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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Tour of Yorkshire 1816 > Yorkshire 1 Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Jervaulx Abbey from the South-East 1816

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Jervaulx Abbey from the South-East’ 1816
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 46 Recto:
Jervaulx Abbey from the South-East 1816
D10951
Turner Bequest CXLIV 46
Pencil on white wove paper, 97 x 154 mm
Watermarked ‘1813’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Jervaux Abby’ and ‘[?]Stones’
Trace of inscription in red ink, possibly by John Ruskin, bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CXLIV 46’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This view of the ruins of Jervaulx Abbey was taken from the park to the south-east, and was probably Turner’s first impression on arrival at the site. Two more detailed studies from a similar aspect, made on the same visit, are in the Yorkshire 3 sketchbook (Tate D11397–D11398 and D11399–D11400; Turner Bequest CXLVI 18a–19 and 19a–20).
Jervaulx Abbey is about four miles north-west of Masham on the road to Middleham. Jervaulx was founded in 1156 as a Cistercian monastery and flourished until its dissolution in 1537. The church was fairly comprehensively razed, but substantial remains of the cloisters and other buildings survive. The site is privately owned and managed in a particularly sensitive way. In the summer the site is a profusion of flowers that enjoy the dry limestone environment.

David Hill
January 2009

How to cite

David Hill, ‘Jervaulx Abbey from the South-East 1816 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2009, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2013, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-jervaulx-abbey-from-the-south-east-r1144139, accessed 19 September 2024.