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

Turner composed three views of Marseille on this page, the close proximity causing their lines to overlap. The geographer and Turner researcher Roland Courtot observed how the two upper sketches share the same viewpoint: Turner positioned himself near what is now the Esplanade de la Tourette, in the vicinity of the Saint-Laurent church.1 At the top of the page, looking north, he sketched the city’s Romanesque cathedral, known as La Major. Between the 1850s and the 1890s, a new cathedral in the Roman-Byzantine style was constructed on the site, which still stands today. Two figures stand in the foreground, and mountains appear on the horizon. Turner’s south-facing view beneath takes in Fort Saint-Jean on the north side of the old port; Saint-Victor Abbey on the south side; and Fort Notre-Dame on the hilltop beyond. The latter site was replaced in the 1850s with the grand basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde. Beneath, Turner’s inscription ‘Place S^t Laurent’ pinpoints his location.

At the bottom of the page, inverted relative to the sketches above, is a rough topographical study. It was evidently added at a later date, as Turner’s inscription reads ‘near Toulon’.

For a general commentary on Turner’s visit to Marseille and a list of comparable works in the sketchbook, see under folio 53 recto (D21092; Turner Bequest CCXXX 52).