Pont de Bercy, Paris; ?Castle Defences, Normandy

1832

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment

Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Seine and Paris Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions: Support: 174 x 117 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D23985
Turner Bequest CCLIV 53

Catalogue entry

With the sketchbook turned horizontally, Turner drew a north-westerly view across central Paris at the top of this page. With the Seine in the foreground and the two western towers of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in the distance, the centre of the scene is occupied by the suspension bridge crossing the river at Bercy. This piece of engineering would have been new to Turner on the 1832 tour, having been opened by Louis-Philippe, King of the French, only in the February of that year.

Inverted in relation to the sketch at the top of the page, the descriptions of medieval round towers below are too cursory to identify a definitive location. However, the castles of Guillard and Gisors in the Seine region of Normandy were the subject of considerable study in this volume. For comparisons, see the lists of pages featuring these structures in the sketchbook Introduction.

John Chu
July 2014

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