Joseph Mallord William Turner

Carlton House, London, appears in a large watercolour diagram which accompanied Turner’s first perspective lecture at the Royal Academy in January 1811 (see the Introduction to the sketchbook), showing the whole of the north front with rusticated wings and a colonnaded screen and gateways in front, in which Turner applies naturalistic shading to a scale elevation (Tate D17119; Turner Bequest CXCV 148).1 There are further studies of Carlton House on folios 15 verso, 16 recto, 61 verso (D07983, D07984, D08039) and possibly 39 recto (D08011). For the history of the building, see under folio 15 verso (D07983).

The present page shows the central part of the screen from the north, its coat of arms supported by a roughly indicated lion and unicorn, with the pediment of Carlton House itself to the left beyond. Isolated details including a profile of the entablature and an Ionic capital appear at the top right. The sketch is continued across folio 50 opposite (D08024).