'Via dei Sepolcri, Pompeii, with the Porta Ercolano; Also a Distant View of Vesuvius', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

Via dei Sepolcri, Pompeii, with the Porta Ercolano; Also a Distant View of Vesuvius

From Pompeii, Amalfi, &c., Sketchbook

Turner Bequest CLXXXV

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

D15750

Turner Bequest CLXXXV 7

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

Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the Pompeii, Amalfi, &c., Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 7 Recto:

Via dei Sepolcri, Pompeii, with the Porta Ercolano; Also a Distant View of Vesuvius 1819

D15750
Turner Bequest CLXXXV 7

Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 189 mm

Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘R’ and ‘[?V]’ within sketch, bottom left
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in blue ink ‘278’ bottom right and ‘7 top right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXV 7 bottom right

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

Turner made a thorough exploration of the famous archaeological site of Pompeii, recording his observations in over forty sketches of various parts of the ruins. The main study on this page represents a view of the Via dei Sepolcri (Street of the Tombs) looking east towards the Porta Ercolano (Herculaneum Gate), the main point of entry into the north-west of the city from Herculaneum and Rome. The two monuments visible on the left-hand side of the vista represent the covered seat of a hemicycle (left) and a tomb of an unknown person, decorated with garland reliefs (right). At the top of the page the artist has made thumbnail sketches of details of the decorative reliefs from the two structures (now almost totally destroyed). Further studies of capitals can be seen on folio 8 (D15751). In the bottom left-hand corner of this sheet is a separate drawing. This represents a view from the same vantage point, looking west down the Via dei Sepolcri with Vesuvius in the distance.

Further sketches of the Via dei Sepolcri can be found on folios 5–6 verso, 8, 9–10 (D15746–D15749, D15751, D15753–D15755). For a general discussion of Turner’s visit to Pompeii see the introduction to the sketchbook.

Verso:
Blank

Nicola Moorby
September 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.