'The North End of the Forum, Rome, Looking East', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

The North End of the Forum, Rome, Looking East

From Albano, Nemi, Rome Sketchbook

Turner Bequest CLXXXII

Date 1819

MediumGraphite on paper

Dimensionssupport: 113 x 189 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

Reference

D15406

Turner Bequest CLXXXII 57 a

View this artwork by appointment, at Tate Britain's Prints and Drawings Rooms

Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the Albano, Nemi, Rome Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 58 Verso:

The North End of the Forum, Rome, Looking East 1819

D15406
Turner Bequest CLXXXII 57 a

Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 189 mm

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

Turner thoroughly explored the Roman Forum (Campo Vaccino) and made numerous sketches from various angles. This sketch of the north end looking east is drawn from an area of high ground in the western corner, with the eight columns of the Temple of Saturn in the foreground. On the left is the Temple of Vespasian whilst on the right is the Column of Phocas. In the distance on the far right is the Baroque façade of the Church of San Lorenzo in Miranda with the surrounding portico of the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina and the large adjacent ruins of the Basilica of Constantine and Maxentius.

The sketch continues on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 59 (D15407; Turner Bequest CLXXXII 58). For a general discussion of the Forum and further studies see folio 32 (D15355).

Nicola Moorby
May 2008

Read this catalogue entry in full

This catalogue entry is part of: David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, December 2012.