Joseph Mallord William Turner

Rocks along the Meuse; A Gateway and the Citadel at Namur

1824

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Rivers Meuse and Moselle Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions: Support: 118 × 78 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D19646
Turner Bequest CCXVI 48 a

Catalogue entry

These swiftly rendered views depict the rocky outcrops of the Meuse valley, with villages nestled at the base of cliffs and a chateau atop a ridge at top right. The lowermost sketch shows an ornamental gateway with volute ironwork; this structure appears to frame the foot of a bridge crossing a river, probably the ‘Sambre’, which is inscribed to the right of the gate. The heights in the middle distance feature a further stone bridge spanning two sections of a curtain wall with a tower at right; the pronounced arch of this second bridge is similar to structures shown in sketches of Namur citadel on folio 49 recto (Tate D19647; Turner Bequest CCXVI 49).

Alice Rylance-Watson
March 2014

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