'Vesuvius and Castel Sant'Elmo by Moonlight', Joseph Mallord William Turner | Tate

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

Vesuvius and Castel Sant'Elmo by Moonlight

From Naples, Paestum and Rome Sketchbook

Turner Bequest CLXXXVI

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

D16013

Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 51 a

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

Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the Naples, Paestum and Rome Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 53 Verso:

Vesuvius and Castel Sant’Elmo by Moonlight 1819

D16013
Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 51 a

Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 189 mm

Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘Moonlight’ top right

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

As Turner’s inscription indicates this view of Vesuvius and the Castel Sant’Elmo was observed at night with the moon shining above Naples. The vista looks east with the hilltop Sant’Elmo fortress on the left and the smoking crater of the volcano visible in the distance beyond. The artist’s viewpoint is from a steep set of steps descending towards the sea, probably the Rampe or Gradini del Petraio which link the Vomero Hill west of Castel Sant’Elmo to the Chiaia waterfront.

Nicola Moorby
July 2010

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.

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Context

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Sketchbooks

1819-29 Italy and after

Sketchbooks from the 1810s

Naples, Paestum and Rome Sketchbook

Tate Collection

Gifts and bequests

Turner Bequest