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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Scotland 1831 > Inverness Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Sketches of Edinburgh: St Andrew's Church, Melville Monument, Calton Gaol 1831

Image 1 of 2
  • Enhanced image
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sketches of Edinburgh: St Andrew's Church, Melville Monument, Calton Gaol’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 63 Recto:
Sketches of Edinburgh: St Andrew’s Church, Melville Monument, Calton Gaol 1831
D27127
Turner Bequest CCLXXVII 63
Pencil on off-white wove paper, 163 x 104 mm
Inscribed in red ink by John Ruskin ‘63’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLXXVII 63’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Although the sketch at the top of this page has not been identified, the other sketches were all made in Edinburgh. The top sketch is of a bridge with five arches which crossed a river, with spires on each side and hills in the distance. While one may assume that this is Edinburgh with North Bridge, that bridge had three large arches, with a narrow arch either side. It is possible that this may be a view of Inverness with the Old Ness Bridge, or one of the bridges in Aberdeen.
At the centre left of the page is a sketch of the spire of St Andrew’s Church (now St Andrew’s and St George’s) in George Street, with the portico of the church drawn to the left. At the centre right is the Melville Monument nearby in St Andrew’s Square. At the bottom of the page is a sketch of Calton Gaol on Calton Hill, with part of North Bridge in the foreground and part of the General Register House at the left. All of these sights were familiar to Turner from previous visits to Scotland. Turner made a sketch of Edinburgh’s Tron Kirk on folio 103 verso (D27171).
Verso:
Blank

Thomas Ardill
May 2010

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Sketches of Edinburgh: St Andrew’s Church, Melville Monument, Calton Gaol 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-sketches-of-edinburgh-st-andrews-church-melville-monument-r1135493, accessed 20 September 2024.