Joseph Mallord William Turner

This brooding depiction of the ruined abbey of Marmoutier near Tours picked out against the brighter colours of the town beyond is one of several colour studies which Turner worked up from material collected on his 1826 tour of the Loire Valley. It is based on a pencil sketch he made in the Loire, Tours, Orleans and Paris sketchbook; see entry for Tate D23266 (Turner Bequest CCXLIX 11).

Technical Notes:

The sheet belongs to a batch of dense blue paper with dark fibres used by Turner made by George Steart of Bally, Ellen and Steart at De Montault Mill, Coombe Down, Bath.1

Verso:

Inscribed in pencil with the notes ’18 – 410’ in the top left-hand corner of the sheet and ‘19’ in the centre. Stamped in black with the Turner Bequest monogram and ‘CCLIX – 18’ in the bottom left-hand corner of the sheet.