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 > Pompeii, Amalfi, &c., Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Amphitheatre and the City Walls, Pompeii, from the North 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Amphitheatre and the City Walls, Pompeii, from the North’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 27 Recto:
The Amphitheatre and the City Walls, Pompeii, from the North 1819
D15788
Turner Bequest CLXXXV 27
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 189 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘13’ within sketch, underneath bridge
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in blue ink ‘278’ bottom right and ‘27’ top right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXV 27’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The subject of this sketch is a view of the Amphitheatre and a section of the eastern walls of Pompeii from the north. On the left-hand side of the vista is part of a ruined rectangular tower, one of several which punctuated the perimeter of the city walls.1 Visible in the distance is Monte Faito, part of the Lattari mountain range which forms the Sorrentine peninsula. During the period of Turner’s visit in 1819, the Amphitheatre was virtually the only landmark of importance which had been excavated on the eastern side of the site. The artist made a number of studies of the structure, see also folios 17 verso–19 (D15769–D15772).
For further studies and a general discussion of Turner’s visit to Pompeii see the introduction to the sketchbook.

Nicola Moorby
September 2010

1
Known as Tower VI.

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘The Amphitheatre and the City Walls, Pompeii, from the North 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-the-amphitheatre-and-the-city-walls-pompeii-from-the-north-r1138254, accessed 25 April 2024.