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

Turner passed through Lodi in the second week of January 1829, as he travelled north-west towards Milan. The subject of this study is the twelfth-century cathedral in central Lodi, known as the Basilica Cathedral of Vergine Assunta. Swiftly outlined is the cathedral’s Romanesque façade with a central rose window, a Gothic arched entrance, and a belltower with a clock to the right, a later addition from the mid sixteenth century. Turner’s vantage point was from the present-day Piazza della Vittoria, formerly known as the Piazza Maggiore, looking north-east towards the cathedral. Either side of the cathedral are further arcaded buildings around the square. A variant study of the same subject appears on folio 6 recto (D21674).