Cotman, John Sell (1782 – 1842) – East End of the Abbey Church of Saint Georges de Boscherville near Rouen, Normandy.

Cotman made drawings of St Georges de Boscherville in 1817 and on a return trip in 1818. They became the basis for seven plates in his 'Architectural Antiquities of Normandy' (1819-1822). This drawing was made with an optical device as an intermediary between an initial sketch and the finished drawing from which his etching was made. The finished drawing is now in the Yale Center for British Art. When he left for France in June 1817 Cotman was given one of Cornelius Varley's 'Patent Graphic Telescopes' so it seems likely that was the device Cotman used. We are grateful to Timothy Wilcox for his help cataloguing this drawing.