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 > Turin, Como, Lugarno, Maggiore ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Three Sketches of Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Three Sketches of Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 79 Recto:
?Three Sketches of Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore 1819
D14296
Turner Bequest CLXXIV 78
Pencil on white wove paper, 186 x 111 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘78’ top left, ascending left-hand edge and ‘284’ top right, ascending right-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CLXXIV 78’ top right, ascending right-hand edge
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The subjects of the three sketches on this page have not been conclusively identified although they are likely to depict views within the famous terraced gardens of Isola Bella on Lake Maggiore. In the top left and bottom right-hand corners are small studies containing details of architectural features, while in the centre of the sheet is a larger but very rough drawing of some trees.
Turner explored the Isola Bella both from the water and on foot and made a series of sketches of the palace and its grounds. For a more detailed discussion see folio 77 verso (D14293; Turner Bequest CLXXIV 76a).

Nicola Moorby
January 2013

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘?Three Sketches of Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, January 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-three-sketches-of-isola-bella-lake-maggiore-r1142817, accessed 23 April 2024.