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

This page contains two cursory studies of three-masted vessels with lateen sails, possibly schooners, which Turner may have sketched from another vessel out to sea. The absence of topographical detail makes a conclusive identification difficult, although the location was likely the port of Genoa, given the overall itinerary embodied by the sketchbook (see the Introduction), which begins in this coastal city and concludes near Livorno and Florence.

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, 11 verso and 12 verso (D21419–D21421, D21428, D21430, D21433, D21435).

Technical notes:

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