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 Castle on a Mountain, beside a River c.1830

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Castle on a Mountain, beside a River’ c.1830
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
A Castle on a Mountain, beside a River c.1830
D24613
Turner Bequest CCLIX 48
Pencil and watercolour on blue wove paper, 192 x 139 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram below right of centre
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX 48’ bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘48’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
A flat expanse of land or very possibly a river covers most of the lower half of the image, leading to the base of a mountain, whose steep and sudden rise forms two rocky peaks, the highest standing to the right, while the lesser one to the left is topped by an imposing building, a castle perhaps.
Finberg’s 1909 Inventory included this in a group of sketches ‘mostly connected with the “French Rivers” series’, although ‘some Belgian subjects have also been included, and there may possibly be some Rhine and even English subjects among them’;1 in the absence of later suggestions, the date used is are derived from Finberg.
For the grouping and general dating of these works, see the section Introduction.
1
Finberg 1909, II, p.789.
Verso:
Blank except for inscriptions. Traces of white strips of paper along the edges of the sheet indicate an earlier mount. Inscribed in pencil ‘D24613’ right above centre, ascending vertically.

Ben Pollitt
August 2019

How to cite

Ben Pollitt, ‘A Castle on a Mountain, beside a River c.1830 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-castle-on-a-mountain-beside-a-river-r1202162, accessed 09 May 2024.