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 > Italian Guide Book Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Twelve Copies of Engravings after John 'Warwick' Smith from 'Select Views in Italy' c.1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Twelve Copies of Engravings after John 'Warwick' Smith from 'Select Views in Italy'’ c.1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 21 Verso:
Twelve Copies of Engravings after John ‘Warwick’ Smith from ‘Select Views in Italy’ circa 1819
D13971
Turner Bequest CLXXII 21 a
Pen and black ink on white wove paper, 155 x 99 mm
Inscribed by the artist in black ink with titles and details of views (see main catalogue entry)
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page is one of a series containing small pen-and-ink sketches of topographical Italian views. As Finberg first identified, these are copies of the engraved plates in John Smith, William Byrne and John Emes’s, Select Views in Italy, published in two volumes between 1792–9. The images derive from the following compositions (in sequence left to right and top to bottom):
i
On the Island of Caprea, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy.1 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Caprea’ bottom centre.
ii
Amalfi, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy.2 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Amalfi Bay of Salerno’ top centre.
iii
La Cava, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.3 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘La Cava’ bottom left and ‘Cava’ bottom centre.
iv
Hermitage near La Cava, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy.4 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Hermitage at La Cava’ top right.
v
Salerno, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne and James Sparrow.5 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Salerno’ bottom right.
vi
Pæstum, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne and James Sparrow.6 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Pestum’ top centre.
vii
Scylla, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy.7 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Scylla | Il Sciglio’ top left. The text accompanying the plate notes that the alternative name for the village of Scylla is ‘Il Sciglio’.
viii
Genoa, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne and James Sparrow.8 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Genoa’ bottom centre.
ix
Convent of St. Domenico, at Sienna, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.9 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Convent of Domenicco at Sienna’ across bottom.
x
Colle, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy.10 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Colle’ bottom centre and ‘Flo and Sienna’ bottom right. The text accompanying the plate notes that Colle ‘is a small town, situated between Florence and Sienna, and built partly on a plain, and partly on an eminence’.
xi
Etruscan Gateway at Volterra, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne and James Sparrow.11
xii
Loretto, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy.12 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Loretto’ bottom centre.
For a general discussion of Turner’s sketches from Select Views see the introduction to the sketchbook.

Nicola Moorby
July 2008

1
John Smith, William Byrne and John Emes, Select Views in Italy with Topographical and Historical Descriptions in English and French, vol.II, London 1796, pl.61.
2
Ibid., pl.62.
3
Ibid., pl.63.
4
Ibid., pl.64.
5
Ibid., pl.65.
6
Ibid., pl.66.
7
Ibid., pl.67.
8
Ibid., pl.68.
9
Ibid., pl.69.
10
Ibid., pl.70.
11
Ibid., pl.71.
12
Ibid., pl.72.

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Twelve Copies of Engravings after John ‘Warwick’ Smith from ‘Select Views in Italy’ c.1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2008, 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-twelve-copies-of-engravings-after-john-warwick-smith-from-r1138792, accessed 26 April 2024.