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 > Albano, Nemi, Rome Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Three Sketches: The Pope's Palace, Castel Gandolfo; Sketches of a Female Figure; and Unidentified Buildings in a landscape 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Three Sketches: The Pope's Palace, Castel Gandolfo; Sketches of a Female Figure; and Unidentified Buildings in a landscape’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 16 Verso:
Three Sketches: The Pope’s Palace, Castel Gandolfo; Sketches of a Female Figure; and Unidentified Buildings in a landscape 1819
D15324
Turner Bequest CLXXXII 16 a
Pencil on white wove paper, 189 x 113 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘C Gandolfo’ top left in portrait format and ‘Red’ to right of female figure
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
From the seventeenth century to the present day, the town of Castel Gandolfo on the shores of Lake Albano has been celebrated as the location of the summer residence of the Pope. The sketch at the top of this page shows the view looking towards the walls of the Palazzo Papale. A similar prospect can be seen on folio 17 verso (D15326), as well as in the Gandolfo to Naples sketchbook (Tate D15557; Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 2). The subject at the bottom is unidentified but appears to show the view looking out from a terrace with castellated walls. For a full discussion of Turner’s depictions of Lake Albano see folio 3 verso (D15301) and the general introduction to the sketchbook.
Turner has also made a study of two female figures (or the same woman from different angles), noting as was his custom, details of colour within the local costume.

Nicola Moorby
May 2008

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Three Sketches: The Pope’s Palace, Castel Gandolfo; Sketches of a Female Figure; and Unidentified Buildings in a landscape 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 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-three-sketches-the-popes-palace-castel-gandolfo-sketches-of-r1132619, accessed 27 April 2024.