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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > George IV’s visit to Edinburgh 1822 > King's Visit to Edinburgh Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Holyrood Palace and Abbey Seen from Calton Hill 1822

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Holyrood Palace and Abbey Seen from Calton Hill’ 1822
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 37 Recto:
Holyrood Palace and Abbey Seen from Calton Hill 1822
D17566
Turner Bequest CC 37
Pencil on white wove paper, 187 x 114mm
Very faint sign of John Ruskin’s red ink inscription, ?‘37’ top right running vertically
Stamped in black ‘CC 37’ top right running vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This slightly wobbly, but nevertheless minutely detailed drawing of Holyrood Palace and Abbey with Arthur’s Seat beyond was made from the top of Nelson’s Monument from the north-west. Turner climbed up the tower to sketch the laying of the foundation stone of the National Monument of Scotland (see folio 22 verso; D17540), but also took the opportunity of the unique vantage point to make this sketch of the Royal Palace, again holding the sketchbook in the portrait format and drawing only at the outer edge of the page. Holyrood was the location for several of the ceremonies of the royal visit in 1822: the procession into Edinburgh (15 August), a Leveé (17th), audiences with the King (19th), a drawing-room, and the procession to the castle with the Regalia (22nd).

Thomas Ardill
September 2008

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Holyrood Palace and Abbey Seen from Calton Hill 1822 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2008, 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-holyrood-palace-and-abbey-seen-from-calton-hill-r1132907, accessed 25 April 2024.