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

Continued from folio 82 verso (D26417) is a double-page sketch of Edinburgh as seen from the slopes of Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park. The sketch belongs to a series (see folio 89 verso; D26431 for more information and references) made from around St Anthony’s Chapel, which can be seen a little way off on folio 82 verso.

The present page looks west towards the city with Salisbury Crags in the foreground and the Firth of Forth in the distance. Holyrood Palace, indicated by a square with a few triangles for turrets, is at the lower right of the present page, with Calton Gaol, Nelson’s Monument and the National Monument on Calton Hill above it. At the centre of the page is the North Bridge with the Spire of St Andrew’s Church and the column of the Melville Monument above it. To the left of the bridge are the gothic spire of the Tron Kirk and the open crown spire of St Giles’s Cathedral. Unlike in some of Turner’s other views from nearby, Edinburgh Castle is hidden by the crags to the left.