- 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
Other entries in Master and Pupil:
Edward Dayes and the Industrious Apprentice

An Icelandic Woman in Her Riding Dress
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik

An Icelandic Woman with Her Young Daughter
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik

The Great Geysir, Iceland, as It Appeared during Its Eruption to Sir Joseph Banks in September 1772
Private Collection

Mount Hekla, with Sir Joseph Banks and His Party Descending from the Volcano
Private Collection

Lava as It Has Run Over the Ridge of a Hill, Iceland
Private Collection

The House of Thorstein Jonsson at Hvaleyri, Iceland
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik

A Section of the 'Boiling Fountains' (Geysers) and the Surrounding Country, Iceland
Private Collection

The Basalt Pillars near Laugarnes, Iceland
Private Collection

An Icelandic Woman in Her Bridal Dress
National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavik

Durham Cathedral, from the River Wear
The Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg

Eton College, from the River
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

London: Interior of St Stephen Walbrook, Looking East
Private Collection

Rochester, from the River Medway
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

St Mary’s Church, Battersea
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery

Unidentified Coastal Village, Said to Be Clovelly
Private Collection

The Monument to Anthony and Anne Forster, Cumnor Church
Private Collection

The Interior of Buildwas Abbey Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Somerset House: The Strand Front and the Royal Academy
Untraced Works

An Exterior View of Henry VII’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

Westminster Bridge, from the North East
Untraced Works

The Oxford Street Facade of the Pantheon
Untraced Works

The Interior of Westminster Abbey: The Nave Looking East
Untraced Works

The Queen’s Palace, or Buckingham House
Royal Collection Trust (Windsor)

The King’s Mews, Charing Cross
London Metropolitan Archives

The East Front of St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The West Front of St Martin-in-the-Fields
Untraced Works

The Banqueting House, Whitehall
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The Interior of St Paul’s Cathedral: The Nave Looking East
Untraced Works

St Paul’s Cathedral, from the South West
Untraced Works

The West Front of St Paul’s Cathedral
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The West Front of Westminster Abbey
Untraced Works

Interior of St Stephen Walbrook, Looking East
Untraced Works

A French Lady of Quality in 1581
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Edward VI in 1550
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

A Noble Virgin of Bologna in 1581
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

A Persian Lady in 1568
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

An English Nobleman in 1559
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Henry VIII in 1520
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Marlow, from across the River Thames
Private Collection

Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

The River Wensum at Norwich
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Rochester Castle, from the River Medway
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Tintern Abbey, from the River Wye
Courtauld Gallery, London

All Saints' Church, Fulham, from the Seven Bells, Putney
Private Collection

London from Highgate Hill
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

'First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Officer and Subaltern
British Museum, London

'First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Sergeant and Private
British Museum, London

First Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660: Drummer and Private
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

'Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650': Officer and Sergeant
British Museum, London

'Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650': Sergeant and Private
British Museum, London

Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards, 1650: Drummer and Corporal
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

'Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Officer and Sergeant
British Museum, London

'Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660': Grenadier and Private
British Museum, London

Third Regiment of Foot Guards, 1660: Drummer and Private
Brown University Library, Providence, Anne S. K. Brown Military Collection

Christ Church, Southwark
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Llanthony Priory
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Rochester, from the North
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

The View from the Great Boathouse, Lake Windermere
Private Collection

Westminster Abbey and Bridge, from Lambeth
Private Collection

The Dover Mail, Dover Castle in the Distance
Private Collection

Rochester Cathedral and Castle, from the North East
Eton College, Windsor

Worcester, from the River Severn
Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields

Lake Windermere and Belle Isle
Wordsworth Grasmere (Dove Cottage and Wordsworth Museum)

London Bridge, from the South Bank
Private Collection

The Demolition of a Building, Said to Be Part of the Ruins of Old Drury Lane Theatre
Private Collection

Dover Castle: The Constable's Tower
Untraced Works

A Cottage on the Solent
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery

Hereford Cathedral, from the River Wye
Hereford Museum and Art Gallery

Chepstow Castle, on the River Wye
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Warehouse and Shipping at Wapping
Leicester Museum & Art Gallery

A Distant View of Hereford Cathedral
Private Collection

The Gatehouse and Barbican, Warwick Castle
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco

Chepstow Castle, from the River Wye
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

The Interior of a Ruined Abbey Church
Private Collection

The Head of Ullswater, from Goborrow Park
Private Collection

Part of the Ruins of Roche Abbey
Private Collection

The Transept of St Saviour’s, Southwark
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Durham Cathedral, from the River Wear
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

All Saints' Church, Marlow
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester

Caesar’s Tower, Warwick Castle
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

A Bronze Age Palstave and a Roman Bow Brooch
Society of Antiquaries of London

All Saints' Church, Marlow
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

Unidentified Monastic Ruins next to a River
Private Collection

Westminster, from the Ruins of the Savoy
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh

Manchester: Chetham’s College from Hunt’s Bank, with the Bridge over the River Irwell
Untraced Works

Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Private Collection

The Oriel Window of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Private Collection

A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino

A Distant View of Marlow, from the River Thames
Private Collection

An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford

Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Palace, Westminster Bridge Beyond
Private Collection

Buildings in the Process of Demolition, Said to Be the Ruins of the Savoy Palace
Tate, London

An Exterior View of Part of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Tate, London

An Interior View of the Ruins of the Savoy Hospital
Tate, London

St Mary’s Church, Monken Hadley
Tate, London

An Exterior View of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Private Collection

The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Private Collection

The Interior of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven

St Mary's Church, Putney High Street
Private 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