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

With the sketchbook turned horizontally, Turner made this economic study of a moored sailing vessel, possibly a schooner. The masts and rigging are reduced to their essential framework of intersecting vertical and horizontal lines. To the left, further vessels recede into the distance. The topographical surroundings are not included, although the location is possibly the old port of Genoa, following the overall itinerary embodied by the sketchbook (see the Introduction), which begins in this coastal city and ends near Livorno and Florence.

Sailing vessels are a recurring feature of the present sketchbook, a reminder of Turner’s keen interest in maritime themes: see also folios 5 recto and verso, 9 recto, 10 recto, 11 recto and verso, and 12 verso (D21420–D21421, D21428, D21430, D21432–D21433, D21435).