Oil paint on canvas
Italy
Tate Collection
Works with images
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Turner Bequest
Oil paintings
Collection
Turner owned by Tate
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-mallord-william-turner-558" aria-label="More by Joseph Mallord William Turner" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Joseph Mallord William Turner</a>
Rialto Venice
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
architecture
bridge
bridges and viaducts
building - non-specific
canal
cities, towns, villages (non-UK)
countries and continents
industrial
Italy
places
townscapes / man-made features
Venice, Ponte di Rialto
painting oil paint canvas
The Rialto, Venice
support: 1775 × 3353 mm
Accepted by the nation as part of the <a href="/search?gid=999999781" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Turner Bequest</a> 1856
<p><b>245. </b>[<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-the-rialto-venice-n05543" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N05543</span></a>]<b> The Rialto, Venice</b> <i>c.</i> 1820</p>
<p>THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON (5543)</p>
<p>Canvas, 69 7/8 × 132 (177·5 × 335·5)</p>
<p><b>Coll.</b> Turner Bequest 1856 (? 245, I unidentified 11'0" × 5'10 1/2"); transferred to the Tate Gallery 1951.</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> Davies 1946, p. 162; exh. cat., R.A. 1974–5, p. 92; Wilton 1979, pp. 145–6.</p>
<p>Until recently known as ‘A Canal seen under a Bridge’ but recognised in 1974 as showing the Grand Canal seen through the arch of the Rialto looking roughly south. The exceptional size and format of the picture match <i>England: Richmond Hill</i> (No. 140 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-england-richmond-hill-on-the-prince-regents-birthday-n00502" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00502</span></a>]) and <i>Rome from the Vatican</i> (No. 228 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-rome-from-the-vatican-raffaelle-accompanied-by-la-fornarina-preparing-his-pictures-n00503" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00503</span></a>]) and suggest that this unfinished picture was projected as a Venetian counterpart to the latter following Turner's first visit to Italy in 1819. The ‘Milan to Venice’ sketchbook of 1819 contains a sequence of <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/d/drawing" title="Glossary definition for 'Drawing'"><span>drawings</span></a> moving up the Grand Canal from the Lagoon, approaching, at, and looking back towards the Rialto (CLXXV-73 to 84; see especially the close-up of the bridge on 78 <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/r/recto-verso" title="Glossary definition for 'Recto / Verso'"><span>verso</span></a> and 79, repr. Wilkinson 1974, pp. 182–3, and the view under the bridge on 81 verso and 82). At about the same time as the oil Turner painted a finished <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/w/watercolour" title="Glossary definition for 'Watercolour'"><span>watercolour</span></a>, now in Dublin (Wilton <i>op. cit.</i>, p. 383 no. 725, pl. 160).</p>
<p>The picture is very dirty with tears on the left, just within the arch, and bottom right. There are also numerous paint losses, particularly in the left quarter of the picture. Some <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/g/graphite" title="Glossary definition for 'Graphite'"><span>pencil</span></a> drawing is visible, including ruled lines to define architectural forms.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, <i>The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner</i>, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-10-07T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
architecture bridge bridges and viaducts building - non-specific canal cities, towns, villages (non-UK) countries and continents industrial Italy places townscapes / man-made features Venice, Ponte di Rialto