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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > First Italian Tour 1819-20 > Naples, Paestum and Rome Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Five Sketches in the Bay of Salerno 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Five Sketches in the Bay of Salerno’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 35 Verso:
Five Sketches in the Bay of Salerno 1819
D15977
Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 33 a
Pencil on white wove paper, 189 x 113 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘[?...]’ and ‘Bay of Salerno’ underneath top sketch, and ‘F[?irs]’ and ‘Bay of Salerno’ underneath second sketch from top, and ‘[?T...] Floor’ underneath third sketch from top
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
As Turner’s handwritten inscriptions indicate the five sketches on this page represent a series of views within the Bay of Salerno. The individual locations are difficult to identify but the artist has captured the mountainous appearance of this part of the Tyrrhenian coastline, as well as observing a number of figures in local, native dress. The rough, uncertain nature of the draughtsmanship suggests that they were executed from a moving carriage. Similar studies can be found on folios 36–36 verso (D15978–D15979; Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 34–34a).

Nicola Moorby
July 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Five Sketches in the Bay of Salerno 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-five-sketches-in-the-bay-of-salerno-r1137901, accessed 19 April 2024.