Joseph Mallord William Turner

Finberg subsequently annotated his 1909 Inventory entry (‘Boats, with the Bridge of Sighs in distance’): ‘“Palazzo S. Marco” (?Pal. d. Patriarcato) [‘Scuola de S Marco.’ inserted below, and ‘on left.’ above] looking along Rio to B. of Sighs?’. Although he crossed out the reference to the bridge and inserted other suggestions above and below, he cancelled these out in turn and ticked his original suggestion.1 The Turner scholar C.F. Bell wrote in another copy: ‘Ponte della Paglia in the foreground’.2 However, Bell marked Finberg’s 1930 In Venice with Turner (‘Looking up the Rio di Palazzo, from the Trevisan palace ...’): ‘Ponte Canonica in foreground’.3

The view is inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, looking south along the Rio de Palazzo (or de Canonica), running down the eastern side of the Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace). The viewpoint appears to be north of the pedestrian Ponte dei Consorzi. The Ponte della Canonica is further towards the elevated Bridge of Sighs, while the Ponte della Paglia is on the far side of the latter from this direction.

For other studies of boats in this sketchbook, see under folio 37 recto (D14383), and for other drawings made in the vicinity of the Doge’s Palace and an overview of Turner’s coverage of Venice, see the sketchbook’s Introduction. The drawings on folios 37 verso–39 verso (D14384–D14388) are all of a similarly slight character, with more attention paid to the small craft than their settings.