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

With the page turned vertically, there are three Boulogne subjects, as Finberg noted.1 Towards the top (outer) edge, the setting is the centre of the walled old town, or haute ville, with the medieval Belfry (the Beffroi) in the background; it is studied in detail on folio 12 recto (D19421). The setting is labelled ‘Place de Armes’ (‘d’Armes’ in old guidebooks), now the Place de la Résistance, apparently looking east, although the various buildings are not readily recognisable today. There are a few figures sitting around, possibly at a market. Turner’s notes include one or two others in French, presumably from adjacent signage.

Next, separated by horizontal pencil lines above and below, is an annotated view of the Porte-Neuve gateway, with its rusticated Baroque central arch below figures of the Madonna and Child, on the north-east side of the medieval walls. The houses built above have been demolished, and it is now instead overlooked by the elevated dome of the basilica of Notre Dame, immediately to the right from this angle. What Turner meant by a ‘Doric col[?umn] of France’ was presumably a monument not now evident in the vicinity. Other gateways are studies on folios 10 recto and 11 verso (D19418, D19420). Among the Boulogne subject in this sketchbook, Gerald Wilkinson described the lively sketches on the latter page and here as having ‘a happy quality of colour and contrast’;2 for Boulogne in general, see under folio 8 verso (D19416).

At the bottom, the haute ville is shown from high in what was then open countryside, with the sun sinking over the sea (see also the recto; D19536), where it is reflected in a characteristic zig-zag. The viewpoint was in the vicinity of the road to Calais, running south-west towards the Porte Neuve side; subsequent expansion precludes a clear view today. The Belfry (the Beffroi) is shown silhouetted against the waning light. Now, the latter would be overshadowed by the dome of the basilica. To the south-west, about two miles along the Channel coast, ‘Porte’ and ‘Fort N’ are marked, respectively indicating Portel and the offshore fort labelled by Turner as ‘Fort Napoleon’ in relation to closer studies on folio 16 verso (D19428); its official name is Fort de l’Heurt, and its relative scale here appears significantly exaggerated. The loose outlines partly overlapping with this last subject are continued from a slighter related view taking up the whole of folio 81 recto opposite (D19538). Views from inland on immediately adjacent pages and elsewhere in this sketchbook and others are discussed under folio 18 verso (D19432).