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

This page combines two scenes from Turner’s two-day boat journey along the Rhône valley from Lyon to Avignon. Both were executed with the sketchbook turned horizontally, creating a more panoramic effect. The dominant upper view depicts steep cliffs to the left, a hilltop tower, two riverside towers, and roughly drawn foliage to the right. A more precise location for this study remains to be identified.

The lower vista, executed the other way up, appears to depict the town of Pont-Saint-Esprit, situated on the right bank of the Rhône. Spanning the page is the town’s medieval bridge, above which is Turner’s annotation ‘11’ – perhaps an attempt to count the arches or piers in view. This monumental bridge inspired a series of rapid sketches from different viewpoints: see the verso and folio 3 recto (D20993–D20994), together with Turner’s more sustained exploration of the subject between folios 32 verso and 35 recto (D21051–D21056; Turner Bequest CCXXX 31a–34).

This subject is out of sequence with the overall itinerary embodied by this sketchbook (see the Introduction), which begins near Lyon and ends near Toulon.