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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Northern Italy or Switzerland c.1828-44 > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Northern Italian or Swiss Scenes, with Figures in Costume c.1828-44

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Northern Italian or Swiss Scenes, with Figures in Costume’ c.1828-44
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
?Northern Italian or Swiss Scenes, with Figures in Costume c.1828–44
D34581
Turner Bequest CCCXLIV 189
Pencil on white wove paper, 225 x 189 mm
Blind-stamped with Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Inscribed in red ink ‘189’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCCXLIV 189’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There are several rapid, interrelated drawings here, apparently with a view of buildings in a mountain setting at the bottom right. The subject is unidentified, but may be in the north of Italy or neighbouring Switzerland; see the Introduction to this section for further brief discussion and dating. At the top left there is a procession with banners, and at the top right a man in medieval-or Renaissance-style armour with a plumed helmet, and a companion in extravagant top boots. They are presumably participants in a local pageant or festival.
Finberg noted: ‘(Nos. [Turner Bequest CCCXLIV] 174–226 were among the contents of a parcel endorsed by Mr. [John] Ruskin, – “B. 2. Forty-eight pieces of paper, some double or 4-ple. Pencil outline, same class as B. 1.”).’1
1
Finberg 1909, II, p.1123.
Technical notes:
The sheet was formerly folded into four, and there are nicks and losses along the folds and at the edges.
Verso:
Blank; rubbed and darkened.

Matthew Imms
February 2016

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘?Northern Italian or Swiss Scenes, with Figures in Costume c.1828–44 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 2016, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-northern-italian-or-swiss-scenes-with-figures-in-costume-r1183060, accessed 25 April 2024.