Joseph Mallord William Turner

Salisbury Cathedral: The Choir, Looking East towards the Lady Chapel

c.1797

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

License this image

In Tate Britain

Turner Collection: Turner and Gothic Cathedrals

Free entry
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Architectural Drawings for Commissions
Medium
Gouache, graphite and watercolour on paper
Dimensions
Support: 690 x 550 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D02345
Turner Bequest L D

Catalogue entry

This is a preparatory study for the watercolour of this subject exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1797 and now in the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum,1 one of a series executed on commission for Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Turner’s notation of complex Gothic architectural detail is masterly, though economical of means. Technically, it is a development of his work at, for example, Ely in 1794; see Tate D00369 (Turner Bequest XXII P) above. In blank space at the upper left he has inserted carefully observed details of the triforium and clerestory. His use of colour to record the stained glass in an otherwise uncoloured drawing is paralleled in his drawings of the interior of New College Chapel, Oxford (Tate D02346, D02347; Turner Bequest L E, F).
The upper window, depicting Moses and the Brazen Serpent, was designed by John Hamilton Mortimer (1740–1779). The large Lady Chapel beyond the choir is also known as Trinity Chapel. Its window showing the Resurrection, depicted by Turner, is no longer extant; executed in stained glass by Francis Eginton (1737–1805) after a design by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792), it was installed in 1788, but removed and probably destroyed in 1854.2 Turner also allows us to glimpse the richly ornamented Mannerist-cum-Baroque monument in the retrochoir of Sir Thomas Gorges, erected in 1635, which he depicts in considerable detail, with its twisted corner columns and crowning polyhedron. James Wyatt’s alterations at Salisbury in the early 1790s included the removal of seating in the Lady Chapel, and of a screen between the Chapel and the Choir; Turner’s view records the consequences of these alterations.3
1
Andrew Wilton, J.M.W. Turner: His Life and Work, Fribourg 1979, p.321 no.197, reproduced.
2
See David Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds: A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, New Haven and London 2000, under no.2144.
3
See John Gage, ‘Turner and Stourhead – The Making of a Classicist?’ Art Quarterly, vol.37, no.1, Spring 1974, pp.36–7.
Technical notes:
There is a ruled pencil border. The sheet is stained and torn, with grey, red and brown colour trials in the lower margin.
Verso:
Blank; not stamped.

Andrew Wilton
March 2013

Read full Catalogue entry

Explore

You might like

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Interior of Salisbury Cathedral, Looking towards the North Transept’ 1802–5

Joseph Mallord William Turner Interior of Salisbury Cathedral, Looking towards the North Transept

1802–5
TW0838
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Choir of Salisbury Cathedral’ exhibited 1797

Joseph Mallord William Turner Choir of Salisbury Cathedral

exhibited 1797
TW0837
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Salisbury Cathedral from the East’ c.1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner Salisbury Cathedral from the East

c.1798
On display at Tate Britain part of Turner Collection D00668
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Salisbury: The West Front of the Cathedral’ 1795

Joseph Mallord William Turner Salisbury: The West Front of the Cathedral

1795
D00423
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The West Front of Salisbury Cathedral’ exhibited 1799

Joseph Mallord William Turner The West Front of Salisbury Cathedral

exhibited 1799
TW0799
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Oxford: The Interior of New College Chapel, Looking through the Organ Screen towards Reynolds’s West Window’ c.1798–1800

Joseph Mallord William Turner Oxford: The Interior of New College Chapel, Looking through the Organ Screen towards Reynolds’s West Window

c.1798–1800
D02347
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Salisbury Cathedral: Study of a Capital in the Chapter House’ c.1799

Joseph Mallord William Turner Salisbury Cathedral: Study of a Capital in the Chapter House

c.1799
On display at Tate Britain part of Turner Collection D02332
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Oxford: The Interior of New College Chapel, looking East’ c.1798–1800

Joseph Mallord William Turner Oxford: The Interior of New College Chapel, looking East

c.1798–1800
D02346
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Salisbury: The North-West Corner of the Cathedral’ 1795

Joseph Mallord William Turner Salisbury: The North-West Corner of the Cathedral

1795
D00424
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Salisbury: The Cathedral from Harnham Hill’ 1799

Joseph Mallord William Turner Salisbury: The Cathedral from Harnham Hill

1799
D02250
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Salisbury Cathedral: Studies of Bosses, Capitals and the Tracery of a Window in the Chapter House’ c.1799

Joseph Mallord William Turner Salisbury Cathedral: Studies of Bosses, Capitals and the Tracery of a Window in the Chapter House

c.1799
D02338
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Ancient Arch in Mr Wyndham’s Garden, Salisbury’ c.1800

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Ancient Arch in Mr Wyndham’s Garden, Salisbury

c.1800
TW0382
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Salisbury: A Gothic Porch in a Garden’ ?1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner Salisbury: A Gothic Porch in a Garden

?1798
D02349
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Oxford: The Interior of Christ Church Cathedral’ c.1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner Oxford: The Interior of Christ Church Cathedral

c.1798
On display at Tate Britain part of Turner Collection D02348
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Durham Cathedral: The Interior, Looking East along the South Aisle’ 1797–8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Durham Cathedral: The Interior, Looking East along the South Aisle

1797–8
D01101