The Turner scholar C.F. Bell annotated Finberg’s 1909
Inventory entry (‘Street scene, with Campanile of S. Francesco on the right’): ‘Piazza Malpighi looking South’.
1 The viewpoint is towards the north end of the piazza, looking south-west. Above to the right are the heavy buttresses of the apsidal east end of the church of San Francesco; oddly, Turner has omitted the slimmer bell tower attached directly to the south transept of the church which should be visible just to the right of the substantial campanile he does show.
The low arcade in the right foreground does not survive; three free-standing Gothic pyramidal Glossatori tombs can now be seen there among the tall poplars which now partly obscure the church. The arcaded range at the centre has been altered or rebuilt, and now lacks an arched portico. Far beyond the brick and stone Ionic column supporting a statue of the Immaculate Conception is the Neo-Classical Villa Aldini on the crest of the hill, aligned with the Via Nosadella.
For Cecilia Powell’s general comments on Turner’s views of Bologna from outside the city’s centre (folios 32 verso–39 recto;
D14545–D14558; Turner Bequest CLXXVI 28a–35), see under
D14545;
2 for general remarks on Bologna and Turner’s numerous views on adjacent pages, see under folio 24 recto (
D14532).
