Joseph Mallord William Turner

This is the first of seventeen sketches extending to D11613; Turner Bequest CXLIX 18 recording scenes mostly by a river in the vicinity of a large building or castle (compare folios 4 recto and 7 recto; D11599, D11602) and a long many-arched medieval bridge (folio 17 recto; D11612). Some of the sketches concentrate on dramatic cloud and sky effects, and a few record small boats or skiffs carrying soldiers. The locality has not been identified, but is probably not in Yorkshire. An inscription on D11612 offers the strongest clue, and the river-borne soldiers in some sketches would suggest the proximity of a garrison or naval town. The series appears later than the Yorkshire material in this sketchbook (see Introduction) and might not even belong to the same year.

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