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 > Genoa and Florence Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Genoa Harbour 1828

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Genoa Harbour’ 1828
Folio 16 Verso:
The Port of Genoa, with La Lanterna Lighthouse and a Sailing Vessel 1828
D21443
Turner Bequest CCXXXIII 16a
Pencil on white lined wove paper, 96 x 144 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner ‘Noli’ top right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This slight study of the port of Genoa features to the left its foremost landmark, La Lanterna.1 Marking the western side of the port entrance, this sixteenth-century lighthouse appears repeatedly in the present sketchbook: see also folios 12 recto, 13 recto, 14 recto and 15 verso (D21434, D21436, D21438, D21441). The coastal topography to the right is animated with a large sailing vessel, and a smaller tower appears in the foreground to the left, since demolished. The top-right corner contains a slight topographical detail, which Turner has labelled ‘Noli’, a coastal village south-west of Genoa.
For a general commentary on Turner’s first visit to Genoa in 1828, together with a list of relevant works in the sketchbook, see under folio 6 verso (D21423).

Hannah Kaspar
November 2024

1
‘Lanterna’, Visit Genoa, accessed 2 May 2024, https://www.visitgenoa.it/en/node/22048; ‘La Lanterna’, Lanterna di Genova, accessed 2 May 2024, https://www.lanternadigenova.com/.

How to cite

Hannah Kaspar, ‘The Port of Genoa, with La Lanterna Lighthouse and a Sailing Vessel 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/the-port-of-genoa-with-la-lanterna-lighthouse-and-a-sailing-vessel-r1209983, accessed 22 July 2025.