- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
- Date
- 1796 - 1797
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 21.7 × 30.1 cm, 8 ½ × 11 ⅞ in
- Object Type
- Drawing for a Print; Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Gothic Architecture: Cathedral View; Yorkshire View
Provenance
Chambers Hall (1786–1855); presented to the Museum, 1855
Exhibition History
Harewood, 1999, no.28; London, 2002, no.30
Bibliography
Binyon, 1898–1907, no.10; Wilcox, 2011, p.20; Brown, 2012, p.57; British Museum, Collection (Accessed 15/09/2022)
Place depicted
Other entries in The 1796 Northern Tour to Yorkshire, the North East and the Scottish Borders:
Sketches and Subsequent Watercolours

Bamburgh Castle, from the South
Cragside House, Northumberland (National Trust)

Durham Cathedral, from the South West
British Museum, London

The Ouse Bridge, York, from the North Shore
British Museum, London

The Ouse Bridge, York, from Skeldergate Postern
York Art Gallery

York: The New Walk on the Banks of the Ouse
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection

York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection

York Minster, from the Ouse, with St Mary’s Abbey
Harewood House, Yorkshire

The South Side of York Minster, Showing the Transept and the Western Towers
Private Collection, Yorkshire

York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
British Museum, London

Unidentified Gothic Ruins, Said to Be St Mary’s Abbey, York
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery

A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection

A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Harewood House, Yorkshire

A Distant View of Rievaulx Abbey
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Private Collection

Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Manchester Art Gallery

Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Church Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
British Museum, London

Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool

Richmond Castle and Town, from the South East
Private Collection

Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
British Museum, London

Egglestone Abbey, from the River Tees
Gallery Oldham

Egglestone Abbey, on the River Tees
British Museum, London

Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester

Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Private Collection, Norfolk

Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir; Dryburgh Abbey with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery

Durham Cathedral, from the South West
Private Collection

St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Private Collection

Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Cleveland Museum of Art

Bothal Castle, from the River Wansbeck
Private Collection

A River Scene with a Tower, Said to Be the Tyne near Hexham
Leeds Art Gallery

Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Private Collection, Norfolk

The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Castle Beyond
Untraced Works

Dunstanburgh Castle, Viewed from a Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Dunstanburgh Castle: The Lilburn Tower
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester

Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge

An Interior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Lindisfarne: The Nave and Crossing of the Priory Church
British Museum, London

An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Private Collection

York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept Looking North
Private Collection

Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept from the Cloister
Private Collection

Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Cooper Gallery, Barnsley

Melrose Abbey, from the North East
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York

Jedburgh Abbey, from the North East
Private Collection

Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
British Museum, London

The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
Private Collection, Bedfordshire

The West Front of Jedburgh Abbey
British Museum, London

Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Blickling Hall, Norfolk (National Trust)

The Ruins of the Lady Chapel, near Bothal
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence

Bamburgh Castle, from the Village
Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd

St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool

Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
Private Collection

An Interior View of Fountains Abbey: The East Window from the Presbytery
Graves Gallery, Sheffield

St Mary’s, Old Malton, on the River Derwent
Untraced Works

York: Pavement, Looking towards All Saints
Private Collection
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About this Work
This distant view of York Minster from across the river meadows to the south east is one of two versions of a composition that Girtin sketched on his visit to York in 1796 (the other being TG1656). This has not always been my opinion, however, since in the catalogue to Girtin’s 2002 bicentenary exhibition I dated the watercolour to around 1794, arguing that it was probably made after the work of another artist, possibly James Moore (1762–99) or Edward Dayes (1763–1804) (Smith, 2002b, p.53). The style of the work appeared to have more in common with the small drawings that Girtin produced for Moore at that date, and I agreed with David Hill, who noted that it ‘does not have the firmness of knowledge of the subject that one might expect if Girtin had studied it at first hand’ (Hill, 1999, p.46). However, more recently, I have been taken to task by the anonymous author of the entry for the work in the British Museum online catalogue, who rightly points out that what I took to be the relatively weak handling of the architecture was not evidence of an early date, but the result of the artist’s use of a ‘bold lighting effect’ to provide a ‘unifying feature in the composition’ (British Museum, Collection, 1855,0214.11). The author also notes that the work was one of four northern subjects that were reproduced in aquatint for the publisher Rudolph Ackermann (1764–1834) under the general title Four Views from Nature: From Drawings by Mr. Girtin. The point here is not that we should take the statement that the views were taken ‘from Nature’ as fact, though it may have been true, but that the watercolour actually has much more in common with the other two surviving works that were engraved in 1800 (TG1068 and TG1115) than with the earlier drawings made after Moore’s sketches. And therein lies the problem with my previous dating; I was comparing this view of York Minster with other products of the 1796 tour and finding it wanting, forgetting that a small drawing executed for reproduction simply does not need the level of finish demanded by a watercolour destined for the walls of the Royal Academy (such as TG1050) or a wealthy patron.
Another salient point made in the British Museum catalogue entry relates to the existence of a later version of this composition with a dramatic sunset effect (TG1656), and the improbability of Girtin turning to a sketch by an amateur artist at this stage of his career. Moore’s views of the great Gothic cathedrals of the nation concentrate on the architectural details, and, whilst one can imagine him providing Girtin with the model for a view such as The South Side of York Minster (TG1050), this composition is altogether less conventional. Confined into a narrow band in the distance, the buildings shown in the view – Peasholme House, the minster with the Chapter House abutting into the tower of St Cuthbert’s Church, and the Layerthorpe Bridge and postern on the river Foss to the right – are not carefully plotted to show off their qualities as architectural monuments, as Moore was wont to do. Indeed, the very reason that Hill gave for believing that Girtin’s composition was not based on an on-the-spot sketch – namely, that the Chapter House appears detached from the minster – may be more properly seen as the effort of an artist whose visits to well-known locations were increasingly motivated by a desire to find unconventional and unusual angles and views. A view that embraces an element of the random and where a less than picturesque alignment of buildings has not been tidied up is, I suggest, a clear sign that it was studied on the spot.
Final confirmation of the work's later date came recently in the form of the discovery of the pencil drawing on which it is based (TG1119). The small pencil sketch was found with an attribution to Henry Edridge (1769–1821) in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (1102:198), but it is clearly the source for both this watercolour by Girtin as well as TG1656. The drawing will be discussed in detail when the site is updated at the end of January 2025.
On a technical note, the paper historian Peter Bower has identified the support used by Girtin as a white wove drawing paper, probably manufactured by Robert Edmeads (unknown dates) and Thomas Pine (unknown dates) at Great Ivy Mill near Maidstone (Smith, 2002b, p.53; Bower, Report).
1800
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
TG1656
1796 - 1797
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
TG1068
1796 - 1797
Etal Castle
TG1115
1796 - 1797
The South Side of York Minster, Showing the Transept and the Western Towers
TG1050
1800
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
TG1656
1796 - 1797
The South Side of York Minster, Showing the Transept and the Western Towers
TG1050
(?) 1796
TG1119
1800
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
TG1656