- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- St Ann’s Gate, Salisbury
- Date
- (?) 1802
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 32.7 × 52.6 cm, 12 ⅞ × 20 ¾ in
- Inscription
'1 November 1802' on an old mount, by John Girtin (now lost)
- Object Type
- Unfinished Studio Watercolour
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG1756
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 485 as 'St. Anne's Gate, Salisbury ... Unfinished'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001, 2002 and 2018
Provenance
John Girtin (1773–1821); probably bought from him by Chambers Hall (1786–1855); presented to the Museum, 1855
Exhibition History
London, 1953a, no.38; London, 2002, no.76 as c.1800
Bibliography
Binyon, 1898–1907, no.46; Finberg, 1905 as 'Shrewsbury'; Davies, 1924, pl.96; Mayne, 1949, p.69
Place depicted
Other entries in Late Watercolours:
Samuel William Reynolds and Painting for the Art Market
An Imaginary City, with Antique Buildings
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Ancient Ruins, with an Obelisk
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ancient Ruins, with a Gothic Church
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
A Classical Composition, with a Church and Column
Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool
The Arch of Janus, Rome
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Temple of Clitumnus
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Saturn, with the Arch of Septimius Severus
Private Collection
A Town on an Estuary
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
A Lagoon Capriccio
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
An Unidentified Coastal Landscape with a Windmill
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle upon Tyne
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Lindisfarne Priory, Northumberland (English Heritage)
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Jedburgh Abbey, from the Riverbank
The Higgins, Bedford
On the River Medway, with a Boatyard, Beached Vessels and Hulks
Private Collection
Bisham Abbey, on the River Thames
Private Collection
A Classical Composition, with Figures Admiring the Sculptures
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
An Unidentified Ruin next to a Bridge over a Stream, Said to Be Furness Abbey
Touchstones Rochdale
The Gatehouse of Morpeth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Hill
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from the Canal, Evening
Private Collection
A Distant View of Kirkstall Abbey
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead
An Unidentified Scene, Formerly Known as ‘Kirkstall Village’
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Wetherby Bridge and Mills, Looking across the Weir
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
British Museum, London
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
Leeds Art Gallery
Kirk Deighton, near Wetherby
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the River Ouse
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
Private Collection
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Private Collection
A Farmyard with Barns, Ladder and Figures; A Sky Study
Courtauld Gallery, London
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Leeds Art Gallery
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection
Ripon Minster, from the South East
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Ripon Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Mountain Stream in Spate, Possibly the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church from across the River Wharfe
Eton College, Windsor
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
Leeds Art Gallery
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
The Banks of the River Wharfe, with Bolton Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Richmond Castle, from the River Swale
Leeds Art Gallery
A Farmhouse in Malhamdale, Known as 'Kirkby Priory, near Malham'
British Museum, London
An Ancient Oak, Said to Be on the River Ure
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection, Norfolk
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
Tate, London
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory; The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle upon Tyne
Private Collection
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Upland Landscape, Said to Show Etal Castle
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The River Tweed at Kelso, Looking Upstream
Courtauld Gallery, London
The Eildon Hills, from the River Tweed
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
A Distant View of Dryburgh Abbey, with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Private Collection
The Valley of the Tweed, with Melrose Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Village of Jedburgh
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Southampton: The South Gate and Old Gaol
Private Collection
Bristol Harbour, with St Mary Redcliffe in the Distance
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
A Wharf with Shipping, Possibly at Bristol
Art Institute of Chicago
A Rainbow over the River Exe
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
A Rainbow over the River Exe
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Rainbow over the River Exe
Graves Gallery, Sheffield
Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
St Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
On the River Taw, North Devon, Looking from Braunton Marsh towards Instow and Appledore
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Conwy Castle, from the River Gyffin
Private Collection, Norfolk
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea (The White House, Chelsea)
Tate, London
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Panoramic Landscape, with Figures Trawling a Pond
Private Collection
Landscape with a Distant Ridge, Possibly Hampstead Heath
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Inn Yard, Edgware Road, Paddington
British Museum, London
The Thames from a Window of the Old Toy Inn, Hampton Court
British Museum, London
The Old Cottage, Widmore, near Bromley
British Museum, London
Shipping on the River Medway
Museum of New Zealand, Wellington
A Farmyard with Cattle, Poultry and Labourers Unloading Hay, Possibly Pinkney's Farm, Wimbish
Art Institute of Chicago
Farmhouse and Outbuildings, Possibly in Essex
Aberdeen Art Gallery
An Unidentified Village Street with a Church Tower in the Distance
British Museum, London
A Panoramic Landscape, Possibly Showing Primrose Hill, London
Private Collection
A Mountain Stream with a Watermill and Bridge
Eton College, Windsor
Unidentified Landscape with a Distant Rain Shower
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Warkworth Church, with the Bridge Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
An Italianate Landscape with Two Monks
Private Collection
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About this Work
This unfinished watercolour shows Exeter Street in Salisbury, with the fourteenth-century structure of St Ann’s Gate prominent to the right. Some earlier writers thought that the work was left unfinished because of the artist’s death on 9 November 1802, and that it therefore belongs to the mythical category of the ‘artist’s last work’ (Mayne, 1949, p.69). Writing in the catalogue of the 2002 bicentenary exhibition of Girtin’s work, I questioned whether there was any evidence to back this up, and I consequently dated the work to around 1800 (Smith, 2002b, p.106). The discovery of new evidence, however, has led to a change of mind and I am now convinced that St Ann’s Gate, Salisbury is indeed Girtin’s last and unfinished work. The drawing was said to have been inscribed on an old mount by the artist’s brother, John Girtin (1773–1821), with the date of ‘1 November 1802’, and it is now clear, following the emergence of the accounts that John presented in response to the Chancery case taken out by Mary Ann Girtin (1781–1843), that he was in a unique position to have known what Girtin was working on at the time of his death in his studio in the Strand. Indeed, it is highly likely that the unfinished work was one of the watercolours that John Girtin removed from the studio at the artist’s death, as ‘security for the repayment’ of the loans that he had provided to his brother, and that he therefore subsequently sold it as part of his dealings in Girtin’s works (Smith, 2017–18, pp.35–36; Chancery, Income and Expenses, 1804). Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak argued that we can be sure that watercolours such as the views identified as showing Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey (TG1686) or St Vincent’s Rocks (TG1735) were amongst the latest due to their tragic mood, which suggested an awareness ‘that death was not far off’ (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, pp.90–94). However, Girtin’s actual last work is a provincial street scene in which the numerous figures go about their daily lives in an image of commercial sociability, untinged by any hint of angst.
In addition to having biographical interest, the watercolour provides significant details about Girtin’s later working methods, though it must be noted that this has been distorted by its faded condition. Thus, the sky has lost the range of greys used to depict the clouds and one of the blues has also all but disappeared, whilst the vegetation, to the right, is also discoloured. Having made allowances for these changes, it is still possible to see the way that Girtin finished some areas before others; thus, whilst the sky would have been completed, the foreground, and the figures in particular, are roughly sketched in or left blank. The late Eric Shanes, in a fine example of technical exposition, traced the way in which Girtin used up to fifteen different tones to create the final rich effect seen in the finished Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Hill (TG1635), working each colour mix across the sheet of paper before turning to the next in an example of what the writer terms the ‘scale practice’ (Shanes, 1997, p.46). Applying the same principle to this work, it is clear that Girtin washed in about seven or eight tints, suggesting that it is therefore about half complete, with more detailed work on the figures, perhaps using some opaque bodycolour, being left to last.
On a technical note, the paper historian Peter Bower has identified the support used by Girtin as an off-white laid cartridge paper by an unknown English manufacturer (Smith, 2002b, p.102; Bower, Report).
1800 - 1801
An Upland Landscape, Identified as Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey
TG1686
(?) 1800
St Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge
TG1735
1800
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Hill
TG1635