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

The drawings were made with the page turned horizontally. The sketches between folios 162 verso and 168 verso (D19161–D19173, except folio 164 verso opposite, D19165, a stray view of Cologne), were made down a mile or so of the River Meuse as it wound north-eastwards along the southern end of central Liège. The first half of this route was north and east along what are now the southern end of the broad Boulevard d’Avroy and the Boulevard Piercot, by comparison with maps of the time; the river was subsequently drained and rerouted via gentler curves along the Boulevard Frère-Orban.

Here, the main view is northwards along a picturesquely varied quay, with letters to indicate the colours of the façades running below, to the Baroque church of St-Sacrement (the Holy Sacrament), with its small spire, shallow dome and pedimented east end. The equivalent viewpoint today would be the northern end of the Parc d’Avroy, but buildings and trees obscure the prospect. Beyond towards the right is the similar Benedictine Church, shown in selective detail; it overlooked an extended backwater flowing up what is now the northern section of the Boulevard d’Avroy. Deceptively close to its right are the spire and central dome of St-Jean-en-l’isle, about the same distance north again. High in the distance, north-north-west of the first two and not far north-west of St-Jean’s, is St Martin’s Church, with its square tower.

The spire in the less detailed lower sketch appears to be that of St-Jacques (St James’s), a little north-east of the main viewpoint. There are views from further back on folios 162 verso and 163 recto (D19161–D19162). Compare a more detailed two-page panorama including these and numerous other churches in the contemporary Holland, Meuse and Cologne sketchbook (Tate D19446–D19447; Turner Bequest CCXV 25a–26); this sketch corresponds closely with D19446, although from the higher alignment of St Martin’s and the skyline relative to the nearer churches, he was evidently a little further south from the present viewpoint. See also sketches from nearby in 1824’s Rivers Meuse and Moselle book (Tate D19592, D19596, D19598; Turner Bequest CCXVI 21, 23, 24). For other views of Liège in this sketchbook and elsewhere, see under folio 155 verso (D19147).

Technical notes:

The oily mark at the top right is a finger print offset from folio 164 verso opposite (D19165), which was used as a source for a subsequent painting.