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 > Vatican Fragments Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies of Italian Figures 1819

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Studies of Italian Figures’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 64 Recto:
Studies of Italian Figures 1819
D15223
Turner Bequest CLXXX 63
Pencil on white wove paper, 161 x 101 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘W [?Woman]’ top left and ‘R | B | R | W’ to right of figure, far left and ‘B’ and ‘B’ to right of figure, second from left
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘63’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXX 63’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page contains quick studies of seven figures drawn from life. Although the rough nature of the sketches makes the details difficult to decipher, the men and women appear to be wearing elaborate, antiquated costumes, for example, the long soft cap and a ruff of the man in the top right-hand corner. This seems to have led Finberg to suggest that Turner was recording figures at a masquerade. The letters annotating the sketches almost certainly stand for colour notations, i.e ‘R’ indicates ‘Red’, ‘B’ for black or blue and ‘W’ for white.
Further figure studies within this sketchbook can be found on the inner front cover and on folios 6 verso, 14 verso, 15 verso, 33 verso, 69, 80, 80 verso, 82 and 82 verso (D40619, D15114, D15130, D15132, D15167, D15228, D15245, D15246, D15249 and D15250; Turner Bequest CLXXX 5a, 13a, 14a, 32a, 68, 79, 79a, 81 and 81a).
Verso:
Blank

Nicola Moorby
December 2009

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Studies of Italian Figures 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2009, 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-studies-of-italian-figures-r1139635, accessed 19 September 2024.