Joseph Mallord William Turner

This sketch depicts a view of Piazza Castello, the most important square in the historic city of Turin. Turner’s viewpoint is the south-west corner of the piazza looking east and dominating the centre of the composition is the outline silhouette of the Palazzo Madama, a castle with a fifteenth-century rear and eighteenth-century front. A small part of the composition spills over onto the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 33 verso (D14209; Turner Bequest CLXXIV 32a). The artist seems to have been very interested in the architecture of the Palazzo Madama because he made a number of drawings and notes on its decoration and proportions. For a more detailed study and description see folio 33 (D14208; Turner Bequest CLXXIV 32).

For a list of further sketches of Turin see folio 12 (D14166; Turner Bequest CLXXIV 11).