A North East Perspective View of the Cathedral Church and Close of Sarum

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

John Fougeron’s prospect of Salisbury presents a late 18th-century view of the city with the cathedral depicted at its centre. A group of passers-by occupy the foreground: some on horseback, others working the land, as well as children playing with a dog. Beneath the view is a descriptive text which provides information about the makers of the engraving and a brief history of Salisbury cathedral. 

One of the leading examples of early English architecture, Salisbury cathedral was built in the 13th century. The cathedral is also famous for preserving one of the four surviving original documents of the Magna Carta. The impressive west front of the Cathedral is composed of two turrets, surmounted by spirelets. Between them, the central section is topped by a gable and contains four lancet windows with two large niched buttresses on either side. The Cathedral has undergone multiple phases of construction since the Medieval period. During the 17th century,  Sir Christopher Wren, one of the country’s most famous architects, known for  St Paul’s Cathedral, London, was requested by the Bishop of Salisbury, Seth Ward, to advise on the repair and refurbishment of the Cathedral following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. The earliest publications on the history of the Cathedral date from the 18th century.

In 1761, English wood engraver John Baptist Jackson made a drawing of Salisbury Cathedral for bookseller Edward Eaton. The drawing served for an engraving which was dedicated by Eaton to the Lord Bishop of Winchester. The engraver who was employed for this job was John Fougeron. Later copies of the engraving were made on a smaller scale by J. B. Swaine in 1843 and published by J. B. Nichols & Son. 

Places

England, Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, Wiltshire

Subjects

wheelbarrow, horseback, topography, genre, dog, boy, man, woman, 18th century costume, dress, coat of arms, field, house, church, cathedral, spire, tower

Materials & Techniques

engraving

Artist

John Baptist Jackson (1701 - c1780)
John Fougeron

Title

A North East Perspective View of the Cathedral Church and Close of Sarum

Date

published 8 July 1761

Medium

Engraving

Dimensions

height: 47.30 cm, width: 61.10 cm

Acquisition

Purchased 1947-1948

GAC number

508