'Diagram and Notes on Perspective (Inscriptions by Turner)', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

Diagram and Notes on Perspective (Inscriptions by Turner)

From Frittlewell Sketchbook

Turner Bequest CXII

Date 1809

MediumPen and ink on paper

Dimensionssupport: 180 x 107 mm

Collection

Tate

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

Reference

D07835

Turner Bequest CXII 77 a

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Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the Frittlewell Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 77 Verso:

Diagram and Notes on Perspective (Inscriptions by Turner) 1809

D07835
Turner Bequest CXII 77a

Pen and ink on white wove paper, 180 x 107 mm
Inscribed by Turner in ink (see main catalogue entry)

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

These notes predominantly in French but with interventions in English are not transcribed here in view of Turner’s imperfect French and transliteration. Together with the diagram below them on this leaf they are taken from Jan (Hans) Vredeman de Vries, Perspective, part 2, Leyden 1605, preface and pl.18. Turner usually used the British Museum’s library for such works; in this instance his likely source is now in the British Library. Vredeman de Vries (1527–circa 1607) was most notable for his assertion that the basic principle of perspective is the existence of vanishing points on which all lines converge, as demonstrated in the diagram where they join at a point on the horizon line

Below the drawing, Turner has written ‘by crossing the work square it makes almost ... | thing possible’.

David Blayney Brown
June 2009

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.