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

Inverted in relation to the sketchbook as foliated, the landscape drawings on this page are too cursory for the identification of definite locations for the views described. The swirling pencil marks across the centre of the page suggest a valley landscape taken from a high vantage while the drawing in the top left-hand corner depicts a steep incline topped by a tall narrow structure. Neighbouring pages in the volume depict scenes of Rouen on the banks of the Seine so this latter combination of features may record the nearby Canteleu plateau surmounted by the Church of Saint-Martin. For a comparison, see the watercolour of Canteleu that Turner worked up around this time perhaps with a view to engraved reproduction; Tate D24643 (Turner Bequest CCLIX 78). The truncated study of architectural ornament in the bottom left-hand corner, running at a right angle to the vistas above may have been taken from one of Rouen cathedral’s massive towers.

For comparisons, a list of pages in the sketchbook featuring views of Rouen is provided in the entry for folio 60 recto (D23999; Turner Bequest CCLIV 60).