Joseph Mallord William Turner

Buildings and a Fountain; ?Terni

1819

Image released under Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-ND (3.0 Unported)

License this image

In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Ancona to Rome Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 110 x 186 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D14740
Turner Bequest CLXXVII 45

Catalogue entry

This sketch represents an Italian street or piazza observed by Turner en routeto Rome from Ancona. Despite the wealth of detail recorded by the artist, including the elaborate baroque façade of the principal building, the fountain and the distant line of mountains, the subject has yet to be identified. However, it is highly likely that it depicts part of Terni, an Umbrian town approximately eighteen miles south of Spoleto. The adjacent views within the sketchbook depict geographical locations on either side of the town, for example the Pass of the Somma, see folios 43 verso–44 (D14737–8) and Lake Piediluco and the Cascata della Marmore, see folios 45 verso–57 (D14741–D14763). Terni was transformed into a major industrial centre during the second half of the nineteenth century. Furthermore, around eighty per cent of the town was destroyed by Allied bombing during the Second World War.1 If this view therefore does indeed depict Terni, it is entirely possible that the buildings recorded by Turner now no longer survive.

Nicola Moorby
November 2008

1
Ros Belford, Martin Dunford, Celia Woolfrey et al, Rough Guide to Italy, New York, London and Delhi 2007, 8th edition, p.669.

Read full Catalogue entry

Explore

You might like

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Buildings and a Bridge, ?Terni’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner Buildings and a Bridge, ?Terni

1819
View by appointment D14764
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Trevi Fountain, Rome’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Trevi Fountain, Rome

1819
View by appointment D16204
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Fountain on the Via dell’Abbondanza, at the Back of the Building of Eumachia, Pompeii’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner Fountain on the Via dell’Abbondanza, at the Back of the Building of Eumachia, Pompeii

1819
View by appointment D15765
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Studies of Sculptural Fragments from the Vatican Museums, Including a Statue Group of a Satyr and a Faun, and Silenuses Supporting a Fountain’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies of Sculptural Fragments from the Vatican Museums, Including a Statue Group of a Satyr and a Faun, and Silenuses Supporting a Fountain

1819
View by appointment D15199
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Trinità dei Monti and the Spanish Steps, Rome, from the Fountain in front of the Villa Medici’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner Trinità dei Monti and the Spanish Steps, Rome, from the Fountain in front of the Villa Medici

1819
View by appointment D16331
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Gardens of the Villa d’Este, Tivoli, from the Organ Fountain’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Gardens of the Villa d’Este, Tivoli, from the Organ Fountain

1819
View by appointment D14994
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘View the Villa d’Este, Tivoli, looking towards the Rometta Fountain’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner View the Villa d’Este, Tivoli, looking towards the Rometta Fountain

1819
View by appointment D14951
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Figures at a Fountain, beside the Aqueduct between Recanati and Loreto’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner Figures at a Fountain, beside the Aqueduct between Recanati and Loreto

1819
View by appointment D14683
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Two Views in Genzano, Including the Fountain of San Sebastiano and the Church of Santissima Trinità’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner Two Views in Genzano, Including the Fountain of San Sebastiano and the Church of Santissima Trinità

1819
View by appointment D15464
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Piazza del Nettuno, Bologna, and its Fountain, with the Basilica of San Petronio Beyond; the Arcade Leading to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca, with Bologna in the Distance’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Piazza del Nettuno, Bologna, and its Fountain, with the Basilica of San Petronio Beyond; the Arcade Leading to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca, with Bologna in the Distance

1819
View by appointment D14540
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Santa Lucia Waterfront, Naples’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner Santa Lucia Waterfront, Naples

1819
View by appointment D15675
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Buildings, ?Terni; and a View of Papigno’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner Buildings, ?Terni; and a View of Papigno

1819
View by appointment D14765
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Porta del Carmine, Naples’ 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner Porta del Carmine, Naples

1819
View by appointment D15883
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Piazza della Rocca, and the Porta Fiorentina, Viterbo, from the Corner of the Piazza di S. Francesco; Silhouette of the Fountain’ c.1828–9

Joseph Mallord William Turner Piazza della Rocca, and the Porta Fiorentina, Viterbo, from the Corner of the Piazza di S. Francesco; Silhouette of the Fountain

c.1828–9
D21835
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘?Street Scene, with Fountain’ 1828

Joseph Mallord William Turner ?Street Scene, with Fountain

1828
D21121