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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner

Joseph Mallord William Turner Lewes Castle; Reclining Figures 1845

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Lewes Castle; Reclining Figures’ 1845
Folio 6 Recto:
Lewes Castle; Reclining Figures 1845
D35271
Turner Bequest CCCLIV 6
Pencil on white wove paper, 72 x 104 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘6’ bottom right (smudged)
Stamped in black ‘CCCLIV – 6’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Continuing from folio 5 verso opposite (D35270), Turner extends his panoramic view of Lewes over half of this page to encompass the distinctive mound upon which Lewes Castle sits.
This is separate from the artist’s use of the outer half of the page, rotated vertically to make swift sketches of figures in repose. Below them is a sketch of the mound that appears on D32270, with a structure of arches underneath.

Amy Concannon
May 2025

How to cite

Amy Concannon, ‘Lewes Castle; Reclining Figures 1845’, catalogue entry, May 2025, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, July 2026, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/lewes-castle-reclining-figures-r1214181, accessed 11 July 2026.