Orléans, Loire Valley

With the sketchbook turned horizontally, Turner filled this page with studies of the architecture of the Place Matroi in Orléans. Amongst the landmarks depicted here, the spire of the Church of Saint-Pierre and the towers of the cathedral have been identified. ¹This is one of a substantial number of sketches of the city and its environs in this volume, a list of which is provided in the sketchbook introduction. Turner subsequently used these drawings as the basis for multiple colour studies and finished watercolours on blue paper with a view to engraved reproduction. These culminated in a printed illustration for Turner’s Annual Tour: Wanderings by the Loire and Seine (1833–5; later reissued as Rivers of France);2 see Tate impression T04679.