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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Second Italian Tour 1828-9 > Marseilles to Genoa Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Savona, from the West, with the Fortezza del Priamar; the Fortresses of San Giacomo and Santo Stefano in Vado, from the North 1828

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Savona, from the West, with the Fortezza del Priamar; the Fortresses of San Giacomo and Santo Stefano in Vado, from the North’ 1828
Folio 70 Verso:
Savona, from the West, with the Fortezza del Priamar; the Fortresses of San Giacomo and Santo Stefano in Vado, from the North 1828
D21270
Turner Bequest CCXXXI 70a
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 174 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘Fort Vado’ towards bottom centre, ‘1’ towards bottom left, and ‘2’, centre right, all upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page, turned horizontally both ways, contains two sketches. The first represents a view of Savona from the west, with the Fortezza del Priamar in the centre of the composition. On the right Turner has included a boat with two lateen sails, typical of sailing vessels in this part of the Mediterranean. For further sketches of Savona see folios 68 recto–70 recto (D21265–D21269).
The second (outer) sketch is inverted relative to the first, and as Turner’s inscription ‘Fort Vado’ along the edge suggests, depicts the bay of Vado (present-day Vado Ligure), to the west of Savona. The town is notable for its historic fortresses on the hill to the east: the Forte San Giacomo, at the foot of the hill on the left, and the Forte di Santo Stefano on the summit beyond. Turner has also annotated the drawing ‘1’, with the adjacent study to its left labelled ‘2’. This numbering suggests that the two sketches are connected, with the details on the left representing the church of San Giovanni Battista in Vado. For another sketch of Vado, see folio 69 verso (D21268).

Nicola Moorby
April 2017

Revised by Hannah Kaspar
November 2024

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Savona, from the West, with the Fortezza del Priamar; the Fortresses of San Giacomo and Santo Stefano in Vado, from the North 1828’, catalogue entry, April 2017, revised by Hannah Kaspar, November 2024, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2025, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/savona-from-the-west-with-the-fortezza-del-priamar-the-fortresses-of-san-giacomo-and-santo-r1209948, accessed 01 September 2025.