Joseph Mallord William Turner

Florence from the South, with the City Walls

1819

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Rome and Florence Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 113 × 189 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D16571
Turner Bequest CXCI 51

Catalogue entry

Finberg suggested that this view of Florence was taken from the Boboli Gardens, but in fact Turner’s viewpoint must have been further east, from the hill to the south of the Arno, between Forte Belvedere and San Miniato al Monte (near present-day Via dell’Erta Canina). Visible from left to right in the centre are the silhouettes of the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio, the dome of San Lorenzo, and the campanile and dome of the Duomo, whilst following the slope of the hill across the foreground is the line of the old city walls leading from Porta San Niccolò to Forte Belvedere. Related views can be seen on folio 51 verso–52 (D16572–D16573).

Nicola Moorby
December 2010

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