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

Inverted in relation to the sketchbook as foliated, the studies of steeples and a tower in the top right-hand quadrant of this page depict architectural landmarks of St Peter Port, Guernsey. The neo-Gothic tower topped by corner pinnacles belongs to the newly rebuilt Elizabeth College1 and the cylindrical ‘Grecian Doric’ steeple belongs to the Church of St James-the-Less,2 both of which are perched on the high hills around the harbour. The town of St Peter Port is one of the major objects of study in this volume, as outlined in the entry for folio 30 recto (D23576; Turner Bequest CCLII 30).

The other sketched passages on this page appear to have been taken in France. In the top left-hand corner, a spire resembling that of Notre-Dame de Caudebec rises amidst hilly terrain. For comparisons, see the list of drawings of this subject under the entry for folio 17 recto (D23550; Turner Bequest CCLII 17). The note ‘Diligence’, inscribed towards the top left-hand corner, is the French term for a stagecoach and presumably refers to the wheels cursorily drawn along the bottom of the page.