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

Turner’s inscription ‘Porto Fino’ in the top-right corner identifies this slight study as the Portofino promontory, located south-east of Genoa along the Ligurian coastline. A quiet fishing village with a small harbour in Turner’s time, Portofino is now a fashionable resort famed for its pastel-coloured houses. It seems Turner did not travel directly through the village, but instead bypassed it by cutting across the promontory, taking in Camogli and Ruta to the west, and San Lorenzo della Costa and Santa Margherita Ligure to the east. Here, two large sailing vessels dominate the view, rather than the landmass outlined to the left.

Sailing vessels are a recurring feature of the present sketchbook, a reminder of Turner’s keen interest in maritime themes: see also folios 4 verso, 5 recto and verso, 9 recto, 10 recto and 11 recto and verso (D21419–D21421, D21428, D21430, D21432–D21433).

Technical notes:

The page is divided by a conspicuous horizontal crease, possibly a manufacturing fault.