Girtin’s drawing has been squared for transfer. This is presumably because the drawing is actually smaller than the print and would have had to be enlarged for engraving to a consistent scale. This, and the fact that the work was the first of a number of Girtin’s architectural subjects to be published in The Temple of Taste, suggests that it might also have been one of the initial drawings executed by Girtin, and it follows from this that it was almost certainly made in Dayes’ studio. In all Girtin may have made as many as twenty-one drawings for Taylor’s publication, though this is one of only six that are known to survive, including The Monument (TG0030) and The Banqueting House, Whitehall (TG0039).
1790 - 1791
The Monument
TG0030
1790 - 1791
The Banqueting House, Whitehall
TG0039
About this Work
This drawing by Girtin for the first plate of Charles Taylor’s (1756–1823) periodical The Temple of Taste was published on 1 November 1794, though it is likely to have been produced earlier. Girtin’s watercolour is based on an untraced sketch made by his master, Edward Dayes (1763–1804), which the master used as the basis for a large-scale watercolour dated 1790 (see figure 1). This was later engraved as The Promenade, St James’ Park and another print of the same scene, just showing the buildings and a few figures, followed in 1799 (see figure 2). In contrast to Dayes’ views, which use various combinations of trees to frame the building, Girtin simplified the composition and made the figures smaller, as befitted a publication that concentrated on London’s architectural highlights. The Queen’s Palace, formerly Buckingham House, was bought by the Crown in 1761 and was remodelled for the use of Queen Charlotte between 1762 and 1776 before beginning the next stage of its eventual transformation into Buckingham Palace at the command of George IV.