'View of Capri and the Bay of Sorrento from Naples', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

View of Capri and the Bay of Sorrento from Naples

From Naples: Rome. C. Studies Sketchbook

Turner Bequest CLXXXVII

Date 1819

MediumGraphite on paper

Dimensionssupport: 255 x 403 mm

Collection

Tate

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

Reference

D16108

Turner Bequest CLXXXVII 20

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

Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the Naples: Rome. C. Studies Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 20 Recto:

View of Capri and the Bay of Sorrento from Naples 1819

D16108
Turner Bequest CLXXXVII 20

Pencil and watercolour on white wove paper, 255 x 403 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘Capri’ bottom left
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘20’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXVII 20’ bottom right

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

Exhibition history

References

This is one of seven watercolours relating to Naples dating from Turner’s 1819 tour of Italy. The subject is a distant view of the island of Capri and the eastern promontory of the Gulf of Naples with the Bay of Sorrento, as seen from the Santa Lucia district of the city. Related studies featuring the Castel dell’Ovo in the foreground can also be found within the same sketchbook (see D16089, D16093 and D16109; Turner Bequest CLXXXVII 2, 6 and 21). All feature the same motif at different times of day, and under varying weather conditions.

Verso:

Blank, save for inscriptions by unknown hands in pencil ‘Capri’ centre and ‘84’ bottom right, inverted, and ‘CLXXXVII . 20’ bottom right, ascending right-hand edge; stamped in black ‘CLXXXVII 20’ and Turner Bequest monogram bottom left.

Nicola Moorby
April 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.