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

In the upper half of this page is a rough sketch of a city skyline, with a prominent tower topped with a spire to the left. While the location is difficult to identify conclusively, there is a certain resemblance to the belltower of the Basilica of San Domenico to the south of Bologna. Above are further outlines of buildings.

The recto is blank, except for ‘26’ in red ink and ‘CLXXVIII – 26’ stamped in black, both towards bottom right. Finberg’s 1909 Inventory omitted the customary ‘a’ suffix to the folio number to indicate that the present work is the verso, and when Tate accession numbers were allocated, the recto was initially numbered D14878, with this page as D14879; the latter number was subsequently cancelled in favour of the former.