- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
- Date
- 1797 - 1798
- Medium and Support
- Watercolour on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 15.9 × 24.3 cm, 6 ¼ × 9 ½ in
- Inscription
‘Girtin’ lower right, by Thomas Girtin (the signature has been cut, suggesting that it once extended onto an original mount which has been lost)
- Object Type
- Studio Watercolour
- Subject Terms
- Gothic Architecture: Cathedral View; River Scenery; Yorkshire View
-
- Collection
-
- Harewood House, Yorkshire
- (HHTP:2001.2.127)
- Versions
-
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
(TG1053)
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell (TG1665)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1054
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 155 as 'Ripon Minster'; '1796'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
W. P. Young; his sale, Sotheby’s, 31 March 1925, lot 134; bought by 'Lascelles', £52 10s; Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood (1882–1947); then by descent
Bibliography
Borenius, 1936, no.311
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
Revisions & Feedback
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About this Work
This is the larger of two versions of a composition that Girtin appears to have sketched on his tour to the northern counties in 1796 (the other being TG1053), showing Ripon Minster from the river Skell, looking south east. The smaller version may have been coloured on the spot and therefore have provided the basis for this more finished watercolour, but on balance I suspect that that work too was produced in the studio. Although different in size, both were therefore produced to meet the growing market for the artist’s sketches, which, Girtin discovered around 1796, could be satisfied in the studio equally as well as in the field. If my supposition is correct, we may therefore expect there to have been an on-the-spot pencil drawing that was the source for both works. Having said that, it is still not entirely clear that Girtin visited Ripon in 1796 since the only dated views of the town are from 1800 (TG1659 and TG1660) or 1801 (TG1665). It is perfectly possible that these works referred back to earlier on-the-spot sketches, though equally Girtin may have visited Ripon in 1799 or 1800 on return visits to Yorkshire. I am aware, therefore, that the main, if not the only, evidence we have that Girtin visited the city in 1796 is that the two distant views of the minster from the river Skell resemble the outcome of other sketches made on that trip; given that this judgement has had to be made on the basis of two black and white photographs, a rethink may be necessary in the future.
As befits its larger size, this view of the minster is more finished and contains more complex groups of cattle and figures working in the field, suggesting that a greater degree of care was taken in the planning than for TG1053. Nonetheless, the governing aesthetic is still that of the sketch, and, were it not for the existence of the smaller version of the composition, it might have been tempting to describe this work as being coloured on the spot; as it is, whatever the status of the smaller view, it would have been inconceivable for the artist to have produced two such similar on-the-spot sketches. There is another sign that we are dealing with a studio work in this instance, however – namely, the signature to the lower left. It is certainly true that Girtin signed his on-the-spot sketches, presumably at the time of their sale, but in this case the signature has been cut, suggesting that it once strayed onto a mount that has subsequently been removed. In other words, the work was mounted onto a support before its completion, and that is a procedure that for practical reasons was surely carried out in the studio.
1796 - 1797
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
TG1053
1800
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
TG1659
1800
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
TG1660
1800 - 1810
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
TG1665
1796 - 1797
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
TG1053