This view of the west front of Peterborough Cathedral, shown from close to the north-west tower, is one of four watercolours (the others being TG1017, TG1019 and TG1020) that Girtin made after a detailed pencil sketch (TG1014), as well as another monochrome study (TG1016), that were both executed on his first significant trip outside London. The tour through the Midland counties, in the summer of 1794, was organised by the artist’s earliest patron, the antiquarian and amateur artist James Moore (1762–99), who accompanied Girtin to Lincoln, Southwell, Lichfield, as well as Peterborough, so that his young protégé might sketch at first hand a group of the nation’s finest Gothic buildings. This watercolour, which is dated 1794, was assumed by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960) and David Loshak to have come from the collection of Moore on the not unreasonable grounds that the back of the drawing is inscribed: ‘Recd 3d April 1795 of Mr Jas Moore / One Pound Eleven Shillgs 6d for / a Drawing of Peterborough Cathd. / £1. 11. 6 – Thos Girtin’ (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.145). There is a problem with this, however, as there is no evidence that Moore ever owned two views of Peterborough, and the provenance for a watercolour of almost exactly the same cathedral scene (TG1017), a work that was shown at the Royal Academy exhibition in 1795, is so secure as to suggest that the receipt on the back of this drawing might refer to that work instead. If this is the case, it may be that this version of the west front of Peterborough was painted for Moore but was for some reason rejected, and that Girtin then went on to make a second drawing of the scene for his patron. This watercolour is known only from an old black and white photograph, and it is difficult to establish the possible reason for its rejection by Moore, but that seems to be the most logical explanation for why Girtin recorded the sale of another version of the west front of the cathedral to Moore on a drawing that the patron did not own. There is, however, an alternative explanation, namely that the patron commissioned a second version of the work as a gift for someone else and that the relatively low sum of £1 11s 6d recorded in the receipt reflects the fact that, although this drawing has the same dimensions as the watercolour commissioned by Moore, producing a replica required less effort from the artist. If the work was presented as a gift, that would explain both its low cost and the lack of a Moore provenance, though why Girtin recorded a receipt on the back would still not be clear.

The watercolour, as with two other versions of the Peterborough view (TG1017 and TG1019), follows the original form of the outline drawing (TG1015), before the substitution of an alternative version of the north-west tower, with an extra row of arcades added (TG1014), in preparation for the final watercolour (TG1020).

1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1017

(?) 1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1019

(?) 1796

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1020

(?) 1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1014

(?) 1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1016

1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1017

1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1017

(?) 1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1019

(?) 1794

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1014

(?) 1796

The West Front of Peterborough Cathedral

TG1020