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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Northern France 1832 > Paris and Environs Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Brienne-le-Château, Northern France 1832

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Brienne-le-Château, Northern France’ 1832
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 110 Recto:
Brienne-le-Château, Northern France 1832
D24383
Turner Bequest CCLVII 110
Pencil on white laid paper, 175 x 127 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘18’ top left, ascending vertically
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘110’ top left and ‘2’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLVII 110’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the sketchbook turned horizontally, Turner filled the top half of this page with a view of Brienne-le-Château, situated around one hundred miles east of Paris. The Church of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul, prior to the modification of its roof around the apse, dominates the left-hand side of the page. Napoleon studied at the military academy close by so this site was of particular interest to the artist as he sought subjects to illustrate a new edition of Walter Scott’s Life of Napoleon Buonaparte (1834–36). The town along with the church is featured in one of the volume’s engraved illustrations; see Tate impression T04969. A list of pages in the present volume featuring this subject is provided in the sketchbook Introduction.

John Chu
January 2015

How to cite

John Chu, ‘Brienne-le-Château, Northern France 1832 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2015, 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-brienne-le-chateau-northern-france-r1175411, accessed 26 April 2024.