- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
- Date
- 1800 - 1801
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and pen and ink on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 26.5 × 41.5 cm, 10 ⅜ × 16 ⅜ in
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Gothic Architecture: Cathedral View; River Scenery; Yorkshire View
-
- Collection
-
- Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
- (FAW 353)
- Versions
-
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
(TG1659)
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge (TG1660)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1661
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 386iv as 'Ripon Minster'; '1800'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
Richard Haworth (1820–83); bought from him by James Whittaker; presented to the Gallery, 1937
Exhibition History
Harewood, 1999, no.33
Place depicted
Other entries in Late Watercolours:
Samuel William Reynolds and Painting for the Art Market
An Imaginary City, with Antique Buildings
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Ancient Ruins, with an Obelisk
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ancient Ruins, with a Gothic Church
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
A Classical Composition, with a Church and Column
Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool
The Arch of Janus, Rome
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Temple of Clitumnus
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Saturn, with the Arch of Septimius Severus
Private Collection
A Town on an Estuary
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
A Lagoon Capriccio
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
An Unidentified Coastal Landscape with a Windmill
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle upon Tyne
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Lindisfarne Priory, Northumberland (English Heritage)
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Jedburgh Abbey, from the Riverbank
The Higgins, Bedford
On the River Medway, with a Boatyard, Beached Vessels and Hulks
Private Collection
Bisham Abbey, on the River Thames
Private Collection
A Classical Composition, with Figures Admiring the Sculptures
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
An Unidentified Ruin next to a Bridge over a Stream, Said to Be Furness Abbey
Touchstones Rochdale
The Gatehouse of Morpeth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Hill
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from the Canal, Evening
Private Collection
A Distant View of Kirkstall Abbey
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead
An Unidentified Scene, Formerly Known as ‘Kirkstall Village’
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Wetherby Bridge and Mills, Looking across the Weir
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
British Museum, London
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
Leeds Art Gallery
Kirk Deighton, near Wetherby
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the River Ouse
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
Private Collection
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Private Collection
A Farmyard with Barns, Ladder and Figures; A Sky Study
Courtauld Gallery, London
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Leeds Art Gallery
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection
Ripon Minster, from the South East
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Ripon Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Mountain Stream in Spate, Possibly the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church from across the River Wharfe
Eton College, Windsor
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
Leeds Art Gallery
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
The Banks of the River Wharfe, with Bolton Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Richmond Castle, from the River Swale
Leeds Art Gallery
A Farmhouse in Malhamdale, Known as 'Kirkby Priory, near Malham'
British Museum, London
An Ancient Oak, Said to Be on the River Ure
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection, Norfolk
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
Tate, London
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory; The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle upon Tyne
Private Collection
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Upland Landscape, Said to Show Etal Castle
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The River Tweed at Kelso, Looking Upstream
Courtauld Gallery, London
The Eildon Hills, from the River Tweed
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
A Distant View of Dryburgh Abbey, with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Private Collection
The Valley of the Tweed, with Melrose Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Village of Jedburgh
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Southampton: The South Gate and Old Gaol
Private Collection
Bristol Harbour, with St Mary Redcliffe in the Distance
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
A Wharf with Shipping, Possibly at Bristol
Art Institute of Chicago
A Rainbow over the River Exe
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
A Rainbow over the River Exe
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Rainbow over the River Exe
Graves Gallery, Sheffield
Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
St Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
On the River Taw, North Devon, Looking from Braunton Marsh towards Instow and Appledore
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Conwy Castle, from the River Gyffin
Private Collection, Norfolk
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea (The White House, Chelsea)
Tate, London
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Panoramic Landscape, with Figures Trawling a Pond
Private Collection
Landscape with a Distant Ridge, Possibly Hampstead Heath
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Inn Yard, Edgware Road, Paddington
British Museum, London
The Thames from a Window of the Old Toy Inn, Hampton Court
British Museum, London
The Old Cottage, Widmore, near Bromley
British Museum, London
Shipping on the River Medway
Museum of New Zealand, Wellington
A Farmyard with Cattle, Poultry and Labourers Unloading Hay, Possibly Pinkney's Farm, Wimbish
Art Institute of Chicago
Farmhouse and Outbuildings, Possibly in Essex
Aberdeen Art Gallery
An Unidentified Village Street with a Church Tower in the Distance
British Museum, London
A Panoramic Landscape, Possibly Showing Primrose Hill, London
Private Collection
A Mountain Stream with a Watermill and Bridge
Eton College, Windsor
Unidentified Landscape with a Distant Rain Shower
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Warkworth Church, with the Bridge Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
An Italianate Landscape with Two Monks
Private Collection
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About this Work
This watercolour appears to be the second authentic version of a much copied and imitated composition that shows the west front of Ripon Minster from the river Skell, with the Skellgate Bridge anchoring the composition (the other being TG1659). The other autograph watercolour, in the collection of the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, was the source of a large number of copies – as was the mezzotint produced after it by Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835) (see print after TG1659) – and the attribution of this work consequently must be subjected to careful consideration. However, although the issue is clouded by the watercolour’s rather faded condition, the fact that it shows a little less of the composition to the right, alters the form of the fisherman on the far bank and introduces variations in the lighting on the main building suggests that, at the very least, this is not a slavish replica (unlike TG1660), even if it hardly amounts to an imaginative reworking of the subject. The first version was almost certainly produced for Reynolds, who acted on behalf of the artist in his final years in a role somewhere between agent and dealer, and who built up a substantial stock of the artist’s works in two standard sizes. There is no evidence that this version ever went through his hands, however, and so, if it is by Girtin (and on balance that is my opinion), it would have been produced to satisfy the demand for what was clearly a popular subject.
The poor condition of both versions of the view of Ripon from the Skell makes it difficult for us to understand the grounds of this popularity, though it is now clear that, contrary to the opinion of early writers, Girtin did not doctor the scene to create a ‘capriccio composition’ (Hawcroft, 1975, p.50). The minster, which did not get cathedral status until 1836, has not been brought forward and placed to the right of the bridge, and, as David Hill has recently shown, the watercolour tallies closely with the site, so Girtin must indeed have stood on the banks of the river to make his original sketch (Hill, 1999, p.52). This is currently untraced, which is a great shame because the drawing might help with the vexatious matter of the date of Girtin’s visits to Ripon, which he first portrayed in around 1795 in a watercolour (TG0865) made from a print after Thomas Hearne (1744–1817). This predated his first trip to Yorkshire in 1796, when there is some evidence that he visited the nearby Fountains Abbey, and a couple of distant views of the minster also appear to have been outcomes of this tour (TG1053 and TG1054). A second wave of Ripon subjects followed in 1800 and 1801 (TG1659 and TG1666). Whilst it is possible that in these works the artist looked back to earlier sketches, a pencil drawing of the minster from the south east appears to have been executed in 1799 (TG1513), and I suspect that it was this return visit that resulted in the substantial number of views of the building from different locations. All of these show the minster from either of the rivers in the vicinity of Ripon, the Skell and the Ure, and it was no doubt the presence of water that was the attraction for Girtin, who around 1800 was looking to create a rather different type of cathedral view from those that he had painted for the antiquarian market at the outset of his career; the setting, and not the architectural details, was now the key element.
1800
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
TG1659
1800
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
TG1659
1800
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
TG1660
(?) 1795
Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
TG0865
1796 - 1797
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
TG1053
1797 - 1798
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
TG1054
1800
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
TG1659
1800 - 1801
Ripon Minster, from the South East
TG1666
1799 - 1800
Ripon Minster, from the South East
TG1513