J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

Turner’s 1819 visit to Naples included an exploration of the volcanic area of coastline to the west of the city known as the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean or Burning Fields). The subject of this sketch appears to be Lake Agnano, a former crater lake near Bagnoli and the Solfatara which was the site of the Grotto del Cane (Dog’s Grotto), so-called because dogs were traditionally used to demonstrate the effect of the poisonous fumes which arose from the cave. The view looks north-east across the lake with the hill of Camaldoli, the tallest in the region, rising in the distance beyond. For alternative views see folios 75 verso and 76 verso–77 (D15704 and D15706–D15707; Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 73a and 74a–75). Lake Agnano was drained in 1870 and is now a densely built-up area with a hippodrome.