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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Study of a Venetian Man; the Basilica of San Marco (St Mark's), Venice, with the Piazzetta Beyond and the Campanile Opposite 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 42 Recto:
A Study of a Venetian Man; the Basilica of San Marco (St Mark’s), Venice, with the Piazzetta Beyond and the Campanile Opposite 1819
D14393
Turner Bequest CLXXV 42
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 185 mm
Partial watermark ‘Al | 18’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Red’ top centre, beside figure
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘42’ bottom left, upside down and ‘300’ top left, upside down
Stamped in black ‘CLXXV 42’ top left, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The drawing is inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation. The small sketch of a man seen from the back was likely made near the basilica of San Marco; for other figure studies see under folio 18 verso (D14351).
There is a continuation at the gutter from the full-page view of the church and its surroundings on folio 41 verso opposite (D14392), with other figures in Piazza San Marco (St Mark’s Square). This page shows San Marco’s north side, facing Piazzetta dei Leoni (Leoncini).

Matthew Imms
March 2017

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A Study of a Venetian Man; the Basilica of San Marco (St Mark’s), Venice, with the Piazzetta Beyond and the Campanile Opposite 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2017, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, July 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-study-of-a-venetian-man-the-basilica-of-san-marco-st-marks-r1186506, accessed 28 March 2024.