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 > Naples, Paestum and Rome Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Castel dell'Ovo and Vesuvius from the Chiaia Waterfront, Naples 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Castel dell'Ovo and Vesuvius from the Chiaia Waterfront, Naples’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 66 Recto:
Castel dell’Ovo and Vesuvius from the Chiaia Waterfront, Naples 1819
D16035
Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 64
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 189 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘[?H...]’ centre left-hand edge, and ‘Boy with the Ball | and Ring | Men Smoking’ and ‘Wines [?Drying]’ bottom left, and ‘Men Wading | and Fishing’ bottom right
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in red ink ‘64’ bottom left, inverted and ‘245’ top left, inverted
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXVI 64’ top left, inverted
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Previously catalogued as the Bay of Gaeta, this sketch in fact depicts the view looking east along the Neapolitan coastline towards the Pizzofalcone Hill and Castel dell’Ovo with Vesuvius in the background. Turner has accompanied the sketch with written inscriptions concerning his observations of human activity along the seafront. The statues and other ornamental features visible in the left-hand foreground suggest that his viewpoint is the Villa Reale (present-day Villa Comunale), a park and royal promenade which runs along the length of the Chiaia waterfront between Piazza Vittoria and Piazza della Repubblica. Built in the late eighteenth century for the Bourbon King, Ferdinand IV, the park contained a number of sculptures and fountains, including the famous Farnese Bull, see folio 54 verso (D16015; Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 52a). For a view looking in the opposite direction towards Mergellina and the Posillipo Hill see folio 65 verso (D16034; Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 63a). Related vistas can also be found in the Gandolfo to Naples sketchbook (Tate D15656–D15657; Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 50–50a).

Nicola Moorby
July 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Castel dell’Ovo and Vesuvius from the Chiaia Waterfront, Naples 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 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-castel-dellovo-and-vesuvius-from-the-chiaia-waterfront-r1137959, accessed 19 September 2024.