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

This sketch depicts a view within the Swiss Alps near the Simplon Pass, to which Turner made an excursion from Italy in the late summer of 1819. The grey uneven ground of the washed paper makes the pencil drawing difficult to see and it is not known whether the scene dates from the outward or return trip. The artist has employed scratching-out in order to create passages of white describing the snow-topped peaks to the right.

For a general discussion of Turner’s expedition to the Simplon Pass see the introduction to the sketchbook.