- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
- Date
- 1795 - 1796
- Medium and Support
- Graphite, watercolour and pen and ink on wove paper, on an original mount
- Dimensions
- 20.9 × 31.1 cm, 8 ¼ × 12 ¼ in
- Mount Dimensions
- 24.8 × 34.6 cm, 9 ¾ × 13 in
- Inscription
‘Ruins of Savoy’ on the back, by James Moore
- Object Type
- Colour Sketch: Studio Work
- Subject Terms
- London and Environs; Urban Ruins
Provenance
James Moore (1762–99); his widow, Mary Moore (née Howett) (d.1835); bequeathed to Anne Miller (1802–90); bequeathed to Edward Mansel Miller (1829–1912); bequeathed to Helen Louisa Miller (1842–1915); bought by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960), 1912, £8 15s; given to Tom Girtin (1913–94), c.1938; bought by John Baskett on behalf of Paul Mellon (1907–99), 1970; presented to the Center, 1975
Exhibition History
? London, 1912, no.38 as ’Westminster, from the Savoy Ruins’; London, 1920, no.53; Cambridge, 1920, no.17; London, 1934b, no.1209 as ’Savoy Ruins’; London, 1962a, no.126; Reading, 1969, no.26; Birmingham, 1993, no.107
Bibliography
Gibson, 1916, p.214; Bell, 1915–17, p.76; Davies, 1924, p.18; Hardie, 1934, p.4; Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.61
Place depicted
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Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
'Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Officer and Sergeant
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Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection
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About this Work
The use of monochrome washes in this work may at first suggest that it was the product of a session at the home of Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) involving a collaboration with Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), as was the case with two other Savoy subjects (TG0368 and TG0369). However, it is not just the pencil work that is Girtin’s; the addition of fluid, quite summary washes of grey watercolour, followed by a fluent, expressive and inventive use of pen and ink, is also clearly by his hand. The evident dispatch with which the work was executed might also erroneously suggest that it was sketched on the spot as a study for studio watercolours of Savoy subjects (such as TG0315 and TG0366), both of which repeat this composition on the same scale. It is of course perfectly possible that Girtin produced such a work in the field, but its scale and the inclusion of carefully composed figures suggest that, despite its sketch-like qualities, it was painted in the studio. Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak illustrate the work next to a drawing by Giovanni Antonio Canale (Canaletto) (1697–1768) in order to show the origins of Girtin’s ‘basic method of handling the pen’ in conjunction with a monochrome wash, but there is more to it than that, I suggest (see figure 1) (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.61). For, surely, the point is that this exercise in Canaletto’s style was sold as a sketch-like commodity to demonstrate Girtin’s abilities as a draughtsman, capable of mastering the formal language of the pre-eminent topographical artist of the century at the same time as recording a familiar London scene. The work was first owned by James Moore (1762–99), the antiquarian who was Girtin’s first significant patron and someone who might appreciate that the drawing’s economy of means embodied a significant extension of the young artist’s ambitions.
The distant view of Westminster Bridge and the south bank of the Thames to the west allows us to identify the part of the ruins of the Savoy shown here. The three vertical elements shown left of centre formed part of the tower identified as ‘Sutler’s House’ on the plan that accompanied George Vertue’s (1684–1756) view The Savoy from the River Thames (see TG0240 figure 2). The collapse of the roof and the windows of the tower in the intervening period left three gaunt monoliths that contrast with the more recently built Westminster Bridge beyond to create a powerful symbol of a city in flux. The view attracted other artists in this period (see figure 2), though the inclusion of the bulk of the undamaged south transept of the old Savoy Hospital distracts from the associations of the ruins in many cases. By adopting a viewpoint just a few metres closer to the river, however, Girtin creates an image that feels closer to a ruin from antiquity, with at least one of the figures apparently taking a break from reclaiming building materials from the rubble to reflect on the moral lessons that might be derived from the contrast with the modern marvel of engineering shown beyond.
1795 - 1796
An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
TG0368
1795 - 1796
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
TG0369
1795 - 1796
Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
TG0315
1795 - 1796
Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
TG0366
1795 - 1796
An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
TG0240