Joseph Mallord William Turner

Furness Abbey: Interior of the Ruins, Looking North

1797

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Tweed and Lakes Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 370 × 274 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D01062
Turner Bequest XXXV 60

Catalogue entry

The abbey was founded at Furness in the mid-twelfth century, by monks of the Order of Savigny who had moved there from Preston. In 1247 their order was amalgamated with that of the Cistercians, and the buildings erected at Furness are very much those of a Cistercian foundation, their austerity enhanced by the use of warm red sandstone.
Turner scholar David Hill identifies the viewpoint as the bottom of the night stairs leading from the dormitory into the south transept, looking north over the crossing into the north transept. Other studies of the abbey are on folios 76 recto and 77 recto (D01063, D01064; Turner Bequest XXXV 61, 62).
Verso:
Blank; inscribed by A.J. Finberg in pencil ‘141.60’.

Andrew Wilton
August 2010

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