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

As identified by Turner’s upper inscription ‘S^t Quirico’, this page contains four variant views of San Quirico d’Orcia. Located south-east of Siena in the Val d’Orcia region of southern Tuscany, this medieval village is a major stop along the Via Francigena pilgrimage route, which Turner followed for much of his journey from Florence to Rome.1 On the recto (D21628) is a distant view of San Quirico d’Orcia, likely viewed on the approach to the village.

The upper and centre-left views depict the Collegiate of Santi Quirico and Giulitta at the centre of the village, with its distinctive eighteenth-century belltower. The roughly defined structure to the right is likely a section of the medieval walls, while the small building in the bottom-left corner is possibly the fourteenth-century Chapel Vitaleta, perched on a hill overlooking San Quirico d’Orcia.