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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Wales 1798 > Dynevor Castle Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Three-Arched Bridge with a Castle and Church Beyond 1798

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Three-Arched Bridge with a Castle and Church Beyond’ 1798
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 47 Recto:
A Three-Arched Bridge with a Castle and Church Beyond 1798
D01538
Turner Bequest XL 45
Pencil on white wove paper, 95 x 135 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘45’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘XL – 45’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The drawing was made with the page turned horizontally. Although the rapid manner in which this view is sketched can be associated with a series of drawings in this book which apparently show the Brecon Beacons and places in the Vale of Usk (see folios 21 verso–26 recto, 31 verso–37 recto; D01494–D01503, D01513–D 01522; Turner Bequest XL 19a–24, 29a–35), the substantial ruins in the centre of the view do not correspond to any in that part of Wales.
The greatest similarities are with Rhuddlan, in the far north east of the country, and this view may be of the castle and town from the north-west with the Clwydian Range of hills in the distance. However, Rhuddlan is very far from any of the other sites so far identified in the book, and the identification of this subject remains uncertain.

Andrew Wilton
May 2013

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘A Three-Arched Bridge with a Castle and Church Beyond 1798 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, April 2015, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-three-arched-bridge-with-a-castle-and-church-beyond-r1173777, accessed 24 April 2024.