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 > Tivoli Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner View of Tivoli from the Valley, with a Bridge Across the River Aniene 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘View of Tivoli from the Valley, with a Bridge Across the River Aniene’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 21 Recto:
View of Tivoli from the Valley, with a Bridge Across the River Aniene 1819
D15487
Turner BequestLXXXIII 21
Pencil and grey watercolour wash on white wove paper, 200 x 253 mm
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXIII 21’ bottom left, descending left-hand edge
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Turner’s exploration of Tivoli included a large number of landscape sketches drawn from the river valley to the north. He was particularly attracted by the spectacle of the town’s ancient ruins perched above the steep, wooded gorge and streaming waterfalls. This drawing depicts a view from the floor of the valley looking east, with the town silhouetted along the brow of the hill above. To the right is the Santuario di Ercole Vincitore (Sanctuary of Hercules Victor), a ruined Roman temple formerly known as the Villa of Maecenas, whilst on the left is the campanile of the Cathedral (Duomo) of San Lorenzo, the substructures supporting the Piazza dell’Olmo (present-day Piazza Domenico Tani), and a medieval watch-tower. The ruined bridge in the foreground appears to represent a crossing over the River Aniene near to the Ponte dell’Acquoria (see Tate D15012; Turner Bequest CLXXIX 46). Like many drawings within this sketchbook, the composition has been executed over a washed grey background.
Similar views can be seen on folios 7, 8, 16, 26, and 41–41a (D15473, D15474, D15482, D15493, D15508–D15509), and in the Tivoli and Rome sketchbook (Tate D15033; Turner Bequest CLXXIX 57 verso). For a full description of the Santuario di Ercole Vincitore and further studies see folio 5 (D15471).
Verso:
Blank, except for traces of grey watercolour wash
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in red ink ‘364’ bottom left, and by an unknown hand in pencil ‘clxxxiii-21’ bottom left

Nicola Moorby
February 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘View of Tivoli from the Valley, with a Bridge Across the River Aniene 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 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-view-of-tivoli-from-the-valley-with-a-bridge-across-the-r1137763, accessed 25 April 2024.