Joseph Mallord William Turner

The Castle, Edinburgh

1818

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Not on display

Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Edinburgh, 1818, Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 90 × 112 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D13556
Turner Bequest CLXVI 54 a

Catalogue entry

With the sketchbook inverted and continuing onto folio 55 (D13557) is a drawing of Edinburgh Castle. The view looking up to the Half Moon Battery with the Esplanade below and the row of houses on Castle Hill to the left (folio 55) was taken from the north-east, perhaps from the Mound.
Although the castle was not itself a subject commissioned by Walter Scott for his Provincial Antiquities, as the city’s most prominent landmark it is an inevitable feature of many Edinburgh views and Turner made numerous studies accordingly, sketching the castle from all orientations and comparing views from different points in the city and its environs.
There is light but extensive foxing across this page.

Thomas Ardill
January 2008

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