Joseph Mallord William Turner

Dolbadarn Castle Seen from Below

1799

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In Tate Britain

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Dolbadarn Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 79 × 130 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D02054
Turner Bequest XLVI 41

Catalogue entry

This is the viewpoint, looking up to the ruins of Dolbadarn from below, that Turner was to adopt for his Diploma oil painting for the Royal Academy collection, Dolbadern Castle, North Wales, exhibited at the Academy in 1800.1 Dramatic as it is, it does not exaggerate or distort the topography as do the sketches on folios 38 verso–39 recto and 40 verso opposite (D02049–D02050, D02053). Turner has positioned himself immediately below the ruined tower at the base of the low spur on which it stands.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

1
Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984, pp.9–10 no.12, pl.7 (colour).

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