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.

A key attraction of Louviers, a thriving manufacturing town in Normandy, was the Church of Notre-Dame. The church’s south façade and porch, important examples of the late Gothic Flamboyant style of architecture, proved a draw for visiting artists. Turner was no exception and he must have dedicated considerable time to making the group of lively studies of the building and its interior on blue paper that form part of the present section of the catalogue (for the others see: Tate D24840, D24902, D24909, D24950, D24962, D24967, D24851–D24852; Turner Bequest CCLX 4, 66, 73, 114, 126, 131, 15–16).

As he did in many of his other studies of the region’s churches, on this sheet Turner evoked a sense of daily life in the town via the inclusion of foreground figures and details.

Technical notes:

There is significant discolouration caused by previous light exposure, when the drawing was displayed in a window mount.

Verso:

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