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 within the Val Divedro, near Varzo 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?View within the Val Divedro, near Varzo’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 22 Verso:
?View within the Val Divedro, near Varzo 1819
D16931
Turner Bequest CXCIV 22 a
Pencil and grey watercolour wash on white wove paper, 121 x 195 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The precise location of this sketch is currently unidentified although it is likely to depict a view within the Val Divedro (Valley of Divedra), near the town of Varzo. Turner passed through en route from the Simplon Pass on his return journey to Italy via Crevoladossola. The dark opening within the steep slopes to the left of the composition may represent a tunnel or gallery carved through the rock.
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 within the Val Divedro, near Varzo 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-within-the-val-divedro-near-varzo-r1132806, accessed 22 September 2024.