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

In this carefully observed study Turner depicts the Bohemian capital of Prague from a vantage point on the Charles Bridge. The Bridge was constructed under the auspices of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV at the beginning of the fifteenth century. A few centuries later the bridge’s north and south balustrades were adorned with thirty statues of saints, some of which are visible in Turner’s sketch. Petrín Hill can be seen at left, ‘all in light’, as Turner inscribes, with part of the medieval Hunger Wall and Seminary. The Hradcany precinct is at right, dominated by the imperial Castle and St Vitus Cathedral. To the right of St Vitus are the twin towers of St George’s Church.

Other drawings of Prague can be found at Tate D30344–D30361, D30364–D30366; Turner Bequest CCCI 25–33a, 36–37. The Prague, Nuremberg, Frankfurt and Rhine sketchbook of the same tour holds drawings of the city at Tate D30759–30761, D30764–D30765, D30767, D30771–D30773, D30775–D30777, D30779–D30783, D30788–D30790, D30792–D30803, D30805, D30807–D30811, D30813–D30820; Turner Bequest CCCIV 68–69, 70a–71, 72, 74–75, 76–77, 78–80, 82a–84, 85–91, 92, 93–96, 97–102.