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

The view is to the south-west along the Grand Canal (not far from its north-western entrance from the Lagoon), from about where the Ponte degli Scalzi now crosses the Grand Canal near the church of the same dedication on the right-hand side;1 beyond on that northern side is the Fondamenta Santa Lucia, shown open here where the entrance front of the railway station is now set back.

No individual buildings are identifiable in the left foreground, but the historic façades of the Palazzo Adoldo and Foscari-Contarini still survive there, with arches and balconies consistent with Turner’s calligraphic rendering of characteristic details at the left. Beyond, the main landmark, the Baroque church of San Simeone Piccolo (otherwise Santi Simeone e Giuda), is recognisable, albeit not shown particularly accurately; its dome should be more hemispherical and set back rather further from the pediment, perhaps indicating that the whole scene was evoked from memory and imagination.2 John Ruskin still recognised the structure, which he heartily disliked in reality,3 nevertheless calling this a ‘noble sketch; injured by some change which has taken place in the coarse dark touches on the extreme left’4 (see the technical notes below).

During all three Venice visits Turner had recorded the church in various pencil views: in the 1819 Milan to Venice sketchbook (Tate D14475, D14478; Turner Bequest CLXXV 83a, 85); in the 1833 Venice book (D32076, D32080, D32087; CCCXIV 79a, 81a, 85a);5 and in the 1840 Venice and Botzen book (D31855–D31856; CCCXIII 33a, 34). Only the very last of these drawings, contemporary with this watercolour, was made looking in the same direction, where two variations show the dome on the left, as well as the canal front of the Scalzi on the right; potentially the page could have served as a basic reference in the development of the present composition. Ian Warrell has also suggested this as one of numerous subjects showing Turner’s awareness of engravings by Antonio Visentini (1688–1782) after the celebrated Venetian paintings of Canaletto (1697–1768);6 he has compared and contrasted Turner’s treatment here with that of Canaletto’s large, typically highly finished 1738 painting The Upper Reach of the Grand Canal with San Simeone Piccolo, with its similar viewpoint and clear afternoon light, which had entered London’s National Gallery collection in 1838.7

The rather different, dreamlike atmosphere here is heightened by the unresolved perspective, almost as if looking uphill along the canal (or from a height consistent with the apex of the later bridge), especially given the exaggerated recession of the rooflines on the right, combined with the uncertainties of quite where the waterline lies and where the buildings end and their reflections begin in the half-light. Lindsay Stainton has described it as a ‘comparatively highly finished sheet from the roll sketchbook, of the type that Turner might have considered developing into a finished watercolour’.8 The liberties taken with the topography might potentially have precluded its acceptance by conventional patrons.

Warrell has noted that about half the views associated with this sketchbook depict the ‘long canyon of palaces’ winding north and south of the Rialto Bridge along the ‘central part’ of the Grand Canal: D32117–D32119, D32123, D32131, D32132, D32134–D32137 (Turner Bequest CCCXV 1, 2, 3, 7, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21).9 In addition, this page, D32121 and D32122 (CCCXV 5, 6) show scenes near its north-west and south-east ends, while D32178 (CCCXVI 41) is a central subject now also linked to the book. For sites beyond the Grand Canal, see the sketchbook’s Introduction.

Technical notes:

Ian Warrell has noted that the conspicuous architectural details at the left are probably in ‘iron gall ink’ which has ‘seeped into the paper, possibly arresting any further penwork Turner may have intended’.1

The possible presence of the ‘J Whatman | 1834’ watermark2 as seen on other leaves from this book is unconfirmed at time of writing owing to the work’s being on display.

Verso:

Blank; inscribed in pencil ‘5’ below centre; inscribed by John Ruskin in pencil ‘JR’ bottom left; stamped in black with Turner Bequest monogram over ‘CCCXV – 8’ towards bottom left; inscribed in pencil ‘N.G. 64’ bottom centre (rubbed) and ‘CCCXV. 8’ towards bottom right.