Turner made a closely detailed visual record of the loggia, particularly concentrating on the southern end of the interior and the decoration of the first three bays and window arches, see folios 13 verso–21 (
D14955–D14965). From these drawings evolved the artist’s first finished oil painting following his Italian tour, the vast canvas
Rome from the Vatican. Raffaelle Accompanied by La Fornarina, Preparing his Pictures for the Decoration of the Loggia exhibited 1820 (Tate,
N00503).
2 It has been widely suggested that Turner thought of the idea for the picture whilst he himself was actually sketching there.
3 However, the precise nature of these studies, focusing almost exclusively on the first three bays of the loggia, strongly suggests that in fact the artist had already conceived the theme before commencing his sketching campaign and was specifically gathering material with the concept already well advanced in his mind. Virtually every element recorded within his drawings was employed within the composition of the finished painting, and there are no sketches extraneous to this purpose. Gerald Finley has suggested that it is reasonable to assume that the artist already knew at least some of the Biblical designs prior to his visit through reproductive drawings or prints.
4 As Cecilia Powell has discussed, Turner was also able to cross-reference his on-the-spot sketches with detailed engravings of Raphael’s loggia which he borrowed from the Royal Academy during the later stages of the painting’s development in April 1820.
5