This detailed pencil study of the west front of Peterborough Cathedral 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 in the Midlands and from dated and exhibited watercolours that were produced from them – most notably, examples painted for Moore himself (such as TG1017). In addition to Peterborough and Lincoln, patron and artist appear to have travelled to Lichfield 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 Peterborough represent a step change in Girtin’s sketching practice at this date. Working on a larger sheet of paper than he had hitherto employed, Girtin employed a careful, broken line, which varies from the lightest of touches to sharper forms, to record the complex architectural details of the facade. From these drawings, he could realise accurate representations of one of the most important Gothic churches in England (TG1017, TG1018, TG1019 and TG1020) – and, crucially, he did so in compositions that were not compromised by problems with perspective such as had marred the view of Ely. The earliest of the four major watercolours of the west front of Peterborough (TG1017), painted for Moore himself, must have been produced soon after his return from the Midlands as it is dated 1794. Given that Moore accompanied Girtin on a trip that was undertaken with a series of commissions for watercolours as its primary aim, it is very likely that the patron himself chose the subjects for the young artist to sketch as well as dictating the specific viewpoints from which they were to be depicted. In this case, though, the close and oblique viewpoint shows off the complex sculptural detail of the facade and its deeply recessed porch, and it would also have provided Girtin with the opportunity to develop a rather more dramatic composition than was the case with the comparable drawing of Lichfield (TG1001).

Strictly speaking, it is not quite true to say that the four watercolours that repeat this composition are based on this drawing, as they actually depart from it in an easily overlooked way. Thus, whilst the watercolour produced for Moore (TG1017) correctly shows six rows of arcades in the north-west tower, this sketch includes one extra level. The explanation for this anomaly lies in the fact that at some point, presumably after the production of the first three watercolours, Girtin cut his original sketch and added an extended version of the structure, and the join where the new piece of paper was added can be clearly seen about thirteen centimetres from the top. The original, and correct, representation still exists (TG1015). It seems that the change was made at the time of the production of another watercolour, probably around 1796, when Girtin was looking to enhance the grandeur of the composition and changed his original sketch to test how the addition of an extra row of arcades might appear.

Girtin’s great contemporary, Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), also toured the Midland counties in the summer of 1794 and he likewise made sketches of the west front of Peterborough Cathedral (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 Lichfield, as well as Peterborough, 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. In this case, the watercolour that was commissioned from Turner’s sketch (see TG1017 figure 1) was actually produced for Monro himself and it was shown in the Council Room at the same 1795 exhibition of the Royal Academy just a few metres away from the similar view of the west front of Peterborough that Girtin painted for Moore (TG1017).

1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1017

(?) 1794

Ely Cathedral, from the South East

TG0202

1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1017

1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1018

(?) 1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1019

(?) 1796

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1020

1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1017

(?) 1794

The West Front of Lichfield Cathedral

TG1001

1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1017

1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1017