- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
- Date
- 1800
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 29.2 × 48.3 cm, 11 ½ × 19 in
- Inscription
‘Girtin 1800’ lower left
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Gothic Architecture: Cathedral View; Yorkshire View
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
(TG1051)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1656
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 154ii as 'York Minster' and as inscribed ‘Girtin 1800’ (not visible in the photograph)
- Description Source(s)
- Girtin Archive Photograph
Provenance
Sir James Stuart (inscription on the mezzotint, 1824); ... Andrew Coventry (1801–77); then by descent to Lt. Col. David Edward Maitland-Makgill-Crichton (d.1952)
Exhibition History
Agnew’s, 1953a, no.13 as ’York Minster’
Bibliography
Sparrow, 1902, p.89; Hill, 1999, p.46
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, USA
A Town on an Estuary
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
A Lagoon Capriccio
Birmingham Museum & 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, English Heritage
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
The Whitworth, 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, 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, Birkenhead
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, 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, 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
An Upland Landscape, Identified as Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey
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 Museum & 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
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
Private Collection, Northumberland
The Eildon Hills, from the River Tweed at Dryburgh
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 Art Gallery, Sheffield
Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
St Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge
The Whitworth, 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 Pinckney's Farm, Radwinter
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 dramatic view from the south east, showing York Minster rising above its surrounds, includes the Layerthorpe Bridge to the right, with the river Foss in the middle ground. It is the second version of a composition that Girtin must have sketched on his first and, almost certainly, only visit to the city, in 1796 (the other being TG1051). The other, smaller watercolour was produced for reproduction as an aquatint (see print after TG1051), and it is stylistically consistent with the more conventional works that Girtin produced shortly after his trip, which took in the north east and the Scottish Borders. In contrast, this view was created with a very different purpose in mind, as a comparison with two other views of the city that date from around 1800 illustrates (TG1649 and TG1652). Thus, all three watercolours conform more or less to the standard size of works that the artist supplied around 1800–1801 to Samuel William Reynolds (1773–1835), who acted on behalf of the artist in his final years in a role somewhere between agent and dealer.Since each was also the subject of a mezzotint by Reynolds (see the first print after, above), there is little doubt that they were executed for sale on the open market and that Girtin returned to his earlier sketches to find subjects that would make for saleable commodities. The work is known only as a black and white photograph, and it has not been seen in public since 1953, but it is still clear that Girtin enhanced the dramatic potential of the scene in comparison with the earlier work, now in the collection of the British Museum. The sun setting to the right, amongst a bold cloud formation, changes the picturesque surrounds into a sharp silhouette that offsets the more ethereal form of the minster, and the figures on the riverbank, with the smoke drifting from a chimney, provide the perfect accompaniment for an evening effect. All of this is admirably rendered in mezzotint, a printmaking technique that is particularly adept at capturing crepuscular effects; therefore, if, as seems to be the case, the watercolour has faded, at least some of the original drama has been preserved.
Unusually for a work that went through Reynolds’ hands and was also executed as a print, no copy of Girtin’s original watercolour exists to cloud the issue of attribution. Reynolds probably sold the work to Sir James Stuart (unknown dates), who is credited as the owner of the watercolour from which a second mezzotint was produced, by Thomas Lupton (1791–1873), which was published as plate seven of The Rivers of England in 1824 (see the second print after, above). The impression illustrated here is of some interest as it is the engraver’s proof that Girtin’s contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) is said to have marked and corrected out of respect for the memory of ‘Poor Tom’, though he also charged ‘two guineas a piece’ to execute the task (Miller, 1854, p.iii).
1796 - 1797
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
TG1051
1796 - 1797
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
TG1051
1800
The Ouse Bridge, York
TG1649
1800 - 1801
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
TG1652