Joseph Mallord William Turner

Stourhead: The Gothic Cross above the Lake

?1798

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

License this image

Not on display
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Architectural Drawings for Commissions
Medium
Gouache, graphite and watercolour on paper
Dimensions
Support: 402 x 539 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D01907
Turner Bequest XLIV e

Catalogue entry

This is an unfinished watercolour for a small group of views at Stourhead, presumably commenced for Sir Richard Colt Hoare, but never completed (see also Tate D01908, D01909; Turner Bequest XLIV f, g). These drawings, incomplete as they are, serve to demonstrate the range of Turner’s technical explorations at this date.
This view looks out over the lake from near the house and the Church of St Peter, a viewpoint opposite that of the other two drawings. The structure is Bristol High Cross, of 1373, which Henry Hoare the younger re-erected here in 1765. The domed building at the edge of the water is the Pantheon, designed by Henry Flitcroft (1697–1769) and built from 1753. Just visible below the lawn is part of the Five-Arch Bridge, constructed in 1762.1
Finberg quotes Turner’s title2 from the inscription on the verso (D40263).

Andrew Wilton
March 2013

1
For Stourhead in general see Kenneth Woodbridge, Landscape and Antiquity: Aspects of English Culture at Stourhead, 1718–1838, Oxford 1970. Nikolaus Pevsner, Wiltshire, The Buildings of England, Harmondsworth 1963, dates the removal of the High Cross from Bristol to Stourhead to 1780, and the Five-Arch Bridge to 1749.
2
Finberg 1909, I, p.109.

Read full Catalogue entry

Explore

You might like

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Stourhead: View over the Lake’ ?1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner Stourhead: View over the Lake

?1798
D01908
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Stourhead: View over the Lake’ ?1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner Stourhead: View over the Lake

?1798
D01909
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Lake and Temples at Stourhead’ c.1808

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Lake and Temples at Stourhead

c.1808
View by appointment D06111
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Salisbury: A Gothic Porch in a Garden’ ?1798

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

?1798
D02350
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Lake and Temples at Stourhead’ c.1808

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Lake and Temples at Stourhead

c.1808
View by appointment D06112
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘South-West View of a Gothic Abbey (Morning), Now Building at Fonthill, the Seat of W. Beckford’ exhibited 1800

Joseph Mallord William Turner South-West View of a Gothic Abbey (Morning), Now Building at Fonthill, the Seat of W. Beckford

exhibited 1800
TW0889
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Malmesbury Cross and Church’ 1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner Malmesbury Cross and Church

1798
View by appointment D01475
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Fonthill Abbey ?from the South-West: Sunset’ 1799

Joseph Mallord William Turner Fonthill Abbey ?from the South-West: Sunset

1799
View by appointment D02187
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Fonthill: Distant View of the Abbey from the East, with the Lake in the Foreground and a Team of Oxen’ 1799

Joseph Mallord William Turner Fonthill: Distant View of the Abbey from the East, with the Lake in the Foreground and a Team of Oxen

1799
View by appointment D02223
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, ‘Blackfriars Cross, Hereford (A Monument)’ ?c.1793–4

Joseph Mallord William Turner Blackfriars Cross, Hereford (A Monument)

?c.1793–4
TW2199
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Salisbury Cathedral: The Choir, Looking East towards the Lady Chapel’ c.1797

Joseph Mallord William Turner Salisbury Cathedral: The Choir, Looking East towards the Lady Chapel

c.1797
On display at Tate Britain part of Turner Collection D02345
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Studies of Gothic Architectural Details’ 1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies of Gothic Architectural Details

1798
View by appointment D01619
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Dunstanburgh Castle; Studies of Gothic Details at Lacock Abbey’ 1798

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Dunstanburgh Castle; Studies of Gothic Details at Lacock Abbey

1798
View by appointment D01608
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Fonthill: Near View of the Abbey from the South, with Bitham Lake in the Foreground’ 1799

Joseph Mallord William Turner Fonthill: Near View of the Abbey from the South, with Bitham Lake in the Foreground

1799
View by appointment D02181