Getty Museum

Interior of a Dormitory of the Ipswich Blackfriars at the End of its Period of Occupation by Ipswich School

Date

about 1838–1842

Medium

Pen and ink and watercolor

Culture

British

Department

Drawings

Institution

Getty Museum

In this powerfully atmospheric scene, Cotman depicts the dormitory of the Ipswich Blackfriars, which was under threat of demolition. The structure was built about 1300, and the hammerbeam roof was added in the early 1400s. From 1767 it was employed as a schoolroom by the Ipswich School, but by March 1841 it was reportedly little-used since the roof leaked and it was very cold. Cotman's view shows the near-derelict building lit by swathes of golden sunlight, the wall above the fireplace and much of the ceiling blackened by soot. A child's hoop lies abandoned on the floor in the foreground, and a solitary figure contemplates the scene, also serving to give the composition a sense of scale. The giant hammerbeam bays recede with regularity into the distance, culminating in a pointed gothic window full of blue sky, some of the only bright color in a work that is otherwise a symphony of browns, oranges, and grays. Cotman has used layers of watercolor to create the rich mottled effect of the room. He has scratched out and rubbed areas, as well as sometimes adding gum arabic to create depth. To much dismay, the building was finally demolished by the Ipswich Corporation in about 1850; a local caricature of 1851 showed councillors attempting to pull down the sturdy old dormitory schoolroom, while in a parallel scene struggling to shore up the flimsy walls of the new schoolroom that was built to replace it. Other views of the dormitory from the same period show it in a similar state, and an etching published in 1845 by Wat Hagreen after Fred Brett Russel even shows the same child's hoop, and the jar on the windowsill. Cotman was - like many of his contemporaries - enthralled by the picturesque nature and pathos of historic and ruined buildings, and he made numerous compelling views of churches, towers, and grand houses as well as handful of dramatic interiors such as this.

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