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

Here Turner pictures the sixteenth-century bell tower of the old city hall at Thionville in north-eastern France. The view is framed by a narrowing street with tall buildings to the left and right. Figures go about their daily business and a carriage can be seen in the foreground at left. Further scenes of Thionville are recorded here with the sketchbook orientated horizontally; these show the bell tower, fortified gateways and city walls and the beginnings of a figure study at bottom right.