Joseph Mallord William Turner

Beyond Narni, Turner’s route to Rome continued south towards the next two post stages, Otricoli and Borghetto, where the Via Flaminia crossed the River Tiber at the Ponte Felice.1 This sketch depicts the village of Borghetto from the road to the south, looking back towards the bridge and the plain of the Tiber. In the far distance is the skyline of the town of Magliano Sabina. The view continues on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 74 verso (D14798). The composition of Turner’s drawing recalls an engraving of the same subject from John ‘Warwick’ Smith’s Select Views in Italy. Turner had made a small pen-and-ink copy of this illustration in the Italian Guide Book sketchbook (see Tate D13964; Turner Bequest CLXXII 18, second from bottom right). A similar panorama can be found on folios 73 verso–74 (D14796–D14797). For a general discussion of Borghetto see folio 73 (D14795).