Joseph Mallord William Turner The Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal, Venice, with the Fondaco dei Tedeschi Beyond 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 79 Recto:
The Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal, Venice, with the Fondaco dei Tedeschi Beyond 1819
D14466
Turner Bequest CLXXV 79
Turner Bequest CLXXV 79
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 185 mm
Partial watermark ‘lee | 13’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Yell’ and ‘Red’ towards bottom left, on boat
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘79’ bottom left, upside down and ‘300’ top left, upside down
Stamped in black ‘CLXXV 79’ top left, upside down
Partial watermark ‘lee | 13’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Yell’ and ‘Red’ towards bottom left, on boat
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘79’ bottom left, upside down and ‘300’ top left, upside down
Stamped in black ‘CLXXV 79’ top left, upside down
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Exhibition history
1974
Turner 1775–1851, Royal Academy, London, November 1974–March 1975 (208, as ‘Venice: The Rialto Bridge’).
References
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.I, p.515, CLXXV 79, as ‘Ponte di Rialto, with Fondaco de’ Tedeschi and other buildings seen through its arch’.
1930
A.J. Finberg, In Venice with Turner, London 1930, p.166, as ‘Part of the Rialto, with the Riva del Carbon, from the Riva del Vin. “Fish Market.”’.
1974
Martin Butlin in Butlin, Andrew Wilton and John Gage, Turner 1775–1851, exhibition catalogue, Royal Academy, London 1974, p.86 no.208, as ‘Venice: the Rialto Bridge’.
1974
Gerald Wilkinson, The Sketches of Turner, R.A. 1802–20: Genius of the Romantic, London 1974, reproduced p.182, as ‘Rialto Bridge’.
1984
Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984, p.152 under no.245.
1988
Barbara Dawson, Turner in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin 1988, p.105, fig.38, as ‘View of the Rialto Bridge with Fondacio de’ Tedeschi and other buildings seen through its arch’.
2008
James Hamilton, ‘Turner e l’Italia’ in Hamilton, Nicola Moorby, Christopher Baker and others, Turner e l’Italia, exhibition catalogue, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara 2008, p.42, fig.22 (colour), as ‘Il ponte di Rialto vista del sud’.
2009
James Hamilton, ‘Turner’s Route to Rome’ in Hamilton, Nicola Moorby, Christopher Baker and others, Turner & Italy, exhibition catalogue, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh 2009, p.40, pl.42 (colour), as ‘The Rialto Bridge from the South’.
2012
Niamh Mac Nally in Anne Hodge and Mac Nally, The Works of J.M.W. Turner at the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin 2012, fig.44, as ‘The Rialto Bridge from the South’.
The viewpoint is below the north end of the south-west side of the bridge, looking diagonally eastwards through its single arch to the waterfront arcade of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi.
The immediate study of the bridge peters out above the high-relief stone angel at the top left, merging with a separate study, on a smaller scale, of the upper stages and roofline of the buildings on the Riva del Ferro shown on the opposite page, with the campanile of San Bartolomeo rising just beyond to the south-east. James Hamilton has described how Turner ‘reveals the paradoxical nature of Venice: its wide-open skies, its generous stretches of water, and its welcoming urban vistas which can so suddenly close down to appear claustrophobic and frightening’, using this ‘dramatic drawing’ as an example.2
The immediate study of the bridge peters out above the high-relief stone angel at the top left, merging with a separate study, on a smaller scale, of the upper stages and roofline of the buildings on the Riva del Ferro shown on the opposite page, with the campanile of San Bartolomeo rising just beyond to the south-east. James Hamilton has described how Turner ‘reveals the paradoxical nature of Venice: its wide-open skies, its generous stretches of water, and its welcoming urban vistas which can so suddenly close down to appear claustrophobic and frightening’, using this ‘dramatic drawing’ as an example.2
Although Martin Butlin3 related the overall view to the very large but unfinished painting The Rialto, Venice of about 1820 (Tate N05543),4 it shows a view under the bridge looking in the opposite direction based on the drawing on folios 80 verso–81 recto (D14469–D14470), and is discussed under those pages. The same applies to an unfinished watercolour (National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin)5 showing the same view as the oil, albeit Barbara Dawson has related it to the present page.6
For other drawings made in the vicinity and an overview of Turner’s coverage of Venice, see the sketchbook’s Introduction.
Matthew Imms
March 2017
How to cite
Matthew Imms, ‘The Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal, Venice, with the Fondaco dei Tedeschi Beyond 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2017, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, July 2017, https://www