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 > Return from Italy Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Two Sketches; One of Parma from the River 1820

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Two Sketches; One of Parma from the River’ 1820
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 6 Recto:
Two Sketches; One of Parma from the River 1820
D16651
Turner Bequest CXCII 6
Pencil on white wove paper, 98 x 128 mm
Inscribed by the artist ‘walls’ top right, within sketch
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘6’ top right, ascending right-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CXCII 6’ top right, ascending right-hand edge
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page contains two distinct sketches. The main study is a landscape subject and represents a view of the city of Parma seen from the river. Turner’s viewpoint appears to be the west bank of the river near the Ponte Verdi (possibly indicated in the centre of the composition), looking east towards the opposite side. Several buildings are silhouetted against the horizon including, from left to right: the bell-tower of the Duomo, the Palazzo della Pilotta (centre, on the riverbank) and the Palazzo del Governatore. An alternative river view can be seen on folios 6 verso–7 (D16652–D16653). For further sketches of Parma see folio 5 verso (D16650).
There is also a second smaller drawing situated beneath the bottom right-hand corner of the larger study which Turner has squared off with pencil lines. The sketch is too rough to be identified.

Nicola Moorby
April 2013

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Two Sketches; One of Parma from the River 1820 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, August 2013, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-two-sketches-one-of-parma-from-the-river-r1142550, accessed 26 April 2024.