Salisbury: The West Front of the Cathedral

Sir Richard Colt Hoare (1758–1838) of Stourhead, Wiltshire, was in the process of writing a history of the county, for which he envisaged a series of views; he commissioned from Turner a set of watercolours of Salisbury Cathedral, and in due course, of other buildings in Salisbury and elsewhere in Wiltshire. This drawing is the basis for one of Hoare’s watercolours (Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston),1 and constitutes the first evidence we have of the connection between the artist and Colt Hoare (see the introduction to the sketchbook).

The drawing was made with the page turned horizontally, and the finial of the gable is drawn as a continuation ‘above’ on folio 15 verso opposite (D41252). Other drawings of Salisbury Cathedral are on folios 17 recto and 19 recto (D00424, D00426).

Technical notes:

There is a blot of brown colour below the centre of the drawing.

Verso:

Blank; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram.