- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- The Ruined East End of Walsingham Priory Church
- Date
- 1795 - 1796
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper (card)
- Dimensions
- 12 × 7.7 cm, 4 ¾ × 3 in
- Object Type
- Colour Sketch: Studio Work
- Subject Terms
- East Anglia: Norfolk and Suffolk; Monastic Ruins
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0244
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in January 2018
Provenance
Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833); his posthumous sale, Christie's, 26 June 1833, lots 81 or 82 as 'Views and ruins, in colours, on cards 10'; bought by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), £8 18s; accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest, 1856
Exhibition History
National Gallery, London, on display up to 1904, no.815b
Bibliography
Finberg, 1909, vol.2, p.1242 as 'Walsingham Chapel, Norfolk' by Thomas Girtin; Finberg, 1913, pl.66b, p.62; Tate Online as 'Part of the Ruins of Walsingham Priory' (Accessed 05/09/2022)
Place depicted
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The Refectory of Walsingham Priory
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The Ruined East End of Walsingham Priory Church
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Part of the Ruins of Middleham Castle
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Kidwelly Church, with the Castle Beyond
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Kelso Abbey, from the North West
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The Keep, Portchester Castle, from the North East
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The Keep of Rochester Castle, from the South East
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Part of the Ruins of Middleham Castle
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Margam Abbey Church, from the North West
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The Ruined East End of Walsingham Priory Church
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The Ruins of the Holy Ghost Chapel, Basingstoke
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The Medieval Kitchen, Stanton Harcourt
The Medieval Kitchen, Stanton Harcourt
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Part of the Ruins of Lewes Castle, from the West
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Glasgow High Street, Looking towards the Cathedral
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The Keep of Hedingham Castle, from the East
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The South Transept, Much Wenlock Priory Church
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The Refectory of Walsingham Priory
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An Unidentified Church close to a Road
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The Keep of Hedingham Castle, from the South West
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Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
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Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
Kirkstall Abbey, from the North West
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The Ruined Gateway of Mettingham Castle
The Ruined Gateway of Mettingham Castle
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The Keep of Rochester Castle, Seen from outside the Walls
The Keep of Rochester Castle, Seen from outside the Walls
Tate, London
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Tintern Abbey, from the River Wye
Tintern Abbey, from the River Wye
Private Collection
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Tintern Abbey: The View from the Nave
Tintern Abbey: The View from the Nave
Private Collection
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The Market at Aberystwyth
The Market at Aberystwyth
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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Lancaster Castle, from the River Lune
Tate, London
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Lancaster Castle, from the River Lune
Lancaster Castle, from the River Lune
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Lancaster Priory Church, Seen with the Old Bridge over the River Lune
Tate, London
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Buttermere Bridge, from the Fish Inn
Buttermere Bridge, from the Fish Inn
Tate, London
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The Medieval Kitchen, Stanton Harcourt
The Medieval Kitchen, Stanton Harcourt
Private Collection, Norfolk
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Rochester Cathedral, from the North East, with the Castle Beyond
Rochester Cathedral, from the North East, with the Castle Beyond
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Glasgow High Street: Looking towards the Cathedral
Glasgow High Street: Looking towards the Cathedral
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A Distant View of Corfe Castle
A Distant View of Corfe Castle
Tate, London
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Chichester Cathedral, from the South West
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The Gatehouse of Amberley Castle
Tate, London
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A Lake and Mountains, Possibly in the Lake District
Tate, London
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A Lake and Mountains, Possibly in the Lake District
A Lake and Mountains, Possibly in the Lake District
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An Unidentified View across a Lake, or along a Coast
An Unidentified View across a Lake, or along a Coast
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A Road by a Pond, with a Church in the Distance
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Thomas Girtin
A Road by a Pond, with a Church in the Distance
A Road by a Pond, with a Church in the Distance
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A Church Tower amongst Trees, with a Cart in the Foreground
A Church Tower amongst Trees, with a Cart in the Foreground
British Museum, London
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An Unidentified Landscape, with a Church amongst Trees
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Trees near a Lake or River, at Twilight
Tate, London
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A Hilly Landscape, with a Two-Arched Bridge
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A Distant View of Tynemouth Priory, from the Sea
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An Upland Landscape, Possibly in Northumberland
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A Bridge in the Lake District, Possibly Grange Bridge, Borrowdale
Private Collection
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Bridgnorth, on the River Severn
Bridgnorth, on the River Severn
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Knaresborough, from the River Nidd
Knaresborough, from the River Nidd
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About this Work
This informal sketch-like view of the ruined east end of Walsingham Priory Church in Norfolk is based on TG0283 and is one of twenty or so small-scale watercolours that Girtin made after outline drawings that he had copied from the sketches of either his first significant patron, the amateur artist and antiquarian James Moore (1762–99), or his master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804), and the young artist certainly did not visit the site himself. The watercolours, all painted on card measuring roughly 3 × 4 ¾ in (7.6 × 12.1 cm), were produced for Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833), at whose posthumous sale many were purchased by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), and they are now therefore part of the Turner Bequest at Tate Britain.
Moore’s on-the-spot sketch of the imposing ruined east end of the church was reproduced as an aquatint in 1791 and it has been suggested that Monro too may have had a publication in mind when he commissioned Girtin to produce watercolours such as this (Wilton, 1984a, p.12). But, though its small scale certainly suits the watercolour to reproduction as a book illustration, its rapid execution and sketch-like appearance, suggesting that the work was made on the spot, indicate that it is a very different kind of commodity. The subjects chosen for this informal sketch-like treatment certainly do not follow any obvious pattern other than being generally amongst the lesser known of the nation’s medieval monuments. Monro was unsystematic in his commissioning habits and it may be that there was nothing that united the group other than the fact that Girtin’s outlines provided a ready resource from which sketch-like watercolours might be rapidly produced. Girtin’s work for Monro rarely rose above the level of the mechanical, but, in this case at least, it appears to have had a lasting impact on his practice. Girtin, it appears, returned to the basic compositional formula on a number of occasions, most notably in 1801 when he painted the similar ruins at Guisborough in Yorkshire (TG1698).
The paper is discoloured as a result of excessive exposure to light whilst on long-term exhibition. The differently toned area to the right was protected by an earlier mount.
1794 - 1795
The Ruined East End of Walsingham Priory Church
TG0283
1801
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
TG1698