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

This sketch is part of a view of Rome encompassing the Vatican in the north to the Forum of Trajan in the east. As Cecilia Powell first identified, the prospect is taken from the tower of the Senatorial Palace on the Capitoline Hill, one of the most popular vantage points in the city.1 Turner made a complete record of the 360-degree view from the tower spread across four double-page spreads, see folios 74 verso–79 (D16293–D16300; Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 74a–78). For a general discussion see folio 74 verso (D16293; Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 74a).

The identifiable features within this sketch include (from left to right): the Vatican complex; the dome of Sant’Agnese in Agone in the Piazza Navona; the Castel Sant’Angelo; in front of the Castel Sant’Angleo the corkscrew design of the lantern of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza; the dome of the Church of the Gesù; with the flatter dome of the Pantheon immediately behind; and on the far right-hand side, the dome of San Carlo al Corso. The high ridge of ground across the background is Monte Mario, whilst in the bottom right-hand corner is part of the façade of Santa Maria in Aracoeli. The view continues on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 77 (D16296; Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 76). The blank space in the bottom right-hand corner should be occupied by the Capitoline Palace, see folio 79 (D16300; Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 78).