J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

Drawn with the sketchbook inverted, this drawing shows a single row of five pictures with curtains or blinds to screen them, hanging on a wall with a chimneypiece. There also appears to be some sort of decorated cornice adjoining the ceiling, which in view of the protection allowed for the pictures, is presumably to have glazed roof lights; designs for these follow on folios 47 verso–48 verso (D07045–D07047; Turner Bequest CV 43a–44a). There is a further drawing of curtains round pictures facing on folio 47 (D07044; Turner Bequest CV 43) and another on folio 22 (D07005; Turner Bequest CV 19a); both these show a sloped edge to the ceiling. Evidently, Turner is making plans for his own gallery, as in other drawings and diagrams in the sketchbook. On folio 77 verso (D07085; Turner Bequest 67a), along with specifications for heating and ventilation, Turner notes ‘the Blinds to bow and set behind a moulding to exclude the Sun’s rays’. See Introduction to the sketchbook for Turner’s new gallery behind his house in Queen Anne Street West, opened in 1822.