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

The subject of this sketch is the Pont de Saint-Laurent in Mâcon, a city on the River Saône approximately forty-five miles north of Lyon. Turner made a number of views of the city suggesting that he may have broken the journey here. This study depicts the eastern end of the Pont de Saint-Laurent (Bridge of St Lawrence), which connects Mâcon with the nearby village of Saint Laurent-sur-Saône on the opposite side of the river. Turner’s view looks upstream with the bridge on the left and the buildings lining the riverbank on the right. Visible on the bridge between the second and third arches from the right is a niche containing a small statue of St Nicholas, the patron saint of barge people. For further studies of Mâcon see folio 27 (D14030).