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 Town with Three Churches c.1824

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Town with Three Churches’ c.1824
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Town with Three Churches c.1824
D20372
Turner Bequest CCXXIV 77
Pencil on blue wove paper, 139 x 190 mm
Stamped in black ‘CCXXIV 76’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
In the centre of this sketch of a town on a hillside is a large church; on its façade are three arches, the largest being in the centre over the main portal. A pediment with a bracketed cornice surmounts the building. In the town to the left is a tall bell tower, suggesting the presence of another church; a third is situated on the hill’s summit. To the bottom left a faint diagonal line indicates a road leading into the town.
For the grouping and dating of these works, see the section Introduction.
Verso:
Blank except for inscriptions. Inscribed in ink ‘77’ and ‘231 | O’ bottom right. Inscribed in pencil ‘77’ bottom right, ascending vertically.

Ben Pollitt
August 2019

How to cite

Ben Pollitt, ‘Town with Three Churches 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-town-with-three-churches-r1202117, accessed 09 May 2024.