'View of the Via Appia Approaching Terracina', Joseph Mallord William Turner

Artwork details

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775‑1851)

Title

View of the Via Appia Approaching Terracina

From Gandolfo to Naples Sketchbook

Turner Bequest CLXXXIV

Date 1819

MediumGraphite on paper

Dimensionssupport: 122 x 197 mm

Collection

Tate

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

Reference

D15585

Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 16

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

Turner's sketchbooks

View this artwork in the Gandolfo to Naples Sketchbook

Catalogue entry

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851

Folio 16 Recto:

View of the Via Appia Approaching Terracina 1819

D15585
Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 16

Pencil on white wove paper, 122 x 197 mm

Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘Red’ beside tree on left
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in blue ink ‘281’ bottom right and ‘16’ top right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXIV 16’ bottom right

Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

References

The sharp, receding perspective of the tree-lined road in this sketch indicates that it is a view of a particularly straight section of the Via Appia known as ‘La Fettuccia’ (‘The Ribbon’), which runs for thirty miles through the Pontine marshes and formed part of Turner’s journey south between Rome and Naples. Visible on the left-hand side of the road is the steep cliff known as the Rupe di Leano from the approach towards Terracina, whilst on the right is the distinctive promontory of Monte Circeo. For a contemporary description of the landscape see folio 15 (D15583).

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.