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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Monro School c.1794-8

The ‘Monro School’ c.1794–8

St Peter's Seen from the Janiculum 1794-6 (from Album of Copies of Italian Views for Dr Thomas Monro)

From the entry

This section includes two albums (Tate; Turner Bequest CCCLXXIII, CCCLXXIV) containing drawings made by Turner in collaboration with Thomas Girtin (1775–1802) for Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833), physician to the King. He was an amateur draughtsman and collector, who invited the young artists to his home in the Adelphi on winter Friday evenings, retaining their work and giving them three and sixpence – or half-a-crown, according to Turner’s later memory of it – and a supper of oysters. The subjects are apparently all copied from sketches by the watercolourist John Robert Cozens (1752–1798). Also included are separate ‘Monro School’ sheets of a similar nature, comprising collaborations between Turner and Girtin, and other copies. The context, attribution and provenance of the albums and the separate drawings are discussed in their respective introductions.
Read full entry

Album of Copies of Italian Views for Dr Thomas Monro c.1794–8
D36414–D36477
Turner Bequest CCCLXXIII 1–64
Album of Copies of Swiss and Italian Views for Dr Thomas Monro c.1794–8
D36478–D36500, D36502–D36516
Turner Bequest CCCLXXIV 1–22, 24–37
D00673, D00674, D00904, D01910, D36355, D36501, D36522–D36561, D36563–D36570, D36616–D36624, D36628, D36648, D36667, D40488, T08526, T08530, T09241
Turner Bequest XXVII L, M, XXXIII g, XLIV h, CCCLXXI M, CCCLXXIV 23, CCCLXXV 1–38, CCCLXXVI 1, 2, 4–11, CCCLXXVIII 1–9, CCCLXXIX 4, 21, CCCLXXX 18
This section includes two albums (Tate; Turner Bequest CCCLXXIII, CCCLXXIV) containing drawings made by Turner in collaboration with Thomas Girtin (1775–1802) for Dr Thomas Monro (1759–1833), physician to the King. He was an amateur draughtsman and collector, who invited the young artists to his home in the Adelphi on winter Friday evenings, retaining their work and giving them three and sixpence – or half-a-crown, according to Turner’s later memory of it – and a supper of oysters. The subjects are apparently all copied from sketches by the watercolourist John Robert Cozens (1752–1798).
Also included are separate ‘Monro School’ sheets of a similar nature, comprising collaborations between Turner and Girtin, and other copies. The context, attribution and provenance of the albums and the separate drawings are discussed in their respective introductions.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

Artworks in this grouping

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘The ‘Monro School’ c.1794–8’, 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/the-monro-school-r1140544, accessed 21 November 2024.