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 La Gaiola and Ruins at Marechiaro known as the Scuola di Virgilio 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘La Gaiola and Ruins at Marechiaro known as the Scuola di Virgilio’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 78 Recto:
La Gaiola and Ruins at Marechiaro known as the Scuola di Virgilio 1819
D16059
Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 76
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 189 mm
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in red ink ‘76’ bottom left, inverted, and ‘245’ top left, inverted
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXVI 76’ top left, inverted
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This sketch appears to depict a view of La Gaiola, a small group of islets off the southernmost point of the coast of Posillipo, near the village of Marechiaro.1 In the right-hand foreground is a small inlet containing some ancient Roman ruins known as the Scuola di Virgilio (School of Virgil), also sometimes known as the ‘Caso del Mago (House of the Sorcerer). The classical poet, Virgil, was believed to possess magical powers and there are a number of sites associated with him in Naples and the surrounding area.

Nicola Moorby
September 2010

1
Compare a view after Fabris, View of Scola di Virgilio near the Point of Posilipo, 1777, from Views in and Near Naples by Archibald Robertson (British Museum). Reproduced at http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_image.aspx?objectId=3149497&partId=1&searchText=virgilio&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx&images=on&numPages=10&currentPage=1&asset_id=885872.

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘La Gaiola and Ruins at Marechiaro known as the Scuola di Virgilio 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 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-la-gaiola-and-ruins-at-marechiaro-known-as-the-scuola-di-r1137983, accessed 23 April 2024.