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

D00118–D00120, D40222, D40223

Turner Bequest VIII D–F

As a large and picturesque medieval building that was also a Royal Palace, Windsor was frequently drawn by the topographers, notably by Paul Sandby (1731–1809) and his brother Thomas (1721–1798); Thomas had served under the Duke of Cumberland as Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park.1 No finished views of Windsor by Turner are known before about 1795, when he included one (now lost)2 in the series of designs that he submitted for engraving in the Ladies’ Pocket Magazine and the Copper-Plate Magazine. However, it is clear from the diligence with which these drawings are undertaken that he had it in mind to make views of the castle as a prestigious and popular subject. They are executed in a firm, crisp style that was to be much modified as the year progressed; it bears a close relationship to that of the view of Corpus Christi College and Merton Chapel, Oxford (Tate D00116; Turner Bequest VIII B).