Joseph Mallord William Turner - Wakefield Bridge - c.1798

 

The chantry chapel on Wakefield Bridge, the principle subject of this watercolour, was one of only four such structures remaining in the 1790s, when Turner visited the town. Its importance was recognised by the artist Edward Dayes, in remarks published in 1805. Dayes called Wakefield 'one of the most opulent and genteel of the clothing towns of Yorkshire', and continued, 'the great object of curiosity here is the bridge, and the beautiful Chapel which stands on it' ('The Works of the late Edward Dayes', 1805, p.35). The bridge, over the river Calder, with the chapel on it, was built between 1342 and 1356. Services ceased in 1540, after which the building was used for a variety of purposes. When Turner saw it in 1797, it was in bad repair, but still in use, as a library. In 1847-48 the chapel was extensively restored, which involved demolishing it to the level of the bridge, and its most distinctive feature, the ornate façade (not visible in Turner's view) was sold to a local a landowner, and incorporated into a boathouse at Kettlethorpe Hall.

Turner made an extensive tour of Yorkshire in June 1797, ending at Harewood House, where he had commissions for watercolours from Edward Lascelles (whose first purchase from Turner had been 'St Erasmus in Bishop Islip's Chapel, Westminster Abbey', 1958- 7-12-402, the previous year). He visited many of the principle towns of Yorkshire, concentrating on the surviving mediaeval architecture, and the ruined abbeys, such as Fountains, before continuing to Northumberland, where he drew many of the spectacular castles, including Dunstanborough and Norham. These provided the subjects for the six watercolours he showed at the Royal Academy in 1798, which, along with four oils, was his largest submission yet.

There are drawings of the chantry chapel in the 'North of England' and 'Tweed and Lakes' sketchbooks (TB XXXIV f.10 and TB XXXV f.1v). The immediate source for the watercolour is a ruled drawing on a separate sheet (TB XXXVI-A), which has more of the character of an intermediate study than an on-the-spot sketch. In the finished watercolour, the tower of Wakefield Church is considerably reduced in size, presumably to avoid distracting attention away from the primary motif of the bridge. A different view of the bridge by Turner was engraved by J. Walker for The Copper Plate Magazine, published on 1 June 1798 (W101; R14).

Source: Tate