'Studies of Figures and a Rearing Horse, ?for 'Dido and Aeneas' and 'The Destruction of Sodom'', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

Studies of Figures and a Rearing Horse, ?for 'Dido and Aeneas' and 'The Destruction of Sodom'

From Hesperides (1) Sketchbook

Turner Bequest XCIII

Date 1805

MediumPen and ink on paper

Dimensionssupport: 171 x 262 mm

Collection

Tate

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

Reference

D05777

Turner Bequest XCIII 6 a

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

Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the Hesperides (1) Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 6 Verso:

Studies of Figures and a Rearing Horse, ?for ‘Dido and Aeneas’ and ‘The Destruction of Sodom’ 1805

D05777
Turner Bequest XCIII 6a

Pen and ink on white wove paper, prepared with a grey wash, 171 x 262 mm

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

Dido and Aeneas (Tate N00494)1 was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1814 but probably painted earlier. For the picture and subject, see especially catalogue note to the coloured study in the contemporary Studies for Pictures: Isleworth sketchbook (Tate D05520; Turner Bequest XC 21). From Finberg onwards it has been assumed that this study and a version with more figures on folio 7 fit completely with a group connected with the picture beginning on folio 4 verso (D05773). However, they develop a motif of figures surrounding a rearing horse which was not used in Dido and Aeneas but appeared instead in The Destruction of Sodom (Tate 00474).2 See note to 4 verso for discussion.

David Blayney Brown
October 2007

Butlin and Joll 1984, pp.92–3 no.129 (pl.135).

Ibid., p.44 no.56 (pl. 66).

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.