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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Wales 1798 > Dynevor Castle Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Aberystwyth Castle, Seen from the South 1798

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Aberystwyth Castle, Seen from the South’ 1798
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 43 Verso:
Aberystwyth Castle, Seen from the South 1798
D01533
Turner Bequest XL 41a
Pencil on white wove paper, 135 x 95 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘52’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘XL – 41 a’ top right, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Aberystwyth Castle was built by Edward I in the course of the thirteenth century on a low-lying site, a spit of land close to the sea. Partly because of its proximity to the ocean, it had already fallen into decay by the fourteenth century, though it continued in use until the Civil War when it was a Royalist stronghold.
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, the subject is continued on folio 44 recto opposite (D01534; Turner Bequest XL 42). Further views of the castle are on folios 24 verso–25 recto, 58 verso–59 recto and 69 verso–70 recto (D01500–D01501, D01558–D01559, D01577–D01578; Turner Bequest XL 22a–23, 56a–57, 67a–68). See also folio 42 verso (D01531; Turner Bequest XL 40a) for another drawing made at Aberystwyth.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Aberystwyth Castle, Seen from the South 1798 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-aberystwyth-castle-seen-from-the-south-r1173772, accessed 26 April 2024.