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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Brighton and Copies from Wilson 1796-7 > Studies near Brighton Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Two Men in Academic Caps and Gowns, Seen from Behind 1796

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Two Men in Academic Caps and Gowns, Seen from Behind’ 1796
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 96 Verso:
Two Men in Academic Caps and Gowns, Seen from Behind 1796
D00836
Turner Bequest XXX 91
Pencil on white laid paper, 126 x 108 mm
Stamped in black ‘XXX – 91’ bottom right, ascending vertically
The figures were perhaps noted in Chichester (see folios 27 recto, 28 recto, 33 recto and 34 recto; D00755, D00757, D00763, D00766; Turner Bequest XXX 26, 27, 32, 33), and may record the costumes of participants in an ecclesiastical procession.
Finberg appears to have recorded this subject as the recto; see the Technical notes to the sketchbook’s Introduction. The blank recto is inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘91.’ at the bottom right.
Technical notes:
There is a dark stain at the bottom left, offset from inside the back cover (D40761).

Andrew Wilton
May 2011

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Two Men in Academic Caps and Gowns, Seen from Behind 1796 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2011, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-two-men-in-academic-caps-and-gowns-seen-from-behind-r1149790, accessed 05 April 2026.