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

With the sketchbook turned horizontally, Turner filled this page with a depiction of the timber-framed buildings that lined the River Lézarde at Montivilliers. This small town is situated about seven miles north-east of the port at Le Havre and is dominated by the Romanesque Church of Saint-Sauveur. Particular attention has been paid here to the recession of irregular buildings and the looming presence of the church’s lantern tower and spire on the skyline. 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) which shows a closely comparable scene. A list of the other studies which the artist made of Montivilliers in this volume is provided in the entry for folio 96 recto (D24071; Turner Bequest CCLIV 96).