Joseph Mallord William Turner

The Presqu’île and the Pont de la Mulatière, Lyon

1820

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In Tate Britain

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Return from Italy Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 98 × 128 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D16719
Turner Bequest CXCII 40

Catalogue entry

This sketch depicts a view of the Presqu’île of Lyon, a peninsula created by the convergence of two rivers, the Saône and the Rhône. Turner’s viewpoint is the heights of the hill above the right-hand bank of the Saône looking north-east towards the tip of the peninsula with the domes of the ancient hospital of Hôtel Dieu beyond. The arches near the centre of the composition represent the Pont de la Mulatière, see folio 39 (D16715; Turner Bequest CXCII 38) and visible in the far distance to the right are the towering peaks of Mont Blanc.
The significance of the inscription at the top of the page is unknown.
For further sketches of Lyon see folio 37 verso (D16712; Turner Bequest CXCII 36a).

Nicola Moorby
April 2013

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