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

Engraved:
By J.T. Willmore in 1834, published in 1835.

In this watercolour, Turner presents a tranquil view over the old multi-arched bridge stretching across the river Seine at the town of Vernon, located in northern France, approximately midway between the cities of Rouen and Paris (and a few miles from Claude Monet’s later gardens at Giverny). The structures on the bridge are mills. The bridge is depicted from the west; two towers of the Château des Tourelles castle are just visible on the far left. Turner conveys quiet activity. Under a softly glowing, delicately blue sky, he depicts figures on the riverbank in the foreground, sitting, standing or engaged in other actions whilst coaches pass along the road stretching back at far right. He renders the arched gateway, tower and church behind in mellow shades of mauve in gentle contrast to the warm yellow tones of the right foreground below.

The watercolour is based on a preliminary pen and ink sketch, ?1827–9 (Tate D24860; Turner Bequest CCLX 24).1

An engraving was made of this watercolour by J.T. Willmore in 1834, as Vernon (Tate impressions T04710 and T06247) for the volume Wanderings by the Seine of 1835.2 The soft sky of the watercolour has been worked into a more dramatic effect in the engraving, with sunlight picking out the edges of clouds and points on the water.

There are related inscriptions on the verso (D40111).