This is an early drawing completed by Turner when he was a teenaged student at the Royal Academy. The drawing is tentative and has none of the fluidity of later works. The buff coloured, laid paper is typical of the type used by Academy students at this time. In this instance, it has lost colour owing to light exposure.
The outline of the figure was drawn first. The shading in black was then completed and finally the white highlights were added last. The background has been drawn using diagonal strokes of chalk that have then been rubbed together to create a solid body of colour. The use of horizontal hatching to create areas of shade is something Turner did throughout his career.
The extensive shading on this drawing confirms that Turner was right-handed.
There is brown staining in the top right-hand corner of the recto; this is also visible from the verso. There is some blue pigment, probably offset from another sheet, in the bottom right-hand quarter of the verso.
Helen Evans
August 2008
Revised by Joyce Townsend
February 2011
How to cite
Helen Evans, 'Technique and Condition', August 2008, revised by Joyce Townsend, February 2011, in Andrew Wilton, ‘Study of the Venus de’ Medici ?1792 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-study-of-the-venus-de-medici-r1140267, accessed 26 April 2024.
