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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Second Italian Tour 1828-9 > Genoa and Florence Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Harbour, with Sailing Vessels 1828

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Harbour, with Sailing Vessels’ 1828
Folio 12 Recto:
The Port of Genoa, with Sailing Vessels and La Lanterna Lighthouse 1828
D21434
Turner Bequest CCXXXIII 12
Pencil on white lined wove paper, 96 x 144 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘12’ (smudged) bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCXXXIII – 12’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the sketchbook turned horizontally, Turner executed two coastal views of Genoa across the upper and lower sections of this page. Their rough appearance suggests he may have been sketching from a boat in the harbour. The lower view terminates to the right with the city’s sixteenth-century lighthouse, La Lanterna, which marks the western side of the port entrance.1 This landmark appears elsewhere in the sketchbook on folios 13 recto, 14 recto, 15 verso and 16 verso (D21436, D21438, D21441, D21443). Three large sailing vessels are shown in the port, and the view continues to the left with a smaller tower and a stretch of coastline.
The upper view is shakier in execution and more difficult to identify, although it possibly depicts the city’s eastern Carignano district, with the arches of the Carignano bridge and possibly the Church of Santa Maria Assunta to the far right.
For a general commentary on Turner’s first visit to Genoa in 1828, together with a list of relevant works in the sketchbook, see under folio 6 verso (D21423).
1
‘Lanterna’, Visit Genoa, accessed 2 May 2024, https://www.visitgenoa.it/en/node/22048; ‘La Lanterna’, Lanterna di Genova, accessed 2 May 2024, https://www.lanternadigenova.com/.
Technical notes:
The page is divided by a conspicuous horizontal crease, possibly a manufacturing fault.

Hannah Kaspar
November 2024

How to cite

Hannah Kaspar, ‘The Port of Genoa, with Sailing Vessels and La Lanterna Lighthouse 1828’, catalogue entry, November 2024, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2025, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/the-port-of-genoa-with-sailing-vessels-and-la-lanterna-lighthouse-r1209974, accessed 15 April 2025.