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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Naples from Capodimonte 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 23 Recto:
Naples from Capodimonte 1819
D16111
Turner Bequest CLXXXVII 23
Pencil on white wove paper, 255 x 403 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘23’ bottom right, descending right-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXVII 23’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This faint pencil study depicts the view looking south from a point on Capodimonte, a hill to the north of Naples dominated by an eighteenth-century royal palace (the Reggia di Capodimonte), built for the Bourbon King, Charles III. Turner has roughly outlined the topography of the cityscape spread before him, including the lighthouse of the Mole on the left, to the hill rising on the right, with the fortress of Castel Sant’Elmo and the Certosa (Charterhouse) of San Martino. Just visible in the distance is the silhouette outline of the island of Capri and the Sorrentine peninsula. A more detailed record of a similar prospect can be found on folio 22 (D16110) whilst a wider vista can be seen on folio 22 verso (D41406).
Verso:
Blank, save for being stamped in black ‘CLXXXVII 23’ bottom left.

Nicola Moorby
May 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Naples from Capodimonte 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2010, 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-naples-from-capodimonte-r1132371, accessed 28 March 2024.