- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Caernarfon Castle, from the East
- Date
- (?) 1798
- Medium and Support
- Graphite on paper
- Dimensions
- 13.3 × 22.3 cm, 5 ¼ × 8 ¾ in
- Inscription
‘Caernarvon Castle by Thomas Girtin’ lower centre, probably by Thomas Girtin
- Object Type
- Outline Drawing
- Subject Terms
- Castle Ruins; North Wales
-
- Collection
- Versions
-
Caernarfon Castle, from the East
(TG1738)
- Catalogue Number
- TG1308
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 264 as 'Caernarvon Castle'
- Description Source(s)
- Witt Library Photograph
Provenance
Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833); his posthumous sale, Christie's, 26–28 June and 1–2 July 1833 (day and lot number not known); bought by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851); then by descent
Bibliography
The Studio, 1922, p.89
Place depicted
Other entries in The 1798 Welsh Tour:
Sketches and Subsequent Watercolours
Rhuddlan Castle, from the River Clwyd
Cantor Arts Center, Stanford University
Rhuddlan Castle, from the River Clwyd
Southill Park, Bedfordshire
Rhuddlan Castle, from the River Clwyd
Tate, London
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery
The Eagle Tower, Caernarfon Castle
Private Collection, North Wales
Caernarfon: A Street Scene with Plas Mawr
Tate, London
Caernarfon Castle, from the River Seiont
British Museum, London
Caernarfon Castle, from the River Seiont
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead
The Cain Falls (Pistyll Cain), near Dolgellau
British Museum, London
The Cain Falls (Pistyll Cain), near Dolgellau
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
A Mountain View, near Beddgelert
British Museum, London
A Bridge over the Glaslyn, near Beddgelert
British Museum, London
Pont Seiont, Looking Towards Mynydd Mawr (Big Mountain)
British Museum, London
Pont Seiont, Looking Towards Mynydd Mawr (Big Mountain)
Private Collection
Pont y Pair, Betws-y-Coed
Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum, Loan from George and Patti White
Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake), Looking towards Cadair Idris
Private Collection
A View of Hills and a River, Probably in North Wales
British Museum, London
Denbigh Castle and the Vale of Clwyd
British Museum, London
An Unidentified Landscape, Possibly the Vale of Clwyd
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River; Studies of Seated Figures
Private Collection
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
Private Collection
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
Private Collection
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
Valle Crucis Abbey, from the River
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Valle Crucis Abbey: From the Cloister Looking Towards the Dormitory
Private Collection
Valle Crucis Abbey: The Chapter House, from the South West
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A River Scene, Probably the Dee near Corwen
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
The Cloisters of Chester Cathedral
Private Collection
The Red Castle, from Hawk Lake, with a Distant View of Shrewsbury
Private Collection
Wroxeter: The Roman Wall
Harvard Art Museums / Fogg Museum, Loan from George and Patti White
The Old Severn Bridge at Bridgnorth
British Museum, London
Hereford Cathedral, from across the River Wye
Private Collection
The Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
The Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
Private Collection
The Great Hall, Kenilworth Castle
Private Collection
An Unidentified Valley, Probably in North Wales
Southill Park, Bedfordshire
Cadair Idris, from the Estuary near Barmouth
Private Collection
Footnotes
- 1 Another view of ‘Carnarvon Castle’ by Girtin was included in a sale from the Monro collection in 1806 (Exhibitions: Christie’s, 10 May 1806, lot 80).
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About this Work
This view of Caernarfon Castle, looking west towards the Queen’s Gate, was made on Girtin’s tour of North Wales in the summer of 1798 and was used as the basis for a studio watercolour dated 1800 (TG1738). In the drawing, Girtin rapidly recorded the outlines of the castle but, uncharacteristically for him, concentrated more attention on the vessels on the river Seiont, particularly on the ship under construction on the stocks, and these details are carefully replicated in the final composition. This view of the late thirteenth-century fortifications built for Edward I (1239–1307) had been the subject of countless depictions by artists, amateur and professional, by the time of Girtin’s visit, and so the boat-building scene under the shadow of the Queen’s Gate offered a different take on a scene that had perhaps grown too familiar. This is certainly the impression one gets from Girtin’s watercolour of the same view (TG1315) but taken from further away, which, though it shows the castle in a wider landscape, appears rather bland in contrast.
Interest in this pencil sketch is enhanced by its close association with Girtin’s contemporary Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851). The work was bought by Turner at the posthumous sale of their mutual patron Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833), though, rather than coming to the nation as part of the Turner Bequest, it remained in the possession of the artist’s descendants. Other pencil drawings, including The Market Square at Aylesbury (TG0369a) and another Caernarfon scene, Caernarfon: A Street Scene with Plas Mawr (The Great House) (TG1313), were also bought from Monro, who clearly collected Girtin’s sketches in addition to commissioning watercolours from him. Although the prominent inscription and signature are not particularly characteristic of Girtin’s handwriting, I suspect that they may have been added by the artist himself when he sold the drawing to Monro. The view of Caernarfon was presumably included in a mixed lot in the 1833 sale, and Turner certainly would not have needed to buy it as a record of the subject, as his numerous views of the castle include two close variations on this scene (see figure 1 and TG1315 figure 1).1 The former was even sketched in the same year that Girtin visited the castle, for Turner’s 1798 tour also took him to North Wales, though he was probably in Caernarfon itself in August or early September – that is, a month or so later than his colleague – and the two artist do not appear to have met or sketched together.
1800
Caernarfon Castle, from the East
TG1738
1798 - 1799
Caernarfon Castle, from the River Seiont
TG1315
1798 - 1799
The Market Square at Aylesbury
TG0369a
(?) 1798
Caernarfon: A Street Scene with Plas Mawr (The Great House)
TG1313