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 Ruins of Elgin Cathedral from the North-West 1831

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Ruins of Elgin Cathedral from the North-West’ 1831
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 134 Verso:
Ruins of Elgin Cathedral from the North-West 1831
D27208
Turner Bequest CCLXXVII 134a
Pencil on off-white wove paper, 104 x 163 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Elgin Cathedral is seen here from the north-west. This could be seen as the counterpart to the sketch on folio 139 (D27215), which shows the cathedral from the south-east and therefore includes most of what cannot be shown in the present sketch.
At the right are the two towers at the western end of the cathedral, and at the left is the octagonal chapter house. Although the sketch was fairly rapidly executed, Turner has taken care to make architectural details (such as arches and windows) clear, and taken together with sketches like folio 134 (D27207) it is possible to build up a mental picture of the whole cathedral in detail.
For references to all of Turner’s sketches of the cathedral, see folio 139.

Thomas Ardill
May 2010

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Ruins of Elgin Cathedral from the North-West 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-ruins-of-elgin-cathedral-from-the-north-west-r1135574, accessed 23 April 2024.