Joseph Mallord William Turner

The sketch on this page is part of a panoramic 180-degree view of the Gulf of Salerno, a stretch of coastline approximately thirty miles south-east of Naples. The composition continues on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 88 (D16079; Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 86), but this side represents the vista looking west in the direction of Vietri sul Mare with the port and harbour of Salerno. Visible on the right-hand side is the dome of the fourteenth-century church, the Chiesa della Santissima Annunziata, near Porta Catena, whilst to the left is the old Mole which sheltered the shipping within the bay. Rising in the distance beyond is the rugged, mountainous landscape which characterises the length of the Amalfi coast. For similar views of the Bay of Salerno see folios 38 and 39 (D15982 and D15984; Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 36 and 37).