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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1831 > Inverness Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner West Door of Elgin Cathedral 1831

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘West Door of Elgin Cathedral’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 134 Recto:
West Door of Elgin Cathedral 1831
D27207
Turner Bequest CCLXXVII 134
Pencil on off-white wove paper, 163 x 104 mm
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘134’ top left inverted
Stamped in black ‘CCLXXVII 134’ top left inverted
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This careful but economical sketch shows the west door of Elgin Cathedral. Turner was keen to record details of the arches and windows and the carvings around the elaborate doorway, but drew just enough of every part in detail in order to suggest the whole. The doorway can be seen at the right of the sketch on folio 134 (D27208). There are further sketches of architectural details on folio 133 verso (D27206). See folio 139 (D27215) for references to further sketches of Elgin in this sketchbook.

Thomas Ardill
May 2010

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘West Door of Elgin Cathedral 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2010, 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-west-door-of-elgin-cathedral-r1135573, accessed 25 April 2024.