Joseph Mallord William Turner

Turner was asked to paint four views of Christ Church, Oxford, for an alumnus of the college, William Murray, Viscount Stormont. Stormont went down in 1796, in which year he succeeded his father as third Earl of Mansfield. That seems the likely date of the commission, though Turner’s drawings evidently took some while to complete. One relevant study, showing Christ Church and St Aldate’s from near Carfax, occurs in the 1795 South Wales sketchbook (Tate D00659; Turner Bequest XXVI 97).

This drawing, which shows the doorway into the Hall partially bricked up with scaffolding in front of it, must have been made while James Wyatt’s alterations were being carried out in 1799–1800. Turner used it as the basis for his watercolour executed for Mansfield (Leeds Art Gallery).1 See also the study of Christ Church’s Canterbury Gate (Tate D08192; Turner Bequest CXIX E). What was originally the other half of the present sheet (Tate D02363; Turner Bequest L V) shows another view of the college.

Verso:

Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram (almost invisible).