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 Rialto Bridge, Venice 1840

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Rialto Bridge, Venice’ 1840
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 15 Recto:
The Rialto Bridge, Venice 1840
D31305
Turner Bequest CCCX 15
Pencil on cream wove paper, 126 x 198 mm
Partial watermark ‘J. Wh’
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘15’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCCX – 15’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
As Finberg noted,1 this is a very loose sketch of the familiar Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal, seen at the bend in the distance on folio 14 verso opposite (D31304). The somewhat disjointed drawing was presumably made while in motion on the water, with an impression of high buildings on either side and a sense of recession beyond which seems to indicate that the view through the arch is to the west-south-west where the canal runs straight after the tight bend. Compare the much more detailed treatment in the 1819 Milan to Venice sketchbook (Tate D14463; CLXXV 77a).
This is the last of a short sequence of sketches made while travelling south-east along the canal between the Canale di Cannaregio and the bridge (folios 12 verso–15 recto; D31300–D31305). As noted in the sketchbook’s Introduction, the Venice views on its early pages are intermingled with German sketches from Turner’s return journey.

Matthew Imms
September 2018

1
See Finberg 1930, p.172.

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘The Rialto Bridge, Venice 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-rialto-bridge-venice-r1196095, accessed 20 September 2024.