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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Second Italian Tour 1828-9 > Lyons to Marseilles Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Ruined Castle at Serves-sur-Rhône; the Rhône Valley 1828

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Ruined Castle at Serves-sur-Rhône; the Rhône Valley’ 1828
Folio 13 Recto:
The Ruined Castle at Serves-sur-Rhône; the Rhône Valley 1828
D21014
Turner Bequest CCXXX 13
Pencil on cream lined wove paper, 145 x 111 mm
Inscribed in blue ink by John Ruskin ‘4’ bottom right, and ‘13’ towards top right
Stamped in black ‘CCXXX 13’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Dominating this page is a depiction of the ruined castle at Serves-sur-Rhône, located on the left bank of the Rhône. Turner achieved his low viewpoint from the river, as he journeyed south from Lyon to Avignon by boat. Three further views of the castle, comparatively detailed in execution, appear on folio 12 verso opposite (D21013). The present example includes details of the village at the foot of the slopes. The minor view above depicts the Rhône valley.
Citing the present work, Cecilia Powell has commented on Turner’s fondness for castles. See under folio 3 verso (D20995) for a summary of her analysis.

Hannah Kaspar
March 2024

How to cite

Hannah Kaspar, ‘The Ruined Castle at Serves-sur-Rhône; the Rhône Valley 1828’, catalogue entry, March 2024, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2025, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/the-ruined-castle-at-serves-sur-rhone-the-rhone-valley-r1209675, accessed 15 April 2025.