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

As Finberg recognised, the panoramic subject spanning this page and folio 15 verso to its left (D19426) is Boulogne, with the Napoleonic Colonne de la Grande Armée1 in the distance just over the gutter opposite, on the skyline to the north-east. The viewpoint was what were then undeveloped cliffs towards the sea west of the harbour, around where the Rue Galilée now runs, ranging northwards along the coast on the other page.

Here, while the harbour itself is largely obscured by the brow of the slope where two fisherwomen carry baskets in the foreground, the centre of Boulogne is arrayed to the right, below the Belfry (the Beffroi) in the elevated old town; the spire of St Nicholas’s Church, the only building shown towards the harbour to survive severe damage in the Second World War, is below to its west near the outer edge. Compare the detailed view from across the harbour, including the windmills shown here, on folio 13 verso (D19423). There is a single-page variant from a little to the south and further forward, bringing in the harbour, on folio 18 recto (D19431); for other Boulogne subjects, see under folio 8 verso (D19416).