'Two Sketches of the Banks of the Tiber, near the Aventine Hill, Rome', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

Two Sketches of the Banks of the Tiber, near the Aventine Hill, Rome

From St Peter's Sketchbook

Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII

Date 1819

MediumGraphite on paper

Dimensionssupport: 114 x 189 mm

Collection

Tate

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

Reference

D16251

Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 53

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

Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the St Peter's Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 56 Recto:

Two Sketches of the Banks of the Tiber, near the Aventine Hill, Rome 1819

D16251
Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 53

Pencil on white wove paper, 114 x 189 mm

Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘[?Villa] underneath sketch of pyramid
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘53’ bottom right
Inscribed by an unknown hand in red ink ‘~~250. J.~~ 1242’ bottom left
Stamped in black ‘53’ bottom right

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

There are two sketches on this page which depict views of the banks of the Tiber to the south of the Aventine Hill. The sketch at the bottom depicts a view of the eastern bank of the Tiber south of Rome looking upstream towards the city. The river is a blank space in the foreground whilst on the opposite side from left to right is Monte Testaccio; the Aventine Hill with the Churches of Santa Sabina, Sant’Alessio all’Aventino (today known as Santi Boniface e Alessio) and Santa Maria del Priorato; the Aurelian walls; and finally the Pyramid of Cestius with the adjacent Porta San Paolo (Gate of St Paul). The view continues on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread with the distant dome of St Peter’s and the tower of the Palazzo Senatorio on the Capitoline Hill, see folio 55 verso (D16256).

The location of the drawing at the top is not known but the view includes the Pyramid of Cestius. The towered structure on the left, which also appears in folio 55 verso (D16256; Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 55v), is currently unidentified.

Nicola Moorby
September 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.