This is a double sided pencil drawing dating from Turner’s time as an art student at the Royal Academy. The buff-grey laid wrapping paper is typical of those used by Academy students of this period. The paper was coloured unevenly by the inclusion of coloured rags when it was made, and it has probably lost colour. On the recto Turner first sketched in the outline of the figure in pencil, then he added shading and highlights using black and white chalk. There has been some loss of the chalk. This was probably caused by the abrasion of the image against another surface.
Prominent foxing striations are visible across the verso of the paper. There are various tears around the edges of the sheet; the largest, in the top left-hand corner of the recto is approximately 120 mm long. The top and bottom right-hand corners of the recto are missing.
At some point tears in the paper were repaired using pressure-sensitive tape which degraded over time, and damaged the paper. The paper around the tape had also cockled. In 2008 the tape was removed and the tears were repaired again using toned Japanese tissue adhered in place with wheat starch paste.
Helen Evans
October 2008
Revised by Joyce Townsend
February 2011
How to cite
Helen Evans, 'Technique and Condition', October 2008, revised by Joyce Townsend, February 2011, in Andrew Wilton, ‘Study of the Bacchus of Sansovino ?1791 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-study-of-the-bacchus-of-sansovino-r1140254, accessed 25 April 2024.
