J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Edinburgh, from Arthur's Seat 1818

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 59 Verso:
Edinburgh, from Arthur’s Seat 1818
D13426
Turner Bequest CLXV 57a
Pencil on white laid paper, 99 x 159 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The eastern side of Arthur’s Seat dominates this sketch with the craggy ruins of St Anthony’s Chapel on hill at the left of the picture. Edinburgh can be seen in the distance, with the outline of the castle and a few church spires as its only distinctive features in this slight sketch. In the centre right of the picture is the Palace of Holyrood and Holyrood Abbey, and at the top right is a miniature thumbnail sketch of a building on a hill. The viewpoint is very similar to that of folio 58 verso (D13424; CLXV 56a), which shows the city and hillside in more detail.

Thomas Ardill
November 2007

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Edinburgh, from Arthur’s Seat 1818 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2007, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-edinburgh-from-arthurs-seat-r1131972, accessed 29 March 2024.