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 > Return from Italy Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Interior of the Duomo, Milan 1820

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Interior of the Duomo, Milan’ 1820
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 29 Recto:
Interior of the Duomo, Milan 1820
D16695
Turner Bequest CXCII 28
Pencil on white wove paper, 128 x 98 mm

Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘conf’ and ‘Light’ within sketch
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘28’ top left, inverted
Stamped in black ‘CXCII 28’ top left, inverted
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This sketch represents a view of the interior of the Duomo (cathedral) of Milan. Turner has adopted an unusual viewpoint looking down the nave which reflects his interest in complex perspective. The visual spectacle of receding tall Gothic arches is similar to that within two watercolour studies in the Naples: Rome C. Studies sketchbook (Tate D16140 and D16141; Turner Bequest CLXXVII 52 and 53). For further interior views of the Duomo see folio 28 verso (D16694), while for other drawings featuring Milanese subjects see the introduction to the sketchbook.

Nicola Moorby
April 2013

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Interior of the Duomo, Milan 1820 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2013, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, August 2013, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-interior-of-the-duomo-milan-r1142595, accessed 06 June 2026.