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

Here Turner has rendered a cursory sketch of knights in armour on horseback processing with banners and flags, perhaps on the way to or from the battlefield or joust. An associated drawing is depicted on Tate D18404; Turner Bequest CCX 55a, accompanied by inscriptions relating to both of these folios on Tate D18402; Turner Bequest CCX 54a. Turner has annotated the sketches with inscriptions (transcribed in full above) relating to the knights’ costumes, the colour of the banners and horses.

The Medieval era was a model and source of inspiration for creative activity during the Romantic Movement. The art, literature, music, and popular culture of the Middle Ages provided fruitful subject matter for Turner’s commissions. These drawings, then, may constitute ideas for an artistic project; they may have also been copied from a source such as a painting or book.