Barnard Castle, Durham

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Artist: J. M. W. Turner (British, 1775–1851)
Medium: Watercolor, gouache, pen and black ink, and scratching out on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Size: Sheet: 11 5/8 x 16 1/4 inches (29.5 x 41.3 cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

These works typify the many topographical views that Turner created specifically for reproduction as prints. The watercolor (left) is one of a hundred such works that Turner produced for the long-running print series Picturesque Views in England and Wales (published 1825–38). Its subject is the twelfth-century ruin of Barnard Castle in northeastern England.

Turner deliberately enhanced the romantic appeal of the scene by exaggerating the castle’s height above the river, including tiny figures to increase its apparent scale, and bathing the scene in diffuse, golden light. The print (right) shows how carefully the engraver translated Turner’s vivid colors into line and tone, including such subtle details as the light filtering through the castle windows and the minutely graduated shading of the sky above.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.