Joseph Mallord William TurnerCritical Notes by Turner on the Frescoes in the Villa Farnesina, Rome, and a Sketch of a Castle Amidst Mountains; Also Notes by James Hakewill on Rome 1819

This page contains an inscription by James Hakewill (1778–1843), part of his advice to Turner on travelling in Italy in preparation for the artist’s first tour of the country in 1819 (see the introduction to the sketchbook). The text, which relates to locations in Rome, was first transcribed by Finberg,1 but more correctly so by Thomas Ashby,2 and reads:

‘Cameriere’ is the Italian word for waiter, whilst a ‘laquais de place’ was a local servant, often hired by travellers during a stay in a foreign country. In addition to providing Turner with the names of booksellers near the Spanish Steps, an area popular with English tourists, Hakewill also advises that he visits the pictures of Vincenzo Camuccini, (1771–1844), one of the pre-eminent academic painters in Rome at this period. Further lists of places of interest in Rome can also be found on folios 35 and 35 verso (D13924 and D13926).

In addition to Hakewill’s writing, Turner has also used the left-hand side of this page to make extensive critical notes on frescoes in the Villa Farnesina. This sixteenth-century house (now the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei), stands near the banks of the River Tiber in Rome’s Trastevere district, at the foot of the Janiculum Hill and is famous for its fresco decorations commissioned by Agostino Chigi (1466–1520). The artist’s comments relate to the parts of the villa decorated by Raphael (1483–1520) and his follower, Giulio Romano (circa 1499–1546), particularly the Loggia di Psyche and the Triumph of Galatea. The text was first fully transcribed by Cecilia Powell,3 and the inscription is repeated here with only minor variations:

As Powell has discussed, Turner has categorised some of the frescoes using a three-tiered shorthand system: a blank circle; a dot in a circle; and a cross in a circle.4 The respective values of each category are still unknown but the observations are evidence of Turner’s appreciation of Raphael as a colourist.5 Sketches relating to the Villa Farnesina can be found in the Italian Guide Book sketchbook (Tate D13935, D13985, D13987; Turner Bequest CLXXII 2, 28a, 29a).

Also on the page, Turner has made a small, rough pencil study of an unidentified building or castle amidst mountainous scenery.