Joseph Mallord William Turner?The Tomb of Cicero, outside of Formia; and Four Distant Views of Castellonorato 1819

This page contains a series of swift sketches representing views on the southward road to Naples, on the Tyrrhenian coast near Formia. The shaky, uncertain appearance of Turner’s draughtsmanship indicates that the artist was working from a moving carriage.1 Finberg suggested that the structure visible uppermost sketch is the so-called Tomb of Cicero, a monument found by the side of the Via Appia on the approach to Formia.2 Clearer studies of the ruin can be seen in the Vatican Fragments sketchbook (Tate D15160–D15161; Turner Bequest CLXXX 28a–9).

The subject of the remaining sketches on this page is Castellonorato, a hill-top village in the Arunci mountains, approximately four miles east of Formia. In four successively closer views Turner has depicted the distant village as seen from the Via Appia, with the prominent silhouette of the tower of Caetani fortress.

Amidst the landscape views, Turner has also sketched several local figures such as peasant women or contadine, carrying bundles and baskets on their heads. He has made notes on the bright colours of their costume.