Joseph Mallord William Turner

St Paul’s Cathedral and the Citadel at Liège, Seen from the Quai Looking Downstream to the Pont de la Boverie

1839

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Spa, Dinant and Namur Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 94 x 154 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D28068
Turner Bequest CCLXXXVII 14

Catalogue entry

This is a view of Liège taken from a quay on the Meuse looking downstream towards the Boverie Bridge. In another drawing of the city in this sketchbook, Turner’s focus is the ancient Pont des Arches (Tate D28066; Turner Bequest CCLXXXVII 13). The sketch is rendered in fine and crisp pencil markings, incorporating the spired tower of St Paul’s Cathedral at left and the defence fort or citadel atop the heights in the distance. Much of the cathedral had been destroyed during the French Revolution and through the years that followed. Rebuilding and restoration began in 1812 on the instruction of Napoléon Bonaparte who ordered that the tower be raised a storey and a belfry be installed.1
For other drawings of Liège in this sketchbook see the following folios: Tate D28070–D28074, D28076; Turner Bequest CCLXXXVII 15–17, 18. For Turner’s earlier views of the city see the Rivers Meuse and Moselle sketchbook of 1824 (Tate D19598, D19636–D19638, D20061–D20064; Turner Bequest CCXVI 24, 43a–44a, 260a–262); the Huy and Dinant sketchbook of the same date (Tate D20084, D20095–D20103; Turner Bequest CCXVII 1, 8–12); the Holland, Meuse and Cologne sketchbook of 1825 (Tate D19446–D19447, D19520–D19521; Turner Bequest CCXV 25a–26, 71a–72); and the Holland sketchbook of the same date (Tate D19160; Turner Bequest CCXIV 162). There are also drawings of Liège in the 1833 Brussels up to Mannheim–Rhine sketchbook (Tate D29669–D29670, D29673; Turner Bequest CCXCVI 37a–38, 39a). For colour studies of the city in gouache, pen and ink and watercolour see Tate D24664, D20283; Turner Bequest CCLIX 99, CCXXII X.

Alice Rylance-Watson
April 2013

1
A. Beauduin (Doyen de Chapitre), ‘Cathedrale, Histoire et Sens’, Cathedral de Liège, http://www.cathedraledeliege.be/histsensdoyen.html, accessed 22 April 2013.

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Citadel, Pont des Arches and St Bartholemew’s Church, Liège, Looking Downstream from the Quai sur Meuse’ 1839

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1839
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1824
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Citadel and Pont des Arches, Liège, Looking Downstream’ 1824

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Citadel and Pont des Arches, Liège, Looking Downstream

1824
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Quai de Maestricht, Liège, Looking Downstream to the Maison Curtius from the Pont des Arches’ 1839

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Quai de Maestricht, Liège, Looking Downstream to the Maison Curtius from the Pont des Arches

1839
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Church, Citadel and Bridge at Huy, Looking Upstream from the Quay on the North Bank (then ‘Quai des Recollets’)’ 1839

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Church, Citadel and Bridge at Huy, Looking Upstream from the Quay on the North Bank (then ‘Quai des Recollets’)

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Quay and Citadel at Huy, Looking Upstream from the North Bank above the Bridge near the Maison de Batta’ 1839

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Quay and Citadel at Huy, Looking Upstream from the North Bank above the Bridge near the Maison de Batta

1839
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Citadel and Pont des Arches, Liège, from a Boat on the Meuse, Looking Downstream, with the Twin Spires of St Bartholemew’s Church Visible above the Bridge’ 1824

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Citadel and Pont des Arches, Liège, from a Boat on the Meuse, Looking Downstream, with the Twin Spires of St Bartholemew’s Church Visible above the Bridge

1824
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Church, Citadel, Town Hall and Eastern Edge of the Bridge at Dinant, Looking Downstream; Dinant, Looking Upstream from the Eastern River Bank below Bridge’ 1839

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1839
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Rocks on the Meuse above House and Bridge; Huy, from Hillside to the North; The Church, Citadel and Quai aux Charbons, Huy, from the Maison de Batta’ 1839

Joseph Mallord William Turner Rocks on the Meuse above House and Bridge; Huy, from Hillside to the North; The Church, Citadel and Quai aux Charbons, Huy, from the Maison de Batta

1839
View by appointment D28131
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Pont des Arches, Liège, Looking Upstream towards the Spire of the Cathedral from the Quai de la Batte’ 1824

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Pont des Arches, Liège, Looking Upstream towards the Spire of the Cathedral from the Quai de la Batte

1824
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Dinant, Looking Downstream from just above the Bridge’ 1839

Joseph Mallord William Turner Dinant, Looking Downstream from just above the Bridge

1839
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Huy: Notre Dame, the Citadel and Bridge over the Meuse from the Quai des Récollets’ 1833

Joseph Mallord William Turner Huy: Notre Dame, the Citadel and Bridge over the Meuse from the Quai des Récollets

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Huy and its Citadel from the Hillside to the West, Looking Downstream; The Castle of Crèvecoeur and the Church of Bouvignes, Looking Downstream from the Hill opposite Dinant’ 1839

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1839
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