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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > History Painting c.1799-1807 > Calais Pier Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Head of a Figure Looking Down c.1799-1805

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Head of a Figure Looking Down’ c.1799-1805
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 25 Recto:
The Head of a Figure Looking Down c.1799–1805
D04949
Turner Bequest LXXXI 47
Black chalk on blue laid paper, 436 x 271 mm
Watermarks ‘1794’ and Strasburg lily
Inscribed in pencil ‘47’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘LXXXI–47’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This unfinished sketch is perhaps an idea for the Virgin in a ‘Holy Family’ or, as the slightly open mouth indicating astonishment suggests, for a shepherd in adoration; see under folios 17 verso and 23 verso (D04935, D04946; Turner Bequest LXXXI 34, 44), and compare the incomplete sketch on folio 26 recto (D04951; Turner Bequest LXXXI 49).

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘The Head of a Figure Looking Down c.1799–1805 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-head-of-a-figure-looking-down-r1178153, accessed 24 April 2024.