Joseph Mallord William Turner

Finberg later annotated his basic 1909 Inventory entry (‘Church and Campanile’): ‘Frari’.1 The Turner scholar C.F. Bell similarly marked another copy.2 The view is east from the narrow passageway at the south-east corner of the church of San Rocco, framing the view on the left, and the imposing brick-built Frari church (the Basilica of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari) across the narrow Campo San Rocco.

Turner’s viewpoint was beside or within the imposing doorway of the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, and there are perhaps hints of the columns on its façade at the right. Evidence of his exploring Venice away from the Grand Canal and the well-known San Marco (St Mark’s) and waterfront settings are relatively uncommon, and Ian Warrell has suggested that on this occasion he was visiting the Scuola’s renowned cycle of paintings by Tintoretto and other Venetian masters.3 See also folio 37 recto opposite (D31862), where another aspect of the building is shown.