'Classical Architecture; Buildings on a Hill', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

Classical Architecture; Buildings on a Hill

From Hints River Sketchbook

Turner Bequest CXLI

Date c.1815-17

MediumGraphite on paper

Dimensionssupport: 114 x 88 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

Reference

D10639

Turner Bequest CXLI 32

View this artwork by appointment, at Tate Britain's Prints and Drawings Rooms

Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the Hints River Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 32 Recto:

Classical Architecture; Buildings on a Hill circa 1815–17

D10639
Turner Bequest CXLI 32

Pencil on white wove paper, 114 x 88 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘32’ top right, running vertically
Stamped in black ‘CXLI 32’ top right, running vertically

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

For ideas for classical architecture in this sketchbook see note to folio 30 verso (D10636) and to folios 32 verso–33 (D10640–D10641) for the possible connection with The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire (Tate N00499)1 exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1817. Folios 30 verso–31 verso (D10636, D10638) have other sketches for buildings on a steep hill, perhaps related to the right background of the picture.

David Blayney Brown
July 2011

Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, revised ed.1984, New Haven and London 1984, pp.100–1 no.135 (pl.137).

Read this catalogue entry in full

This catalogue entry is part of: David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, December 2012.