This view of Lincoln Cathedral, shown from the west, is the earliest of two watercolours (the other being TG1009) that Girtin made after a detailed pencil sketch (TG1001) that he executed on his first significant trip outside London, undertaken in the summer of 1794. The tour through the Midland counties was organised by the artist’s earliest patron, the antiquarian and amateur artist James Moore (1762–99), who accompanied Girtin to Lichfield, Southwell and Peterborough, as well as Lincoln, so that his young protégé might sketch at first hand a group of the nation’s finest Gothic buildings. This watercolour, which is dated 1794, is one of four cathedral views that were subsequently commissioned by Moore and that Girtin seems to have painted immediately after his return from the journey (the others being TG1002, TG1017 and TG0996). A year earlier, Girtin had exhibited for the first time at the Royal Academy, showing the watercolour Ely Cathedral, from the South East (TG0202), which had been based on a drawing by his patron, but now, working from his own on-the-spot sketches, the young artist was able to render the complex architectural details of the cathedrals with greater fidelity and in compositions that, in contrast to the earlier view of Ely, displayed a secure grasp of perspective.

Girtin may no longer have had to rely on his patron’s barely competent drawings, but his independence was still circumscribed, since it was Moore who presumably chose the itinerary and selected the subjects and the viewpoints from which the artist made his sketches. In this case, the chosen viewpoint gave a suitable prominence to the cathedral’s distinctive arrangement of three towers, including the two spires, which a few years later were removed, but it left the artist with a difficult problem since, as a later writer noted, ‘Had the view been taken a few paces more to the south-west’, the left hand of the western towers ‘would have been detached from the centre one’. Faced with the challenge of differentiating two overlapping towers on different planes, the inexperienced artist chose to render the central structure in a different, contrasting tone of grey. The same writer noted that the obvious solution – moving the viewpoint to the right – would have meant that the effect of the ‘picturesque foreground … would have been lost’, pointing to the larger problem that plagues the watercolour (Howlett, 1805, no page numbers). Namely, the choice of viewpoint, with a picturesque row of cottages leading to a magnificent Gothic monument, meant it was beyond Girtin’s ability, at this date, to render the contrasting structures in a unified manner that was also convincing spatially. A picturesque foreground, painted loosely in a warm palette, thus abruptly gives way to a different set of conventions for the depiction of complex architectural details, with the result that we appear to be viewing two different pictures yoked together.

The Moore commission was one of two views of Lincoln cathedral by Girtin that were engraved by Bartholomew Howlett (1767–1827) (see the print after, above) for inclusion in his publication A Selection of Views in the County of Lincoln. The text accompanying the engraving crucially notes that this and another ‘view’ of Lincoln were ‘contributed by the proprietor of the Drawings, James Moore, Esq. F. S. A., who visited this Cathedral in the year 1794, accompanied by Mr. Girtin’ (Howlett, 1805). Moore’s visit was not undertaken with the intention of producing images for Howlett’s use, however. Most if not all of the other nine drawings that Girtin subsequently contributed to the publication were actually made after sketches by various amateurs, and Moore was happy to lend works commissioned from Girtin to publishers and engravers who shared his interests. Howlett’s print, a mixture of etching for the picturesque foreground and engraved lines for the cathedral, was no more successful at resolving the conflict that mars the watercolour; indeed, the combination of print techniques, if anything, makes the uneasy juxtaposition more explicit.

1795 - 1796

Lincoln Cathedral, from the West

TG1009

(?) 1794

The West Front of Lichfield Cathedral

TG1001

1794

The West Front of Lichfield Cathedral

TG1002

1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1017

1794 - 1795

TG0996

(?) 1794

Ely Cathedral, from the South East

TG0202