Joseph Mallord William Turner

Luxembourg City

1839

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Givet, Mézières, Verdun, Metz, Luxemburg and Trèves Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 101 × 168 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D28275
Turner Bequest CCLXXXVIII 61

Catalogue entry

This rough pencil sketch of Luxembourg City from the north was used by Turner to create a gouache and watercolour drawing on blue paper in the winter of 1839 (Tate D20247; Turner Bequest CCXXI N). This prospect shows the Alzette River winding through a narrow valley, flanked by precipitous cliffs. Houses can be seen at the lower reaches of the cliffs, built into the rocks at a sharp angle. A bridge is suggested in the foreground, with a small spired church to its left.
For other sketches of Luxembourg in this book see Tate D28228–D28231, D28266, D28267–D28274, D28276–D28288; Turner Bequest CCLXXXVIII 32a–34, 56a, 57–60, 61–67a. See also the earlier Rivers Meuse and Moselle sketchbook of 1824 (Tate D19712, D19714; Turner Bequest CCXVI 82, 83).

Alice Rylance-Watson
May 2013

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