Joseph Mallord William Turner

On 21 January 1830 Turner attended the funeral at St Paul's Cathedral of the portrait painter and President of the Royal Academy, Sir Thomas Lawrence. The next day he wrote to a friend: 'It is something to feel that gifted talent can be acknowledged by the many who yesterday waded up to their knees in snow and muck to see the funeral pomp swelled up by carriages of the great'. This watercolour was exhibited by Turner at the Royal Academy in 1830. It well evokes the crisp, chill air of a cold January day. A group of women to the right have their hands tucked inside their muffs, their shoulders huddled forward with the cold.

Gallery label, August 2004

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