- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802)
- Title
-
- York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
- Date
- (?) 1796
- Medium and Support
- Graphite on wove paper
- Dimensions
- 9.9 × 17.6 cm, 3 ⅞ × 6 ⅞ in
- Object Type
- Outline Drawing
- Subject Terms
- Gothic Architecture: Cathedral View; Yorkshire View
Provenance
Henry Edridge (1768–1821); bequeathed to Henry Rice (1788–1844); his posthumous sale, Christie's, 24 April 1845, possibly lot 454 as ‘York, &c 3’; acquired by the Museum in 1867 as part of a volume of 185 drawings attributed to Henry Edridge
Place depicted
Other entries in The 1796 Northern Tour to Yorkshire, the North East and the Scottish Borders:
Sketches and Subsequent Watercolours
Bamburgh Castle, from the South
Cragside House, Northumberland (National Trust)
Durham Cathedral, from the South West
British Museum, London
The Ouse Bridge, York, from the North Shore
British Museum, London
The Ouse Bridge, York, from Skeldergate Postern
York Art Gallery
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the Ouse
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
York Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
York Minster, from the Ouse, with St Mary’s Abbey
Harewood House, Yorkshire
The South Side of York Minster, Showing the Transept and the Western Towers
Private Collection, Yorkshire
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
British Museum, London
Unidentified Gothic Ruins, Said to Be St Mary’s Abbey, York
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Harewood House, Yorkshire
A Distant View of Rievaulx Abbey
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Private Collection
Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Manchester Art Gallery
Easby Abbey, from the River Swale
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Church Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
British Museum, London
Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
Richmond Castle and Bridge, from the River Swale
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool
Richmond Castle and Town, from the South East
Private Collection
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
British Museum, London
Egglestone Abbey, from the River Tees
Gallery Oldham
Egglestone Abbey, on the River Tees
British Museum, London
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Durham Cathedral and Castle, from the River Wear
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Private Collection, Norfolk
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Durham Castle and Cathedral, from below the Weir; Dryburgh Abbey with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Durham Cathedral, from the South West
Private Collection
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Private Collection
Tynemouth Priory, from the Coast
Cleveland Museum of Art
Bothal Castle, from the River Wansbeck
Private Collection
A River Scene with a Tower, Said to Be the Tyne near Hexham
Leeds Art Gallery
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Private Collection, Norfolk
The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Castle Beyond
Untraced Works
Dunstanburgh Castle, Viewed from a Distance
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Dunstanburgh Castle: The Lilburn Tower
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Lindisfarne: An Interior View of the Ruins of the Priory Church
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
An Interior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Lindisfarne: The Nave and Crossing of the Priory Church
British Museum, London
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Private Collection
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept Looking North
Private Collection
Dryburgh Abbey: The South Transept from the Cloister
Private Collection
Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Melrose Abbey: The Ruined Presbytery and the East Window
Cooper Gallery, Barnsley
Melrose Abbey, from the North East
The Morgan Library & Museum, New York
Jedburgh Abbey, from the North East
Private Collection
Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
British Museum, London
The Village of Jedburgh, with the Abbey Ruins
Private Collection, Bedfordshire
The West Front of Jedburgh Abbey
British Museum, London
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Blickling Hall, Norfolk (National Trust)
The Ruins of the Lady Chapel, near Bothal
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Bamburgh Castle, from the Village
Guy Peppiatt Fine Art Ltd
St Nicholas’ Church, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool
Richmond, Yorkshire: The Seventeenth-Century House Known as St Nicholas
Private Collection
An Interior View of Fountains Abbey: The East Window from the Presbytery
Graves Gallery, Sheffield
St Mary’s, Old Malton, on the River Derwent
Untraced Works
York: Pavement, Looking towards All Saints
Private Collection
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About this Work
This small sketch showing a distant view of York Minster from the south east with Layerthorpe Bridge to the right was almost certainly made in 1796 on Girtin’s first independent sketching tour. Only one of the twenty or so pencil drawings and on-the-spot colour sketches that survive from the trip is dated, but it is still broadly possible to trace Girtin’s progress through Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland and the Scottish Borders in 1796 from the titles of the works that he sent to the 1797 Royal Academy exhibition, and from the dated watercolours that were subsequently produced from these and other untraced sketches. The 1797 show included four exhibits titled ‘View of York’ (Royal Academy, London, 1797 nos.486, 489, 499 and 726) though neither of the two watercolours Girtin realised from this sketch (TG1051 and TG1656) can be identified as an exhibit. However, the modest scale and the conservative style of this version of the composition relates it to a group of drawings that Girtin executed for the engraver and publisher of the Copper-Plate Magazine, John Walker (active 1776–1802) from around 1796. These include a number of northern views such as Richmond Castle and Town (TG1067) and The Bridge at Warkworth (TG1099) and Girtin appears to have travelled north with a commission from Walker to produce drawings suitable for engraving. The watercolour that derives from this sketch, however, was not actually engraved until 1800 (see engraving after TG1051) when it was published by Rudolph Ackermann (1764–1834) as part of his ‘Four Views from Nature’, all northern subjects gathered in 1796. The style of the drawings engraved for Ackermann (TG1068 and TG1115) again points to an earlier date and one wonders if the publisher did not make use of drawings made originally for Walker. The date of the larger and more atmospheric watercolour of the view of the minster was also 1800 (TG1656) and, given that there is no evidence that Girtin ever returned to York after 1796, this is a relatively rare example of the artist looking back to a sketch from a significantly earlier tour.
The drawing has not hitherto been published, indeed it has long been misattributed to Girtin’s friend Henry Edridge (1768–1821). Edridge was best known as a portrait draughtsman and miniaturist; indeed, he was responsible for two images of Girtin himself (TG1923 and TG1928). Later in his career Edridge turned increasingly to landscape and given that his draughtsmanship was heavily indebted to the younger artist’s example a number of other drawings by Girtin have understandably been wrongly attributed to him (TG1432 and TG1606). It was more likely a confusion over the provenance, however, that led to the misattribution of this drawing and two others also in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum (TG1061 and TG1521). They were included in an album of Edridge’s pencil sketches that appear to have been acquired from the sale in 1845 (Christie’s, 24 April 1845) of the artist’s heir Henry Rice (1788–1844). Lot 454 in the 1845 sale included a view of ‘York’ and two other items and it appears that the three drawings by Girtin were subsequently erroneously mixed in with more than 180 sketches by Edridge, providing a neat illustration of the possible fate of other Girtin sketches that cannot now be traced.
1796 - 1797
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
TG1051
1800
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
TG1656
1796 - 1797
Richmond Castle and Town, from the South East
TG1067
1796 - 1797
The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Castle Beyond
TG1099
1796 - 1797
York Minster, from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
TG1051
1796 - 1797
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
TG1068
1796 - 1797
Etal Castle
TG1115
1800
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
TG1656
(?) 1801
Thomas Girtin Sketching
TG1923
(?) 1796
Portrait Miniature of Thomas Girtin
TG1928
1799 - 1800
Farm Buildings, Probably in Surrey
TG1432
(?) 1800
Kirkby Malham
TG1606
(?) 1796
The Bridge at Warkworth, with the Church Beyond
TG1061
(?) 1800 - 1801
Middleham Village, with the Castle Beyond
TG1521