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

Although this quick sketch is located in the book between views of Elgin Cathedral (see folio 139; D27215 for references), and has been previously identified as the city of Elgin,1 it does not look like it, and is drawn in a very different style from the cathedral sketches. It could possibly be a view of the ruins from the south-west, but it is not a close match. The tower bears a resemblance to a sketch on folio 122 (D271919), which is similarly rapidly drawn and with shading. It has been suggested that that sketch may depict St Machar’s Cathedral in Aberdeen, but the identification is doubtful.