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

With the page turned horizontally, the view is to the north, downstream along the River Maas (Meuse) past moored sailing boats, with Maastricht (as Finberg suggested1) on the left and Wyck to the right across the Sint Servaasbrug, where the spire of St Martin’s Church is shown along with the south-western corner of its old walls.

The viewpoint appears to be on the west bank, around where the Stadspark now runs near the Hoge Brug, although the details of the setting are slight. The small cupola beyond trees towards the left, apparently labelled ‘Chimes’, may be the belfry on the truncated spire at the east end of the Basilica of Our Lady, shown in relation to the rest of the church in an isolated study on folio 192 verso (D19221) and see also the recto of this leaf (D19196); it was later replaced with a continuation of the spire to the same height. The distant spire belongs to the lost monastic Sint Antoniuskerk, north of the city centre, as seen in the foreground on folio 181 verso (D19199).

Aligned below the distant spire, there may be a horse towards the foreground, with another among carriages towards the left, but the swift marks are too cursory to be certain. There are related views on folios 181 recto opposite and 183 verso (D19198, D19203); see also folio 185 recto (D19206), from nearer the bridge. For the various aspects of the city recorded on adjacent pages and in the contemporary Holland, Meuse and Cologne sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest CCXV), see under folio 179 verso (D19195); and see this sketchbook’s Introduction for discussion of its many shipping studies.