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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > First Italian Tour 1819-20 > Passage of the Simplon Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner View of the Gondo Ravine 1819

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘View of the Gondo Ravine’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 18 Recto:
View of the Gondo Ravine 1819
D16924
Turner Bequest CXCIV 18
Pencil and grey watercolour wash on white wove paper, 121 x 195 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘18’, bottom left, descending left-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CXCIV 18’ bottom left, descending left-hand edge
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The narrow mountainous passage visible in this view is the Gondo Ravine (Gondoschlucht), a steep gorge near the Swiss/Italian border on the route to the Simplon Pass between Domodossola and Brig. A small house and bridge can be seen at the foot of the ravine, near the centre of the composition.
For a general discussion of Turner’s expedition to the Simplon Pass see the introduction to the sketchbook.

Nicola Moorby
May 2011

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘View of the Gondo Ravine 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2011, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-view-of-the-gondo-ravine-r1132799, accessed 20 April 2024.