The Doge's Palace, Venice

The Doge’s Palace was painted during Turner’s last trip to Venice in 1840. It was made by first applying yellow wash for the buildings and their reflection. The blue of the watery foreground was added immediately after. This resulted in occasional patches of green. The details of the gondoliers and their boats would have been drawn in later with ink.

This watercolour was intended as a colour study for Turner’s future reference. It is thought to have originally been part of a sketchbook now in the Turner Bequest at Tate Britain, London. Unlike the other watercolours in the book, it shows no trace of pencil underdrawing, and so was probably done on the spot.