Joseph Mallord William Turner, Thomas Girtin

In the Pass of St Gotthard, Switzerland

c.1796

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

License this image

In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artists: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Thomas Girtin 1775–1802
Part of: Collaborations with Thomas Girtin for Dr Monro, and Other Copies
Medium: Watercolour on paper
Dimensions: Support: 243 × 188 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D36553
Turner Bequest CCCLXXV 32

Catalogue entry

Provenance:
Probably commissioned by Dr Thomas Monro
Monro’s posthumous sale, Christie’s, London, 26–28 June and 1–2 July 1833 (day and lot number not known)
Bought by or on behalf of Turner

The pencil work is by Girtin. This was probably copied from a sketch by John Robert Cozens (1752–1797) from the ‘Payne Knight’ series of 1776, though the original has not been identified. The quality of the washes does not seem to be high and it is just possible that they are by a hand other than Turner’s, though the present condition of the sheet makes such judgments difficult.

Technical notes:

The sheet is discoloured from prolonged exposure. It is laid down on a paper mount (cut from an album) with a ruled pencil border, which corresponds with the type of mount used in the two ‘Monro School’ albums at Tate (Turner Bequest CCCLXXIII, CCCLXXIV) and the two Savoy Chapel subjects, Tate D36523 and D36526 (Turner Bequest CCCLXXV 2, 5); see also Tate D36524 (Turner Bequest CCCLXXV 3).

Verso:

Blank; inscribed, probably by Thomas Girtin, in pencil ‘Road near Mt. St Gothard in the | Canton of Uri. -’; laid down on album page.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

Read full Catalogue entry