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

With the page turned horizontally, the main view shows Amsterdam’s IJ riverfront running south-eastwards, with the open, rounded finial crowning the spire of the Montelbaanstoren in the distance to the right; see under folio 81 recto (D18999) for clearer views of the tower. The viewpoint was likely near the lost Haringpakkerstoren (‘herring packer’s tower’), shown in the other direction on the recto (D19056). The riverfront has since been extensively developed, with the Westerdok and Oosterdok, the Victorian railway station and tower blocks, making some of Turner’s sightlines difficult to confirm. See under D18999 for other views in and around the city in this book and elsewhere.

It is unclear whether the barge shown under way in the left foreground is directly part of the scene; its sails billow and there are deft suggestions of its motion through slightly choppy waters, perhaps further out on the river. See this sketchbook’s Introduction for discussion of its many shipping studies, and compare the boats under sail on folios 113 verso, 115 verso and 116 verso (D19063, D19067, D19069).