Joseph Mallord William Turner

Edinburgh Castle from the South-West

1818

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

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Not on display

Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Bass Rock and Edinburgh Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 99 × 159 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D13393
Turner Bequest CLXV 41

Catalogue entry

This view of Edinburgh Castle shows the west side with the Ordnance Stores, New Barracks, and Queen Anne Building. During his visit to Edinburgh in 1818 Turner drew the castle from all angles: from up close and from far away, in relation to various other parts of the city and in isolation. This process of looking and sketching helped Turner to gain a knowledge of the castle, to find the best views and provided him with a store of sketches and memories to work from. This sketch, concentrates on just a portion of the castle, playing particular attention to the architecture, and using hatching to help define the shape of the buildings.

Thomas Ardill
November 2007

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