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

As established by Cecilia Powell,1 this as a view across the rooftops of Bolzano (Bozen), the capital of Alto Adige province (otherwise Südtirol or South Tyrol), now in northern Italy but then under Austrian rule. Turner paused here on his meandering route south-eastwards towards Venice. This is a loose, relatively undeveloped variant; its immediate counterpart, Tate D36152 (Turner Bequest CCCLXIV 295), is considerably more advanced in its mountainous background and architectural details, while effectively remaining a study.

As Powell has observed, the two were likely ‘both drawn and coloured in [Turner’s] lodgings, for these provided him with as fine a view of the town itself and the Dolomites as any artist could desire’.2 The tower belongs to the cathedral, and additional details in the other version suggests that the view is to the south-south-east, with the Colle (Kohlern) mountain on the left; see under D36152 for more detailed discussion. Also grouped here are three similar sheets with colour studies of valley castles near the city (D36154–D36156; Turner Bequest CCCLXIV 297–299), with related pencil outlines on the versos (respectively D40188, showing Bregenz, at an earlier stage of this route; and D40177–D40178).

Originally described as showing a ‘Mountain pass, with tower’,3 this sheet had nevertheless been included in the ‘Venice: Miscellaneous. (b) Grey Paper’ section of Finberg’s 1909 Inventory, albeit among a handful (Tate D32185–D32191; Turner Bequest CCCXVII 6–12) of which he noted ‘some – probably all ... are not Venetian subjects’, but likely ‘done at the same time, and may therefore help to throw light on Turner’s movements.’4 He later annotated his entry: ‘Query Splugen. See Ruskin’s dg. – looking other way’.5 This is an ingenious but spurious reference to the well-known 1842 watercolour of The Splügen Pass (private collection),6 once owned by John Ruskin, which features a similar tower on a crag towards the left; see also its ‘sample study’ (Tate D36125; Turner Bequest CCCLXIV 277). In 1930 Finberg noted that ‘some’ of the CCCXVII 6–12 sequence ‘may have been made in the Tyrol on the way to or from Venice’.7 Other than the present sheet and D32191, which may show the Venetian Lagoon, they have since been identified as German subjects, and are addressed in the parallel subsection covering the return leg of the 1840 tour.

As he returned from Venice in 1833, Turner had made numerous drawings of the mountains and castles in the Bolzano area; see the Introduction to that year’s Venice up to Trento sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest CCCXII).

Technical notes:

There is no pencil work. Thick strokes of white gouache suggest sunlight breaking through an overcast sky. A finger print on the tower shows where the artist lifted or modified excess colour. Cecilia Powell has observed that the ‘blues and plum-pinks’ used here and in D36152 (see above), ‘are common in Turner’s views of Venice on grey paper painted shortly afterwards.’1

Powell has noted this as one of the many sheets of grey 1829 Bally, Ellen and Steart paper used on Turner’s 1840 tour, neatly torn as eighths or sixteenths of the overall sheet, with dimensions of around 190 x 280 or 140 x 190 mm, and variously worked with pencil, watercolour and gouache; see the technical notes in the overall Introduction for others.2

Verso:

Blank; inscribed in pencil ‘CCCXVII’ and stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram bottom right.