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 The Forum, Rome from the Temple of Saturn, Looking towards the Palatine 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Forum, Rome from the Temple of Saturn, Looking towards the Palatine’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 67 Recto:
The Forum, Rome from the Temple of Saturn, Looking towards the Palatine 1819
D15423
Turner Bequest CLXXXII 66
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 189 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘8’ in centre of floor of Temple of Saturn, ‘[?Path]’ in centre foreground and ‘via della consolazone’ centre
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘66’ top right and ‘301’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXII 66’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner thoroughly explored the Roman Forum (Campo Vaccino) and made numerous sketches from various viewpoints. This sketch of the Temple of Saturn and the view looking towards the Palatine Hill continues a wider landscape vista from the opposite page of the north end of the Forum looking south-east towards the Colosseum and the Arch of Titus, see folio 66 verso (D15422; Turner Bequest CLXXXII 65a). Turner has marked the location of the Via della Consolazione which leads west from the Forum towards the Church of San Nicola in Carcere and the river.
The artist has drawn the Temple of Saturn square on from the northern end and the inscribed number ‘8’ at the base is a personal reminder that the ancient ruin is comprised of remaining eight columns, even though only four can be seen at this angle.
For a general discussion of the Forum and other sketches see folio 32 (D15355).

Nicola Moorby
May 2008

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘The Forum, Rome from the Temple of Saturn, Looking towards the Palatine 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-the-forum-rome-from-the-temple-of-saturn-looking-towards-the-r1132718, accessed 19 April 2024.