Room 1
The Interior of Tintern Abbey Looking Towards the West Window from the Choir
Girtin is not known to have visited Tintern Abbey, so this watercolour must have been made after a sketch by another artist - presumably his master, Edward Dayes. At this early stage Girtin's style was still strongly based on his master's work, especially in his use of strong pen and ink outlines to the forms. He was also not entirely confident in his handling of perspective, though some of this difficulty is neatly masked by the swathes of climbing plants covering the architecture.
Tintern Abbey was a popular tourist destination in the 1790s, and was celebrated by travel writers even before Wordsworth commemorated it in verse in 1798. Travellers were attracted by its glorious setting on the River Wye, the relative completeness of the ruins and the picturesque effect of the ivy. |
