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

With the sketchbook turned horizontally, Turner worked into the top half of this page a drawing of the base of the Vendôme Column in Paris. The notes below are a semi-legible copy of the monument’s dedicatory Latin inscription. The original reads, ‘NEAPOLIO – IMP –AVG | MONVMENTUM – BELLI – GERMANICI | ANNO – MDCCCV | TRIMESTRI – SPATIO – DVCTV – SVO – PROFLIGATI | EX – AERE – CAPTO | GLORIAE – EXERCITUS – MAXIMI – DIGAVIT’. Several drawings of the column appear in this volume, a list of which is included in the sketchbook Introduction.