Like Lake Albano, the Lake of Nemi lies within a volcanic crater and shares its name with the largest town on its shores. Also known as the ‘lo specchio di Diana (‘the mirror of Diana’), the still blue expanse of the water surrounded by verdant green hills was an established attraction for artists and other visitors on the Grand Tour. Turner’s first exposure to it was probably through the work of John Robert Cozens, whose Italian watercolours he copied in his youth, at the house of Dr Thomas Monro (see for example Tate
D36470; Turner Bequest CCCLXXIII 57), but he would have been familiar with other artistic representations, such as the view by John ‘Warwick’ Smith which he noted in the
Italian Guide Book sketchbook (see Tate
D13968; Turner Bequest CLXXII 20). Furthermore, a painting of the lake in the style of Richard Wilson (1713–1782) was part of his personal art collection and probably hung in his gallery at Queen Anne Street (see Tate
N05565). His first sighting of the lake in 1819 therefore fulfilled a long anticipated ambition to see the celebrated site for himself and he recorded his experiences within three sketchbooks, see folios 19–25 (
D15329–D15341), the
Vatican Fragments sketchbook (see Tate
D15113; Turner Bequest CLXXX 5) and the
Gandolfo to Naples sketchbook (Tate
D15566–D15575; Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 6a–11). Whilst he had walked all around the perimeter of Lake Albano, his depictions of Lake Nemi in this sketchbook were limited to views from the western side, particularly Ariccia and Genzano di Roma looking across towards the town of Nemi. See also the general introduction to the sketchbook.