- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after Edward Dayes (1763-1804)
- Title
-
- Rochester, from the North
- Date
- 1791 - 1792
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper, on an original grey and blue washline mount
- Dimensions
- 31.8 × 46.2 cm, 12 ½ × 18 ⅛ in
- Mount Dimensions
- 44 × 58.4 cm, 17 ⅜ × 23 in
- Subject Terms
- Castle Ruins; Dover and Kent; River Scenery; The View from Above
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0071
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001 and 2002
Provenance
Walker’s Galleries, London, 1955 as by Edward Dayes; bought by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960), £88; Tom Girtin (1913–94); bought by John Baskett on behalf of Paul Mellon (1907–99), 1970; presented to the Center, 1975
Exhibition History
Walker’s Galleries, 1955, no.29; London, 1962a, no.114; Manchester, 1975, no.1; New Haven, 1977, no.111; New Haven, 1986a, no.2; New Haven, 1986b, no.29; London, 2002, no.25
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
From the bank of the river Medway looking south west, the main monuments of the city of Rochester form a line from left to right: the cathedral, the eleventh-century castle keep and the medieval stone bridge with its eleven arches. It is inconceivable that a young Girtin could have travelled to Rochester during his apprenticeship to Edward Dayes (1763–1804) to sketch this view and, instead, he must have based his composition on an untraced sketch by his master. Dayes later painted an oil of the same view (see TG0015 figure 1); although the cathedral is not visible to the right, the compositions are in other respects close and there can be little doubt that both works were made after the same untraced sketch executed by Dayes on a trip to the city, probably in the late 1780s. In all Girtin produced as many as four watercolour views of Rochester around 1791–92, including Rochester Cathedral and Castle, from the North East (TG0076) and Rochester Castle, from the River Medway (TG0057), as well as a smaller version of this composition (TG0015), which is dated 1791. Each appears to have been made after sketches by his master. Dayes thought enough of his apprentice’s work to send two of his Rochester views to an auction at Greenwood’s in January 1792 (Exhibitions: Greenwood, 25 January 1792, lots 69 and 72), and it is extraordinary to think that even at this early stage in his career the master sensed a commercial opportunity in Girtin’s work. The works that Dayes sent to auction were framed and glazed, and this would have shown off the fine washline mount that was an integral part of larger watercolours such as this and another very early view, Eton College, from the River (TG0013). Areas of colour have strayed from the main sheet of paper onto the mount, indicating that the work was mounted onto its support before the colouring was complete.
The smaller, dated version of this composition (TG0015) is more rapidly executed and there is a temptation to assume that it is earlier and less sophisticated when in fact it is simply a different type of commodity. Smaller and less fully worked up, the 1791 watercolour was tailored to the lower end of the market in topographical subjects for the library, rather than framed for display on the wall. In fact, the two works employ the same set of conventions derived from Dayes’ example, with the dark foreground giving way to an even, brightly lit middle ground in which the buildings are primarily shown parallel to the picture plane. The figures and the shipping in the larger view are indeed more convincing and lively, but that too may be because of the considerable extra labour that went into the work’s production. There is, however, one feature that does suggest that this work was made at a slightly later date, and that is the way that the composition as a whole, with its divided parts, is pulled together by a dramatic sky. In other Rochester views, such as Rochester Castle, from the River Medway (TG0057), Girtin had already shown how he could develop an attractive cloudscape that transcends the rather bland, even lighting of the main architectural subject, but here he added a rain shower sweeping in from the right and beams of sunlight burst through the clouds, evincing careful observation of nature.
1792 - 1793
Rochester Cathedral and Castle, from the North East
TG0076
(?) 1791
Rochester Castle, from the River Medway
TG0057
1791
Rochester, from the River Medway
TG0015
1790
Eton College, from the River
TG0013
1791
Rochester, from the River Medway
TG0015
(?) 1791
Rochester Castle, from the River Medway
TG0057