This detailed pencil study of the west front of Lichfield Cathedral in Staffordshire was made during Girtin’s first significant trip outside London, which he undertook in the summer of 1794 in the company of his earliest patron, the amateur artist and antiquarian James Moore (1762–99). Girtin is documented as having visited Lincoln with Moore (Howlett, 1805),¹ and the full extent of the tour can be gauged from the existence of a sequence of detailed pencil drawings of major Gothic cathedrals and churches in the Midlands (such as TG1014) as well as from dated and exhibited watercolours that were produced from them, including the commission realised from this sketch for Moore himself (TG1002). In addition to Lincoln and Lichfield, patron and artist appear to have travelled to Peterborough and Southwell, with other possible stops including Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon and Kenilworth. Girtin’s commissions for Moore had hitherto been based on sketches made by the patron himself, including the large watercolour Ely Cathedral, from the South East (TG0202), which was shown at the Royal Academy exhibition in the late spring of 1794. Although a fine work for a young artist, the view of Ely showed up the limitations of working from a secondary source, and I suspect that Moore took his protégé on his next trip so that he might take more detailed and accurate sketches of architectural subjects than he himself was capable of.

Pencil drawings such as this view of Lichfield represent a step change in Girtin’s sketching practice at this date. Working on a larger sheet of paper than he had hitherto employed, the artist recorded a mass of detail from which he might subsequently realise accurate representations of one of the most important Gothic churches in England (TG1002 and TG1003) and compositions that were not compromised by problems with perspective, such as had marred the view of Ely. The earliest of the two major watercolours of the west front of Lichfield (TG1002) must have been produced soon after Girtin’s return from the Midlands as it is dated 1794, and, tellingly, it was painted for Moore himself. Given that Moore accompanied Girtin on a trip that was undertaken with a series of commissions for watercolours as its primary aim, it is likely that the patron himself chose the subjects for sketching, as well as dictating the specific viewpoints from which they were to be depicted, and these naturally reflected his interest in Gothic architecture. In this case, looking from the north west, and from a close viewpoint, the composition gives prominence to the cathedral’s unique arrangement of three spires as well as showing off the multiple registers of arcades, which contribute to the facade’s distinctive appearance. The 1794 trip to the Midlands may have been Girtin’s first significant journey outside London, but Moore was still very much in charge, and the results of the artist’s efforts reflected, first and foremost, the patron’s antiquarian interests.

Girtin’s great contemporary, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), also toured the Midland counties in the summer of 1794, and he likewise made a detailed sketch of the west front of Lichfield and its magnificent spires (see figure 1). This is likely to have predated the beginnings of the artists’ association at the home of their mutual patron Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833) and, although Turner visited and sketched many of the same medieval sites at Newark, Warwick, Kenilworth, Lincoln and Peterborough, as well as Lichfield, there is no evidence that the two artists were influenced by each other’s choice of subject, or indeed that they met up on their trips. Nonetheless, as Andrew Wilton has pointed out, the two artists’ style when treating architectural subjects was extremely close at this point, leading to subsequent confusion over the attribution of their drawings (Wilton, 1979, pp.36–38). Turner’s use of larger sheets of paper on this tour, rather than his customary sketchbooks, brought his practice particularly close to that of Girtin, but this was no doubt because the artists were working for the same type of client, who demanded careful attention to architectural details. Turner’s one commission from Moore, a fine view of the interior of the ruins of the transept of Tintern Abbey (see TG0172 figure 1), was produced at this time, and it may have been shown in the same 1795 Royal Academy exhibition that featured two of the outcomes of Girtin’s Midlands tour (TG1002 and TG1017).

(?) 1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1014

1794

The West Front of Lichfield Cathedral

TG1002

(?) 1794

Ely Cathedral, from the South East

TG0202

1794

The West Front of Lichfield Cathedral

TG1002

(?) 1796

The West Front of Lichfield Cathedral

TG1003

1794

The West Front of Lichfield Cathedral

TG1002

1794

The West Front of Lichfield Cathedral

TG1002

1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1017