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

There is a very slight continuation of the subject, drawn with the page turned horizontally, on folio 100 recto opposite (D02142). Turner was evidently attracted by the bold shapes of the Edwardian castles of North Wales; a number of drawings in this book concentrate on the silhouette of Caernarvon Castle. Here he seems to be succumbing to the compulsion to make a note of the powerful outline of Conwy, albeit constricted, as seems likely, by conditions on the ferry across the estuary of the River Conwy, which he may have been taking either towards Anglesey or to the Great Orme’s Head. Compare the drawings of Conwy on folios 104 verso, 105 recto, 107 verso and 108 recto (D02148, D02149, D02154, D02155).