J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner Brussels from the North, with the Spire of the Town Hall 1817

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Brussels from the North, with the Spire of the Town Hall’ 1817
Folio 12 Verso:
Brussels from the North, with the Spire of the Town Hall 1817
D12723
Turner Bequest CLX 12a
Pencil on white wove paper, 150 x 94 mm
Partial ‘J Whatman | 1816’ watermark
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Broken | G’ (?for ‘Ground’) bottom left
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Continued on folio 13 opposite (D12724), this is the third of a group of sketches in this sketchbook depicting the northern edges of Brussels. For these, and their relationship to an untraced watercolour engraved by William Miller in 1834, see notes to folio 10 verso (D12719).
The present page depicts the spire of the Town Hall. On D12724, the city extends further to the right, in the distance. Together they contributed the right half of the composition engraved by Miller (Tate impression: T04729), although tall trees were added to the foreground, such as can already be seen in the more schematic rendering of the entire view on folio 13 verso (D12725), and presumably featured in Turner’s untraced watercolour. For Turner’s visit to Brussels in 1817, and the city in this sketchbook, see notes to folio 9 verso (D12717).

David Blayney Brown
June 2025

How to cite

David Blayney Brown, ‘Brussels from the North, with the Spire of the Town Hall 1817’, catalogue entry, June 2025, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, June 2026, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/brussels-from-the-north-with-the-spire-of-the-town-hall-r1212091, accessed 31 July 2026.