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

This is one of twenty-eight sketches of mountain scenes (some including castles and other buildings) on the rectos and versos of sixteen pieces of grey paper torn carefully from a single sheet; they were likely all made in the vicinity of Innsbruck within a short period around 23 September 1833, when Turner was travelling back from Venice towards the end of his tour, as discussed in the Introduction to the present subsection. The full date is inscribed among other notes on the recto (D33896), which shows a similar scene.

There are touches of white chalk on or around the distant peaks, and reflections in the waters of a lake or river towards the bottom right, from the pale disk of what is likely the gibbous moon low over the skyline; it had reached its first quarter on 20 September and would be full on the 29th.1 Turner had drawn it as a waxing crescent in Venice about a week before; see the Introduction to the Venice sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest CCCXIV). The moon is shown in a similar way in several other sketches, suggesting they may have been made on the same occasion (D33855, D33857–D33862, D33866; CCCXLI 164, 165v–168, 170v).

Technical notes:

There are slight abrasions at the corners, presumably from the sheet’s having formerly been mounted to display the recto, although no formal exhibition history is recorded.