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

This page contains three studies of a hilltop town or fortress, captured from varying distances. A subject is difficult to determine from the cursory profiles, although it is possibly the same site depicted on folios 9 verso and 11 verso (D21605, D21609), tentatively identified as La Rocca di Staggia, a fortified medieval castle in Staggia Senese. The upper view features a bridge in the foreground, possibly the same structure depicted on folio 9 verso opposite (D21605). The hilltop buildings are marginally more defined in the lower views, with the bottom vista broadening out to encompass more of the surrounding landscape. The shaded forms and markings sectioned off in the upper-right panel are difficult to interpret.