This study is one of three preparatory drawings that Turner made for the vignette
Hannibal Passing the Alps (see Tate
D27666; Turner Bequest CCLXXX 149), which appeared as the head-piece to the section entitled ‘The Alps’ in Rogers’s
Italy.
1 The two additional studies are Tate
D27523; Turner Bequest CCLXXX 6 and Tate
D27668; Turner Bequest CCLXXX 151.
This unfinished Alpine landscape shows the same steep cliffs and snow-capped mountains that appear in the final version of
Hannibal Passing the Alps. Hannibal’s army appears in the foreground and follows a swooping line toward the shadowy, circular passageway on the left side of the composition. Although the topographical location of this study remains uncertain, this passageway and the path leading up to it bear a strong resemblance to the Simplon Pass, as Finberg suggests in his catalogue of Turner’s works on paper.
2 It would have been an appropriate subject for ‘The Alps’ since Rogers does make specific reference to the newly-built Simplon pass in this section of
Italy:
Now the scene is changed;
And o’er the Simplon, o’er the Splugen winds
A path of pleasure. Like a silver zone
Flung about carelessly, it shines afar,
Catching the eye in many a broken link,
In many a turn and traverse as it glides;
And oft above and oft below appears,
Seen o’er the wall by him who journies up,
As tho’ it were another, thro’ the wild
Leading along he knows not whence or whither.
Yet thro’ its fairy-course, go where it will,
The torrent stops it not, the rugged rock
Opens and lets it in; and on it runs,
Winning its easy way from clime to clime
Thro’ glens locked up before.
(Italy, p.30)
Hannibal Passing the Alps is one of a number of
Italy vignettes for which Turner produced preliminary studies that differ significantly from the design that was eventually engraved for publication. For other examples, see
Venice (Tate
D27710; CCLXXX 193),
Florence (Tate
D27673; CCLXXX 156) and
Paestum (Tate
D27665; CCLXXX 148). In all cases, it is clear that Turner was familiar with the content of Rogers’s poem and gave considerable thought to the process of selecting verses for illustration.
