With the page turned horizontally, Turner focuses on a slightly but assuredly rendered sailing boat (or boats) at the centre, flanked by a distant tower on the left and a dome beside what appears to be a slim spire on the right.
These are perhaps respectively the campanile of San Marco (St Mark’s), with slight indications of the scaffolding then in place around its spire (see the tour Introduction) and the outline of the Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) below, and the church of San Giorgio Maggiore, both frequently recorded in greater detail elsewhere in this sketchbook and in many other drawings. This would suggest a viewpoint on the west side of the Bacino, ranging north-east and south-east to encompass a much simplified and laterally compressed view.
The tower of St Mark’s is definitely shown on folio 29 recto opposite (
D31846).
Matthew Imms
September 2018
