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

With the page turned horizontally, the upper view shows buildings on the west side of the triangular Piazza San Stefano in Belluno. The Veneto town is on the eastern side of the Dolomites, among the southern foothills of the Alps, set dramatically above the broad valley of the River Piave to its south.

The buildings here remain recognisable, particularly in terms of the arcades and balconies receding on the left south-west along what is now the Via Roma; to the right of centre is the narrow Via Carrera. Below, separated by pencil lines, is a rapid study of the church of San Stefano, on the north side of the square, drawn from a similar viewpoint and effectively a continuation from the right of the upper view. The church’s elaborate Gothic porch and relatively plain tower and spire are indicated by the briefest of notations, possibly with trees to the right where several now stand, although today’s column supporting a statue of the lion of St Mark on the near side of the trees is not evident in old photographs.

Belluno appears to be shown from the north-east on the recto (D32391), and there are numerous views in and around the town on subsequent pages, from here to folio 72 recto, and possibly on folio 73 recto (D32392–D32403, D32405). This is the most substantial group of views of a particular locality among the long sequence of sketches, mostly characterised as ‘Mountains’ by Finberg (with occasional identifications and transcriptions of the place names marked by the artist), between folios 7 recto and 76 recto (D32275–D32411).1 See the sketchbook’s Introduction for the likely overall route between Bregenz and Venice.2