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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Edinburgh North Bridge; and Continuation of Edinburgh, from St Anthony's Chapel 1834

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 87 Verso:
Edinburgh North Bridge; and Continuation of Edinburgh, from St Anthony’s Chapel 1834
D26427
Turner Bequest CCLXIX 87a
Pencil on off-white wove paper, 113 x 190 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Drawn with the sketchbook inverted at what is now the top edge of the page is a sketch of a town with a bridge. Assuming that this is Edinburgh, which is depicted on the adjacent pages of the sketchbooks, this must be North Bridge with the tower of the Tron Kirk to the left. There are similar sketches on folio 88 (D26428).
At the bottom right of the page is the continuation of the sketch on folio 88 verso (D26429), Turner having peeled back the page to extend the view to the right. This is a view of Edinburgh from St Anthony’s Chapel in Holyrood Park. A little of the chapel ruins are depicted at the bottom left of the continued sketch with the ploughed fields to the right of Holyrood Palace at the right. A glimpse of the Firth of Forth can be seen at the top of the sketch with the shore of Fife beyond. For further sketches of Edinburgh from near St Anthony’s Chapel, see folio 89 verso (D26431).

Thomas Ardill
November 2010

How to cite

Thomas Ardill, ‘Edinburgh North Bridge; and Continuation of Edinburgh, from St Anthony’s Chapel 1834 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 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-edinburgh-north-bridge-and-continuation-of-edinburgh-from-st-r1136357, accessed 20 April 2024.