J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Furness Abbey: Interior of the Ruins, Looking North 1797

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 75 Recto:
Furness Abbey: Interior of the Ruins, Looking North 1797
D01062
Turner Bequest XXXV 60
Pencil on white wove paper, 370 x 274 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Furness’ bottom right, and ‘X’, ‘W’ and ‘Y’ in various places in the drawing
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Stamped in black ‘XXXV 60’ bottom right
The abbey was founded at Furness in the mid-twelfth century, by monks of the Order of Savigny who had moved there from Preston. In 1247 their order was amalgamated with that of the Cistercians, and the buildings erected at Furness are very much those of a Cistercian foundation, their austerity enhanced by the use of warm red sandstone.
Turner scholar David Hill identifies the viewpoint as the bottom of the night stairs leading from the dormitory into the south transept, looking north over the crossing into the north transept. Other studies of the abbey are on folios 76 recto and 77 recto (D01063, D01064; Turner Bequest XXXV 61, 62).
Verso:
Blank; inscribed by A.J. Finberg in pencil ‘141.60’.

Andrew Wilton
August 2010

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Furness Abbey: Interior of the Ruins, Looking North 1797 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-furness-abbey-interior-of-the-ruins-looking-north-r1150239, accessed 28 March 2024.