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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > European River and Lowland Scenes > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Town on Top of a Steep and Rocky Hill c.1824

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Town on Top of a Steep and Rocky Hill’ c.1824
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
A Town on Top of a Steep and Rocky Hill c.1824
D20336
Turner Bequest CCXXIV 44
Pencil on blue wove paper, 140 x 193 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘[...]’ towards bottom left
Stamped in black ‘CCXXIV 44’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This pencil sketch presents a dramatic view of buildings clustered around the precipice of a very steep and rocky hill. In the foreground to the left is a large tree, the leafy branches of which rise up to a level higher than the tallest building on the hilltop; an illegible inscription appears towards the bottom left. On either side of the hilltop, two more summits rise up in the distance.
For the grouping and dating of these works, see the section Introduction.
Verso:
Blank except for inscriptions. Inscribed in pencil ‘44’ top left, ascending vertically. Inscribed in ink ‘44’ bottom right. Inscribed in pencil ‘231 | O’ bottom right.

Ben Pollitt
August 2019

How to cite

Ben Pollitt, ‘A Town on Top of a Steep and Rocky Hill c.1824 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, August 2019, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2023, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-town-on-top-of-a-steep-and-rocky-hill-r1202094, accessed 09 May 2024.