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

Turner arrived in Turin from Milan in around mid-January 1829, before continuing his journey westwards towards the Alps. This is one of thirteen views of the city dispersed throughout the sketchbook: see under folio 7 recto (D21676) for a list of relevant works.

As identified in Finberg’s 1909 Inventory of the Bequest, and later by the geographer and Turner researcher Roland Courtot, this study is dominated by the Palazzo Madama, which overlooks the Piazza Castello in Turin’s historic centre.1 From the southern corner of the square, Turner looked north-east towards the side of the palace. To the left are details of Corinthian pilasters and columns, part of the Baroque frontal façade designed in the early eighteenth century by the architect Filippo Juvarra. To the right is the older part of the building, a medieval castle, with two of its four towers in view.