This view was commissioned by James Wyatt, an Oxford frame maker and picture dealer, who intended to sell engravings of it in his shop at 115 High Street. The picture was completed in 1810, and its close emphasis on architectural detail is unique in Turner’s painted work_ It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1812, together with a companion, also commissioned by Wyatt, a View of Oxford from the Abingdon Road (private collection).

Provenance: Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Ashmolean Museum, 2016, with additional funding from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation), the Friends and Patrons of the Ashmolean, Mr and Mrs Timothy Sanderson, Mr and Mrs Mark Houghton-Berry, and many private donors, 2016

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775- 1851)
Date: 1809-10

Image Details
Date: 27 March 2025
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/50s
ISO: 320
Licensing: Image of an Ashmolean Museum asset. This image cannot be licensed.