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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Midlands 1794-1802 > Drawings Made on the Midland Tour > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Ely Cathedral: The Interior of the Octagon 1794

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Ely Cathedral: The Interior of the Octagon’ 1794
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Ely Cathedral: The Interior of the Octagon 1794
D00369
Turner Bequest XXII P
Pencil on white wove paper, laid down on modern paper, 772 x 588 mm
Stamped in black ‘XXII P’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner’s approach to this complex and awe-inspiring subject is methodical and careful, with no attempt at bravura draughtsmanship. Passages of architecture that repeat motifs drawn elsewhere are not necessarily recorded. The intention was to gather information that could be used for finished watercolours. He produced two, and exhibited them at the Royal Academy in 1796 and 1797. The first (private collection)1 seems to have been purchased from the exhibition by Sir Richard Colt Hoare of Stourhead, who went on to commission views of Salisbury Cathedral which he stipulated should be the ‘Size of Ely’, presumably referring to his watercolour of the Octagon. Colt Hoare also acquired a view of Ely from the south (private collection).2 The second version of the present subject, now at Aberdeen Art Gallery,3 was executed for the Bishop of Ely, Dr Yorke. The groups of figures that Turner carefully records in his study appear in both finished works.
1
Wilton 1979, p.321 no.194, reproduced.
2
Ibid., pp.320–1 no.193, reproduced.
3
Ibid., p.321 no.195, reproduced.
Technical notes:
The sheet has been roughly torn to shape and folded along the sides round a drawing board.
Verso:
Blank; laid down.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Ely Cathedral: The Interior of the Octagon 1794 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, 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-ely-cathedral-the-interior-of-the-octagon-r1141090, accessed 15 December 2024.