Joseph Mallord William Turner

Inscription by Turner: Notes on Ancient Architecture

c.1808–11

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
Windmill and Lock Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 117 x 87 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D07972
Turner Bequest CXIV 9 a

Catalogue entry

The whole page, turned vertically, is taken up with the following notes, including a diagram:
Trajan and [?Antininous] | the only remains of Trajans building
That the Greeks always. Deviated | from the perpendicular line. the | Egyptians followd
The Tomb of Theodo[...] at | Ravenna . . the roof of one | stone . . 40 Feet diameter | with a little cross at the top
[diagram of the profile of a shallow dome surmounted by a cross]
Pediments are allowd [?as ...d] | [?honor] to Julius Cæsar
The second name in the first line is probably intended to be Antoninus, as in Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, the Roman emperor whose column in Rome Turner notes briefly on folio 4 verso (D07965); Trajan’s Column also still stands in the city, and is mentioned on folio 65 verso (D08045). The early sixth-century Mausoleum of Theodoric the Great still stands at Ravenna in north-eastern Italy,1 its drum capped by the single stone mentioned and sketched here.
The passage is part of a short sequence beginning on folio 10 recto opposite (D07973) and concluding on the recto of the present leaf (D07971). Maurice Davies was unable to identify the source of these notes ‘on ancient sculpture’,2 but they may relate to Turner’s Royal Academy perspective lectures, delivered at the Royal Academy from January 1811 onwards (see the Introduction to the sketchbook).

Matthew Imms
January 2012

1
See ‘Early Christian Monuments of Ravenna’, UNESCO World Heritage Convention, accessed 29 September 2011, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/788.
2
Davies 1994, p.290.

Read full Catalogue entry

Explore

You might like

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscriptions by Turner: Notes on Ancient Architecture’ c.1808–11

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscriptions by Turner: Notes on Ancient Architecture

c.1808–11
View by appointment D07971
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscription by Turner: Notes on Ancient Art and Architecture’ c.1808–11

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscription by Turner: Notes on Ancient Art and Architecture

c.1808–11
View by appointment D07973
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Tree, and Notes on the Geology of the South Coast (Inscription by Turner)’ c.1809–14

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Tree, and Notes on the Geology of the South Coast (Inscription by Turner)

c.1809–14
View by appointment D07601
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A Tree, and Notes on the Geology of the South Coast (Inscription by Turner)’ c.1809–14

Joseph Mallord William Turner A Tree, and Notes on the Geology of the South Coast (Inscription by Turner)

c.1809–14
View by appointment D07602
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Diagram and Notes on Perspective (Inscriptions by Turner)’ 1809

Joseph Mallord William Turner Diagram and Notes on Perspective (Inscriptions by Turner)

1809
View by appointment D07835
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscriptions by Turner: Bibliographical Notes on Perspective Sources; with a Diagram of a Cube in Perspective’ 1809

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscriptions by Turner: Bibliographical Notes on Perspective Sources; with a Diagram of a Cube in Perspective

1809
View by appointment D07976
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Oxford; Architectural Details of the Queen’s College; Accounts (Inscriptions by Turner)’ 1809

Joseph Mallord William Turner Oxford; Architectural Details of the Queen’s College; Accounts (Inscriptions by Turner)

1809
View by appointment D07670
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscription by Turner: Notes on Sunlight; with a Diagram of an Entablature’ c.1809

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscription by Turner: Notes on Sunlight; with a Diagram of an Entablature

c.1809
View by appointment D07505
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscription by Turner: Notes on Sunlight; with Three Diagrams’ c.1809

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscription by Turner: Notes on Sunlight; with Three Diagrams

c.1809
View by appointment D07499
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscription by Turner: Notes on Sunlight; with a Diagram’ c.1809

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscription by Turner: Notes on Sunlight; with a Diagram

c.1809
View by appointment D07510
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Sketch Map of Ennerdale and Surroundings, with Notes (Inscriptions by Turner)’ 1809

Joseph Mallord William Turner Sketch Map of Ennerdale and Surroundings, with Notes (Inscriptions by Turner)

1809
View by appointment D07537
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Notes on the Geology of the South Coast (Inscription by Turner)’ c.1809–14

Joseph Mallord William Turner Notes on the Geology of the South Coast (Inscription by Turner)

c.1809–14
View by appointment D07599
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscriptions by Turner; Including ?Notes and Sketches on Paintings’ 1820

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscriptions by Turner; Including ?Notes and Sketches on Paintings

1820
View by appointment D16761

Joseph Mallord William Turner Perspective Drawing. Verso: [inscriptions by Turner]

date not known
TW2180
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Inscription by Turner: Notes on Sunlight; with a Diagram’ c.1809

Joseph Mallord William Turner Inscription by Turner: Notes on Sunlight; with a Diagram

c.1809
View by appointment D07497