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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > First Italian Tour 1819-20 > Milan to Venice Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Boats on the Grand Canal, Venice, with the Rialto Bridge in the Distance 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Boats on the Grand Canal, Venice, with the Rialto Bridge in the Distance’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 79 Verso:
Boats on the Grand Canal, Venice, with the Rialto Bridge in the Distance 1819
D14467
Turner Bequest CLXXV 79a
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 185 mm
Partial watermark ‘lee | 13’
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, the view is north-east along the Grand Canal from an indeterminate viewpoint; Turner’s focus is on the boats and figures in the foreground, possibly moored on the north side of the canal. The Rialto Bridge is in the distance on the left, with the prominent chimneys of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi beyond, and the campanile of San Bartolomeo to the right, very loosely placed with its onion dome shown in two or even three positions.
For other drawings made in the vicinity and an overview of Turner’s coverage of Venice, see the sketchbook’s Introduction.

Matthew Imms
March 2017

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Boats on the Grand Canal, Venice, with the Rialto Bridge in the Distance 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2017, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, July 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-boats-on-the-grand-canal-venice-with-the-rialto-bridge-in-r1186579, accessed 23 April 2024.