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Lot Essay
THIS IS ONE OF TWENTY-SIX WATERCOLOURS (WILTON, OP. CIT, NOS. 1236-61) COMMISSIONED FROM TURNER BY THE ENGRAVERS EDWARD AND WILLIAM FINDEN TOGETHER WITH THE PUBLISHER JOHN MURRAY FOR LANDSCAPE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE BIBLE, PUBLISHED IN PARTS BETWEEN 1833 AND 1836 AND SUBSEQUENTLY IN THE BIBLICAL KEEPSAKE, OR LANDSCAPE ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE MOST REMARKABLE PLACES MENTIONED IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES ... WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF THE PLATES BY THE REV. THOMAS HARTWELL HOARE, B.D., PUBLISHED IN TWO VOLUMES 1835-6. OTHER ARTISTS EMPLOYED FOR THE SCHEME INCLUDED CLARKSON STANFIELD, J.D. HARDING AND SIR AUGUSTUS WALL CALLCOTT. TURNER'S WATERCOLOURS WERE BASED ON VIEWS MADE BY VARIOUS TRAVELLERS TO THE HOLY LAND, FIRST MAKING AN OUTLINE TRACINGS (NOW LOST) FROM HIS SOURCES, IN THIS CASE CLAUDIUS JAMES RICH IN HIS NARRATIVE OF A RESIDENCE IN KOORDISTAN, AND ON THE SITE OF ANCIENT NINEVAH..., PUBLISHED IN 1836 OP.CIT, BOSTON, 1996, P. 58, NO. 17; RICH HAD VISITED NINEVAH IN NOVEMBER 1820. THIS DRAWING WAS ONE OF THREE DESCRIBED BY TURNER AS 'DONE' IN A LETTER OF 28 FEBRUARY 1833 TO EDWARD FINDEN (GAGE, LOC. CIT.), AND WAS ENGRAVED BY W. RADCLIFFE IN 1835 (OP.CIT., BOSTON, 1996, P. 58, NO. 17).
THE WATERCOLOUR SHOWS THE MODERN TOWN OF MOUSSOUL (TODAY MOSUL) IN THE DISTANCE ON THE LEFT; THE TWO MOUNDS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE TIGRIS WERE ALREADY BELIEVED TO CONTAIN THE RUINS OF ANCIENT NINEVAH AND WERE EXCAVATED FROM 1842 ONWARDS.
ACCORDING TO JOHN RUSKIN, TURNER'S DRAWINGS FOR FINDEN'S BIBLE WERE 'QUITE UNRIVALLED EXAMPLES OF HIS RICHEST EXECUTIVE POWERS ON A SMALL SCALE' (WORKS OF JOHN RUSKIN, ED. E.T. COOK AND A. WEDDERBURN, LONDON, 1903-12, VOL. XIII, P. 447).
THE WATERCOLOUR SHOWS THE MODERN TOWN OF MOUSSOUL (TODAY MOSUL) IN THE DISTANCE ON THE LEFT; THE TWO MOUNDS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE TIGRIS WERE ALREADY BELIEVED TO CONTAIN THE RUINS OF ANCIENT NINEVAH AND WERE EXCAVATED FROM 1842 ONWARDS.
ACCORDING TO JOHN RUSKIN, TURNER'S DRAWINGS FOR FINDEN'S BIBLE WERE 'QUITE UNRIVALLED EXAMPLES OF HIS RICHEST EXECUTIVE POWERS ON A SMALL SCALE' (WORKS OF JOHN RUSKIN, ED. E.T. COOK AND A. WEDDERBURN, LONDON, 1903-12, VOL. XIII, P. 447).