Joseph Mallord William Turner

Carlisle

1831

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Not on display

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions: Support: 114 x 187 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D25846
Turner Bequest CCLXVI 43 a

Catalogue entry

The view of Carlisle from the north-east at the top of the page may have been made from Eden Bridge, as it is not in sight in the picture and we look along the River Eden as it bends round to the right in front of Carlisle Castle. The outline of Carlisle Cathedral is to the left of the castle, and to the right is an enlarged detailed sketch of a turret at the left of the castle. This detail can be seen on folio 44 (D25847).

The larger sketch on the page continuing on folio 44 is the most detailed drawing of Carlisle that Turner made during this visit. This view from the north-east formed the basis of Turner’s design for the frontispiece of the first volume of Scott’s Poetical Works: Carlisle circa 1832 (watercolour, Yale Center for British Art),1 although not without alteration (see folio 44). From just over a mile to the north-east of the castle, on the present page we see the serpentine bends of the River Eden winding towards Eden Bridge. Turner has marked a ‘Race Course’ on the drawing. This is not the Eden Golf Course, and the racing course has moved to the south of the town. From left to right the distinctive features of the town are a church spire where the Carlisle Railway Station now stands, the two oval towers of the Citadel, the dome of St Cuthbert’s Church and part of Carlisle Cathedral.

There is a similar composition on folios 42 verso–43 (D25844–D25845). For further views of Carlisle see folio 39 verso (D25838).

Thomas Ardill
September 2009

Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.427 no.1070.

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