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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Thames, London and South of England 1821 ... > Old London Bridge Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Old London Bridge above the Pool of London, from the Southwark Side with St Magnus the Martyr's Church and St Paul's Cathedral Beyond ?1824

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Old London Bridge above the Pool of London, from the Southwark Side with St Magnus the Martyr's Church and St Paul's Cathedral Beyond’ ?1824
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 18 Recto:
Old London Bridge above the Pool of London, from the Southwark Side with St Magnus the Martyr’s Church and St Paul’s Cathedral Beyond ?1824
D17868
Turner Bequest CCV 18
Pencil on white wove paper, 98 x 162 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘18’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCV – 18’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This is one of the more precise drawings of Old London Bridge in this sketchbook, showing it upstream to the west from near the south bank of the River Thames, continuing across folio 17 verso opposite (D17867). On the north bank to the right are St Magnus the Martyr’s Church and the Monument. In the distance on the left is the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral, represented twice in overlapping profiles; presumably Turner’s boat moved drifted slightly as he carefully recorded the irregularities of the bridge’s various arches.
More than half the drawings in this sketchbook show the River Thames around Old London Bridge, and are likely to date from 1824; see the Introduction.

Matthew Imms
December 2014

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Old London Bridge above the Pool of London, from the Southwark Side with St Magnus the Martyr’s Church and St Paul’s Cathedral Beyond ?1824 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2014, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-old-london-bridge-above-the-pool-of-london-from-the-r1172579, accessed 25 April 2024.