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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Second Italian Tour 1828-9 > Rome to Rimini Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Towns and Figures in a Valley 1829

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Towns and Figures in a Valley’ 1829
Folio 48 Recto:
Towns and Figures in a Valley 1829
D14917
Turner Bequest CLXXVIII 48
Pencil on white laid paper, 97 x 132 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘48’ top left, upside down
Stamped in black ‘CLXXVIII – 48’ top left, upside down
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, this spare study depicts a rolling landscape dotted with hilltop towns, towers and shaded foliage. In the foreground, positioned between the slopes of a valley, appear to be two figures. This vista continues onto folio 47 verso opposite (D14916). Turner’s precise location is difficult to pinpoint, although he was presumably travelling through Marche or Emilia-Romagna.

Hannah Kaspar
November 2024

How to cite

Hannah Kaspar, ‘Towns and Figures in a Valley 1829’, catalogue entry, November 2024, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2025, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/towns-and-figures-in-a-valley-r1210286, accessed 12 May 2025.