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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1836-47 Modern painter > Venice, Austria and Southern Germany ... > Venice; Passau to Würzburg Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Piazzetta, Venice, from the Bacino, with the Campanile of San Marco (St Mark's) and Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace); the Zeughaus, Coburg, from Herrngasse; Judengasse and the Judentor 1840

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Piazzetta, Venice, from the Bacino, with the Campanile of San Marco (St Mark's) and Palazzo Ducale (Doge's Palace); the Zeughaus, Coburg, from Herrngasse; Judengasse and the Judentor’ 1840
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 3 Recto:
The Piazzetta, Venice, from the Bacino, with the Campanile of San Marco (St Mark’s) and Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace); the Zeughaus, Coburg, from Herrngasse; Judengasse and the Judentor 1840
D31281
Turner Bequest CCCX 3
Pencil on cream wove paper, 126 x 198 mm
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Ga[...] H[...]’ towards bottom right, descending vertically
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘3’ bottom left, descending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCCX – 3’ bottom left, descending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Drawn with the page turned horizontally, the main view is a relatively slight study of the familiar Venetian prospect north up the Piazzetta to the campanile of San Marco (St Mark’s), continued to its full height across the gutter on folio 2 verso opposite (D31280). Beyond moored shipping on the left are the Zecca and Libreria Sansoviniana, balanced by the domes of St Mark’s and the south front of the Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) on the right.
As noted in the sketchbook’s Introduction, the Venice views on its early pages are intermingled with German sketches from Turner’s return journey. Turner subsequently used the blank space of the foreground towards the outer edge for two small sketches at Coburg, as identified by Cecilia Powell.1 One, towards the top right relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, shows the gabled Zeughaus along Herrngasse off the north-east corner of the market square, as shown in one of the views on folio 1 verso (D31278). Inverted relative to it and framed by pencil lines is a view of the domed Judentor gate-tower along Judengasse, looking from the west side of the square between buildings which remain recognisable.
For the numerous Coburg views in this sketchbook, see under D31278.2

Matthew Imms
September 2018

1
See Powell 1995, p.242.
2
See also Powell 1995, pp.72, 82 notes 63 and 64.

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘The Piazzetta, Venice, from the Bacino, with the Campanile of San Marco (St Mark’s) and Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace); the Zeughaus, Coburg, from Herrngasse; Judengasse and the Judentor 1840 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2018, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2019, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-piazzetta-venice-from-the-bacino-with-the-campanile-of-r1196071, accessed 26 April 2024.