Inverted in relation to the sketchbook as foliated, the two drawings on this page record two different views of the Seine valley. The lower sketch, inscribed ‘Caudebec’ in the bottom right-hand corner, depicts the town of that name from a similar easterly, high vantage to that featured in folio 17 verso (
D23551; Turner Bequest CCLII 17a). The larger sketch on the upper half of the page depicts a sweeping curve in the river with domestic architecture and a sail-boat in the near distance. Far off, just below the horizon, can be seen a settlement surmounted by a tall spire, which may also represent Caudebec. This town and its church, of all the Seine valley sights, were the subject of particular study in this sketchbook. For a list of associated sketches, see the main entry for folio 17 recto (
D23550; Turner Bequest CCLII 17). For examples of the watercolours of Caudebec that Turner worked up with a view to engraved reproduction around this time, see Tate
D20235 (Turner Bequest CCXXI B),
D24670 (Turner Bequest CCLIX 105),
D24760 (Turner Bequest CCLIX 195), and
D24818 (Turner Bequest CCLIX 253). These culminated in an engraving in the 1834 volume of
Turner’s Annual Tour: Wanderings by the Loire and Seine (1833–5; later reissued as
Rivers of France); see Tate impression
T05601.
