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

With the page turned horizontally, the drawing is focused on a detailed study of the lost Rietdijkse Poort in Dordrecht, shown on maps of the time standing west of the entrance to the Riedijkshaven, not far east of the more elaborate Groothoofdspoort (see under folio 48 verso; D18934). A few moored boats are lightly indicated in the foreground, below the Baroque gateway with the city arms in a cartouche in the pediment, leading to a courtyard in front of the main building.

There is a more frontal view of the buildings in a colour lithograph after Johannes Rutten (1809–1884),1 from a similar viewpoint to that of Turner’s second close-up view, on folio 61 recto (D18959); see also folios 49 verso and 50 recto (D18936–D18937). See under folio 47 recto (D18931) for other views in and around the city in this book and elsewhere.