Joseph Mallord William Turner

The drawing was made with the page turned horizontally. It falls within the long sequence of sketches, mostly characterised as ‘Mountains’ by Finberg between folios 7 recto and 76 recto (D32275–D32411);1 see the sketchbook’s Introduction for the likely overall route between Bregenz and Venice.2 Presumably because the main sequence of Venetian views does not begin until folio 76 verso (D32412), Finberg called this a ‘River scene, with boats’,3 but it probably shows boats moored off a Venice waterfront, perhaps along the Canale della Giudecca. There are hints of a distant spire towards the left and a dome at the right.

This page would not be entirely isolated as a Venice view using up spare pages; folio 17 verso (D32296) shows a detailed views of the church of Santa Maria della Salute and its surroundings on the Grand Canal.