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

Turner oriented the sketchbook vertically to produce these two rough studies of buildings and fortifications. The comparatively detailed upper view features a crenellated structure to the left; a tower to the right; arches or a bridge in the foreground; and distant mountain slopes. More cursory in execution, the lower view includes an arched gateway and a building to the right. The rough appearance of these views suggests Turner may have been sketching from a moving carriage. Their subject remains to be identified, although he was likely travelling through Umbria, Marche or Emilia-Romagna.