This inscription represents advice to Turner on travelling in Italy in preparation for the artist’s first tour of the country in 1819. The author is James Hakewill (1778–1843), with whom Turner collaborated on the engraved print project,
Picturesque Tour of Italy, published 1820 (see the introduction to the sketchbook). The text was first transcribed by Finberg,
1 and is repeated here with minor variations:
Genoa – | Go to the Durazzo Palace, without | the Walls for a good view of the City. | Go to the Marq. de Negre’s botanic | gardens – | In the church of St. Etienne, a famous | picture of the Stoning the Saint | See the Bridge of Carignano & Church. | Yr attendant will take you | to the principal palaces. –
Hakewill had himself visited the city in 1816–17, and several views can be found amidst his drawings from this time (British School at Rome Library), including depictions of the port from the Durazzo Villa and the Di Negro gardens.
2 He naturally recommended that Turner follow the same itinerary, travelling to Rome via the west coast. However, Turner ultimately opted for a different route, entering Italy via the Pass of Mont Cenis and proceeded first to Venice via Milan and the Italian Lakes, before continuing onto Rome via Ancona. He did not visit Genoa until his second tour of Italy in 1828, see the
Coast of Genoa sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest CCXXXII) and the
Genoa and Florence sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest CCXXXIII). Hakewill’s notes continue on folio 9 (
D13875).
