This view of Lincoln Cathedral, shown from the north west, with the outer walls of the castle seen to the right, is one of two small watercolours that Girtin made after a pencil sketch (TG1004) that was probably executed on his first significant trip outside London, undertaken in the summer of 1794 with his earliest patron, James Moore (1762–99). The larger of the two watercolours (TG1006) was produced for Moore himself, and it appears to date from slightly earlier than this work, which, since we have no details about its early ownership, may have been made for sale on the open market rather than being a commission. If this was the case, the substitution in the foreground of the itinerant group seen in the larger work with a less contentious picturesque cart and horse might have been calculated not to put off potential buyers. The nature of the market Girtin was targeting in such works is suggested by the work’s size (smaller than the version painted for Moore) and by its sketchy appearance, which required considerably less labour than the more carefully finished larger cathedral views, such as Lincoln Cathedral, from the West (TG1008), that he was producing at the same time, again for Moore. Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak compared the composition to a view of Norwich Cathedral painted in 1793 by Girtin’s master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804) (see figure 1), and the work does indeed provide the model for the way Girtin relates the building to its surrounds (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.56). However, an equally salient comparison might be made with another type of commodity that Dayes was pioneering at the same time. The production of larger, labour-intensive landscape watercolours was a risky business without a commission, and Dayes wisely developed a cheaper commodity that, at approximately 14 × 22 cm (5 ½ × 8 in), met the needs of a less well-off sector of the market (see TG0058 figure 1). This is what I suspect Girtin was aiming for with works such this view of Lincoln. Similarly small in scale and, crucially, based on an existing composition, which might be reworked with a minimum of effort, such watercolours might be offered at a price calculated to secure a reliable and steady income.

1794

Lincoln Cathedral: A Distant View from the North West; Unidentified Landscape

TG1004

1794 - 1795

Lincoln Cathedral: A Distant View from the North West

TG1006

1794

Lincoln Cathedral, from the West

TG1008