These two sheets come from one of the large sketchbooks that Turner used during his first tour of Italy in 1819. Occasionally he made studies from the same spot at different times of day, exploring the way light and shadow changed the appearance of his subject. In the upper he is as much interested in the distant rainclouds brooding over the Bay of Naples as in his immediate subject, the Castel dell'Ovo; all other topographical features are omitted.
Gallery label, August 2004
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