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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Folkestone and the Medway c.1821-2 > Folkestone Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The River Medway, at Rochester c.1821-2

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The River Medway, at Rochester’ c.1821-2
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 79 Verso:
The River Medway, at Rochester c.1821–2
D17342
Turner Bequest CXCVIII 79a
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 187 mm
Partial watermark ‘T Edm | 18’
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Made with the sketchbook inverted according to its foliation, this and the facing page on folio 80 recto (D17343) describe a panoramic view of Rochester from across the River Medway at Strood, as identified by Finberg.1 This section of the composition expresses the most eastern portion of the scene. At far left, closest to the gutter, Rochester Cathedral is delineated, and directly to the right, closer to the river, is the broad tower of Rochester Castle. From these two landmarks the composition emanates slightly, before dissolving towards the centre of the page. Turner sketches two simple, horizontal lines, to denote the banks of the Medway positioned in the bottom half of the sheet.
For a list of the drawings in this sketchbook that describe Rochester and the River Medway, see the entry for folio 6 verso (D17217).

Maud Whatley
January 2016

1
Finberg 1909, I, p.606.

How to cite

Maud Whatley, ‘The River Medway, at Rochester c.1821–2 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-river-medway-at-rochester-r1184616, accessed 22 September 2024.