'Study of a Head', Joseph Mallord William Turner | Tate

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

Study of a Head

From Studies from the Antique and Other Sculpture

Date ?1792

MediumChalk on paper

Dimensionssupport: 372 x 266 mm

Collection

Tate

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

Reference

D40214

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Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Study of a Head ?1792

D40214

Black chalk and stump on off-white paper, 372 x 266 mm
Stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram bottom centre

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

Finberg tentatively identified this head as that of the Venus de’ Medici, which is studied in whole length on the recto of this sheet (D00059; Turner Bequest V F). But the turn of the neck is to the figure’s right rather than to the left, and the coiffure is apparently not the same, suggesting that this represents a different statue. The most likely candidate is the head of Paris that Turner studied on Tate D00054 (Turner Bequest V A) from this series.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

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.

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Context

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Tate Collection

Gifts and bequests

Turner Bequest