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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies of Classical Buildings, a Tree and a Wooded Landscape 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 57 Recto:
Studies of Classical Buildings, a Tree and a Wooded Landscape 1819
D14423
Turner Bequest CLXXV 57
Pencil on white wove paper, 185 x 112 mm
Partial watermark ‘Al | 18’
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Pale’ top centre, ‘[?Doric]’ towards top left and ‘Ionic’, towards top right, and ‘[?As...]’ bottom centre, descending vertically
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘57’ top left, ascending vertically and ‘300’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CLXXV 57’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Although falling among detailed studies of Venice, these scattered studies were not necessarily made there. They have the air of the hurried drawings made while travelling to the city across north-eastern Italy from Milan in the first part of the sketchbook (see the Introduction). Drawn with the page turned vertically, at the top left is a two-storey, arched ‘Doric’ façade, as Turner notes, possibly belonging to a large residence, while at the top right is a more elaborate and substantial ‘Ionic’ portico with what may be flanking bell turrets, suggesting a church.
At the centre left is a rather inconsequential sketch of a tree in isolation, while below, inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, is a cursory landscape, apparently lightly wooded and possibly with towers or spires on the skyline.
For an overview of Turner’s coverage of Venice on surrounding pages, see the sketchbook’s Introduction.

Matthew Imms
March 2017

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Studies of Classical Buildings, a Tree and a Wooded Landscape 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-studies-of-classical-buildings-a-tree-and-a-wooded-landscape-r1186535, accessed 29 March 2024.