore not possible to ascertain its precise relationship with Girtin’s watercolour, or, indeed, the print after Hearne’s composition. There is, however, a possibility that the source for the drawing was in fact an untraced sketch by another of Girtin’s early patrons, the antiquarian and amateur artist James Moore (1762–99). He provided Girtin with the material to paint views of a number of Scottish abbey churches, including another watercolour of the south transept of Melrose Abbey (TG0196), this time seen from the exterior. Moore’s sketch of the interior of the ruins at Melrose (see figure 1), which is dated 23 August 1792, is so close to Hearne’s view that it is easy to imagine that when Girtin’s drawing was sold at auction in 1982, the significance of Moore’s drawings was not generally appreciated and the source for Girtin’s pencil drawing was confused. Hopefully, the reappearance of the drawing will resolve uncertainties about its status, and, indeed, establish beyond doubt that it was not sketched on the spot at a later date on the artist’s visits to the Scottish Borders, either in 1796 or 1800.

(?) 1795

Melrose Abbey: The View to the South Transept

TG0868

(?) 1795

Melrose Abbey: The View to the South Transept

TG0868

(?) 1794

Melrose Abbey, from the South West

TG0196

by Greg Smith

Place depicted

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