Daniell had the financial means to travel abroad to find subjects to paint;[34] of the Norwich School painters, only John Sell Cotman travelled further.[35] During 1829 and 1830 Daniell spent the months between his classics studies and his master's degree on a Grand Tour through France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland, producing scenic oil paintings and watercolours that the art historian William Dickes described as "well-centred performances, painted with a fluid brush, and revealing a delicate appreciation of tone".[36][37]
etching Bridge at Toledo
Bridge at Toledo (c. 1831), Norfolk Museums Collections
The route Daniell took during his eighteen months on the Continent is revealed by the order of his paintings.[32] His travels through Switzerland are reminiscent of those of the artist James Pattison Cockburn, who published his Swiss Scenery in 1820.[38] In Rome and Naples he met the artist Thomas Uwins, who wrote: "What a shoal of amateur artists we have got here! ... there is a Daniel too come to judgement! a second Daniel! – Verily, I have gotten more substantial criticism from this young man than from anyone since Havell was my messmate."[39]
Daniell may also have visited Spain, as his etchings of the country were copied by the Norwich artist Henry Ninham, but there is no direct evidence he went there. It is possible he returned home in time for the funeral of Joseph Stannard, who died from tuberculosis on 7 December 1830, aged 33.[32]
In the summer of 1832, Daniell went on a walking trip in Scotland, accompanied by two contemporaries from Oxford, George Denison and Edmund Walker Head.[40] The trip provided him with subject material [41] and influenced his use of drypoint etching, as he was able to study the work of etchers such as Andrew Geddes.[42] In The Etchings of E. T. Daniell, Jane Thistlethwaite wrote that his Scottish scenes "testify in their subjects to his enthusiasm for the beauties of Scotland and in their technique to his almost certain acquaintance with the Scottish etchers".[40]
Church career
print: New Church, Mayfair
St. Mark's, North Audley Street, as it appeared in the 1830s
On 2 October 1832 Daniell was ordained in Norwich Cathedral as a deacon, and three days later was licensed as the curate of the parish church at Banham, a post he held for eighteen months.[40] Letters to John Linnell show he felt a need to increase his income during this period in his life.[40] Little is known of his career as a Norfolk curate, but the Banham registers, all of which have been preserved, show he led an active life in the parish. He continued to etch at this time, and in Thistlethwaite's view produced his "loveliest and most sophisticated plates" at Banham.[40]
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