Joseph Mallord William Turner

Here Raby Castle is not recorded in detail, but the effect of a silhouette against the light from the south is evident, just as in the more meticulous studies noted below and the resulting painting Raby Castle, the Seat of the Earl of Darlington, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1818 (Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore).1 The tower of St Mary’s Church, Staindrop, to the south, is visible towards the left and the composition is framed by trees in the foreground to left and right.

The view is a single-page version of the two panoramic studies on folios 19 recto, 18 recto and 17 verso (D12278, D12296, D12297; CLVI 11a, 21a–22), and folios 21 recto and 20 verso (D12300, D12301; CLVI 23a–24). There is a further, slighter variation on folio 21 verso opposite (D12299; CLVI 23), which was originally continuous with the page now bound as folio 17 recto (D12298; CLVI 22a). As now bound and foliated, sketches of the castle and its surroundings fill most of the second half of the sketchbook, from folio 17 recto to folio 32 recto (D12309; CLVI 28).