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 Sketch of Boats; and a Study of Mercury and Psyche from the Villa Farnesina c.1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sketch of Boats; and a Study of Mercury and Psyche from the Villa Farnesina’ c.1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 29 Verso:
Sketch of Boats; and a Study of Mercury and Psyche from the Villa Farnesina circa 1819
D13987
Turner Bequest CLXXII 29 a
Pencil on white wove paper, 99 x 155 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘G’ and ‘R’ within hull of boat
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page contains a sketch of long, barge-like boats, with the vessel in the foreground laden with barrels. It is not known whether it relates to Turner’s 1819 Italian tour or predates it.
In the top right hand corner, aligned with the top edge of the page is a separate sketch which appears to show two figures. This is probably a study of Mercury and Psyche from a spandrel in the Loggia di Psiche in the Villa Farnesina, Rome, see folio 28 verso (D13985).

Nicola Moorby
July 2008

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Sketch of Boats; and a Study of Mercury and Psyche from the Villa Farnesina 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-sketch-of-boats-and-a-study-of-mercury-and-psyche-from-the-r1138808, accessed 20 September 2024.