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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Ramparts at Montivilliers, Normandy 1832

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 94 Verso:
Ramparts at Montivilliers, Normandy 1832
D24068
Turner Bequest CCLIV 94a
Pencil on white wove paper, 174 x 117 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the sketchbook turned horizontally, Turner filled this page with a depiction of Montivilliers in Normandy as viewed from the north. This small town is situated about seven miles north-east from the port at Le Havre and is dominated by the Romanesque Church of Saint-Sauveur, the lantern tower and spire of which can be seen in the top left-hand quadrant of the page. The right-hand side of the scene is given over to a brief description of the town’s defences, with a large round tower in the foreground and a second tower rising up on a hill in the middle distance. These structures were also sketched from south on folio 95 recto opposite (D24069; Turner Bequest CCLIV 95). Turner’s interest in the picturesque potential of this town culminated in a gouache and watercolour sketch of around this date; Tate D24650 (Turner Bequest CCLIX 85). A list of pages in this volume featuring views of Montivilliers is provided in the entry for folio 96 recto (D24071; Turner Bequest CCLIV 96).

John Chu
July 2014

How to cite

John Chu, ‘Ramparts at Montivilliers, Normandy 1832 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 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-ramparts-at-montivilliers-normandy-r1173473, accessed 29 March 2024.