Joseph Mallord William Turner

Study of a Head

?1792

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Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Studies from the Antique and Other Sculpture
Medium: Chalk on paper
Dimensions: Support: 372 x 266 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D40214

Catalogue entry

Finberg tentatively identified this head as that of the Venus de’ Medici, which is studied in whole length on the recto of this sheet (D00059; Turner Bequest V F). But the turn of the neck is to the figure’s right rather than to the left, and the coiffure is apparently not the same, suggesting that this represents a different statue. The most likely candidate is the head of Paris that Turner studied on Tate D00054 (Turner Bequest V A) from this series.

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

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