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

Finberg later annotated his 1909 Inventory entry (‘Trent Cathedral’), albeit only to confirm the subject in the same words.1 The view, drawn with the page turned horizontally, is from the north-west corner of the square, with the north side of the Romanesque cathedral on the right and the castellated Palazzo Pretorio at right-angles to it, albeit presented in near-elevation in this laterally compressed panorama. The low Renaissance or Baroque range shown between the tall Torre Civica and the north transept of the cathedral does not survive, leaving the less regular west front of the medieval palace facing the square directly. The cathedral appears little changed, apart from the replacement of the shallow dome and lantern over the octagonal crossing tower with a low segmental roof.

The Baroque dome of the Annunziata Church, on what is now the Via Rodolfo Belenzani, is just off the north side of the square at the far left, while the elaborate multi-stage fountain of Neptune still dominates its centre. The view seems to have been made over a slighter architectural study, as an arch and column intrude at the top right and partially overlap with the cathedral. There is a nearby Trento street scene on folio 76 verso opposite (D31745), and there is a distant prospect of the city on folio 78 recto (D31748); otherwise, there are several views towards the other end of the sketchbook; see under folio 37 recto (D31669).

Technical notes:

For more on this sketchbook’s paper, see the technical notes to its Introduction.1