Joseph Mallord William Turner

This sheet is one of a series of sketches associated with a tour of the Seine with a proposed dating of 1827–9. The studies are characterised by the use of pen and ink on blue paper; for more information see the Introduction to this section.

In the foreground of this bustling Louviers street scene a group of people stand alongside a newly arrived coach and horses – the public stage coach, known as a diligence.1 A diligence can also be seen in the foreground of another sketch of the town (Tate D24950; Turner Bequest CCLX 114). In the background the Church of Notre-Dame, a famed example of Late Gothic Flamboyant architecture that Turner stopped to sketch, is clearly visible. For other studies showing the church catalogued within this section see Tate D24840, D24902, D24909, D24950, D24962, D24967 (Turner Bequest CCLX 4, 66, 73, 114, 126, 131). Turner also made two studies of the interior (Tate D24851–D24852; Turner Bequest CCLX 15–16).

Verso:

The sheet has been laid down on paper and the verso could not be checked at the time of cataloguing.