[title not known] c. 1789

Curator: This undated sketch, currently held at the Tate, is by Joseph Farington, who was active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Editor: It feels unfinished, a ghostly architecture emerging from the paper. The columns give a sense of imposing scale, yet the lines are so delicate. Curator: Indeed, we see the bare bones of the architecture. The visible lines expose the working process, a contrast with the finished paintings displayed nearby. It invites us to think about the labor and the artist's hand. Editor: The sketch speaks to the power structures inherent in religious spaces. The immense columns and arches emphasize the church's authority and the individual's place within that system. Curator: I am struck by how the sketch provides insight into the artist's thought process. Editor: For me, it’s the interplay between the monumental architecture and the artist's fleeting impression that lingers.