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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Sori [Turner] 1828

Folio 22 Verso:
Sori, with the Church of Santa Margherita di Antiochia 1828
D21455
Turner Bequest CCXXXIII 22a
Pencil on white lined wove paper, 144 x 96 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘Sory’ towards top left
Inscribed in red ink ‘[...]’ top right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The two views on this page are inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation. Their location is identified by Turner’s top-left inscription ‘Sory’, a misspelling of Sori, a Ligurian coastal town located south-east of Genoa. The same erroneous spelling appears on folio 20 verso (D21451). Both views are dominated by the baroque belltower of the town’s eighteenth-century church, Santa Margherita di Antiochia. For the upper study, the artist’s viewpoint is likely from the beach, looking north-west. The distant tower to the left is possibly the Torre di Pontelongo, demolished in the early twentieth century and replaced with the Cirla castle. The lower sketch appears to document Turner’s departure from the town, recording the same view from a distant and more elevated perspective, and encompassing more of the steep, mountainous coastline.
Further views identified as Sori can be seen on folios 22 recto and 23 recto (D21454, D21456).

Hannah Kaspar
November 2024

How to cite

Hannah Kaspar, ‘Sori, with the Church of Santa Margherita di Antiochia 1828’, catalogue entry, 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/sori-with-the-church-of-santa-margherita-di-antiochia-r1209995, accessed 21 July 2025.