Joseph Mallord William Turner

Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, the pale torso and thigh of a figure lit from above appear to be indicated on the diagonal across the centre, while the presence of a raised knee beyond is the clearest indication of the corresponding reclining figure below as they embrace in the darkness of a curtained bed.

For a discussion of the improvisatory and often erotic nature of the watercolour studies making up most of this sketchbook, see the Introduction.

Technical notes:

The unaccessioned recto is numbered in red ink ‘13’ and stamped ‘CCXCI(c) – 13’; it is otherwise blank apart from slight watercolour offsetting from folio 12 verso (D28886).