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

Taken from the banks of the Water of Leith in the north-east of Edinburgh, we look down upon St Bernard’s Well in the left foreground and across the water towards the city. The dome of St George’s in Charlotte Square (now the West Register House, drawn in detail on folio 60 verso; D13566) is prominent on the right of the sketch (folio 64; D13573), and, running out of room at the top of the page, Turner has sketched the top of the dome to the right of the church. To the right of the sketch on the present page is Queen’s Street in Edinburgh’s New Town, and behind it the outline of Edinburgh Castle.

Although Turner’s sketches of Scotland in 1818 tend to be economical and factual, he did take opportunities when they arose to compose his drawings in the manner of a finished painting, here using the monument at St Bernard’s Well as a classical motif in the manner of Claude and framing the composition on the left with a tree.

Turner made several sketches of St Bernard’s Well in 1818, and a number of views from the Stockbridge area of Edinburgh (see Bass Rock and Edinburgh sketchbook, Tate D13325; Turner Bequest CLXV 3).