Watercolor, graphite, scraping and scratching out on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 11 5/8 x 17 1/2in. (29.5 x 44.5cm)
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1975.4.1859
Gallery Label:
As with many of his earlier topographical views, Turner combines antiquarian and modern subject matter: St. Catherine’s Hill was the site of a ruined medieval chapel and also of a thriving local fair. Turner combines both into a single visual whole. Under banks of soaring blue-gray clouds, the seething crowd climbs the hill between the ranks of stalls and attractions. Both culminate in the ruined, brightly illuminated hulk of the ancient chapel. The vertiginously sweeping lines and almost supernatural light give the image a dreamlike quality, forming a striking contrast with the freshness and literalness of the earlier Leeds (displayed nearby). Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)
