J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > First Italian Tour 1819-20 > Ancona to Rome Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Distant View of Tolentino from the River Chienti 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Distant View of Tolentino from the River Chienti’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 24 Recto:
Distant View of Tolentino from the River Chienti 1819
D14699
Turner Bequest CLXXVII 24
Pencil on white wove paper, 110 x 186 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘[?Ro]’ bottom left
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘24’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXVII 24’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
After Macerata, Turner’s route continued south-west to the next post stage of Tolentino, an ancient episcopal town which lies within the valley of the River Chienti.1 Like most of the other locations he passed en route to Rome, Turner would have seen little of Tolentino other than the sights he could glimpse from the road. This sketch represents a distant view of the town seen from the river to the south-west. Identifiable landmarks include from left to right: the campanile of the Church of San Francesco (Torre dell Orologio); one of the gates of the town; the campanile and baroque façade of the basilica of San Nicola; the Romanesque dome and lantern of Santa Maria Nuova; and the campanile of San Catervo.

Nicola Moorby
November 2008

1
The post stage itinerary was published in Reichard’s Italy, London 1818, pp.301 and 330. See Turner’s own copy (Tate, Turner Bequest CCCLXVII).

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Distant View of Tolentino from the River Chienti 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2008, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-distant-view-of-tolentino-from-the-river-chienti-r1138861, accessed 25 April 2024.