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

There are three main views, made with the page turned vertically and inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation. At the top is half of a carefully rendered valley scene, with trees and perhaps a distant spire; the prospect is continued towards even higher peaks across folio 80 recto opposite (D31752). The other two views, each continued briefly opposite, are less detailed. 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.

It is unclear whether what appears to be a castle is in the foreground of the middle view or a separate detail, nor whether the nearby note, possibly ‘Levico’, refers to it. If so, it may be the ruined Castel Selva, near Levico Terme, as apparently shown in one of the sketches on folio 20 verso (D31636), labelled ‘Castle near Levico’; for Levico Terme itself, see folio 20 recto (D31635).

The conical tower or towers on the opposite page do not seem to be related.