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

With the page turned horizontally, there are two bands of sketches. The upper two show aspects of the old Baroque Haarlemmerpoort gateway, seen from the west across Amsterdam’s outer Singelgracht canal, near the docks off the River IJ at the north-western corner of the city. Its heavily articulated outer front is shown on the left, with its cupola continued upwards (with a slight gap at the gutter) onto folio 103 recto opposite (D19043), where there are some details.

To the right, it is outlined in the background, with the focus on the arched framework of the elevating ophaalbrug-type section of the bridge, as shown in Hendrik Cornelisz. Vroom’s 1615 painting Gezicht op de Haarlemmerpoort (Amsterdam Museum). The severely Neo-Classical replacement now standing on the Haarlemmerplein near the Willemsbrug was completed in 1840.1

Below, it is unclear whether the various jetties and small harbour buildings form a continuous view; there may be supplementary details at the bottom right. The setting, like several on subsequent pages, is presumably the IJ riverfront. There are sails to the left and what is likely the smoking funnel of a steamer on the right. The area has since been extensively developed, with the Westerdok and Oosterdok, the Victorian railway station and tower blocks, making some of Turner’s sightlines difficult to confirm. See under folio 81 recto (D18999) for other views in and around the city in this book and elsewhere.