J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

With the page turned horizontally, there are two similar landscapes, one above the other. The relatively considered sketch across the lower (outer) half was perhaps drawn first, with the spire of a building, probably a church, in the foreground and a broad mountain valley (possibly with a lake) beyond. The looser sketch above, perhaps with a bridge in the foreground of another mountain scene, is flanked to left and right by continuations from other rapidly rendered views on folio 26 verso opposite (D31648), drawn with the book turned vertically.

Over half of the pages in this book comprise relatively slight sketches from Turner’s homeward route north through the valleys of the Alps via Trento, Bolzano (Bozen) and Innsbruck. As set out in the Introduction, although his overall itinerary is clear from many identified subjects, they were are not drawn in a single sequence, making the rugged scenes between them difficult to place.