Joseph Mallord William Turner

This page contains part of a panoramic view from the Palace of the Caesars on the Palatine Hill looking south towards the Aventine Hill. The ruins in the foreground represent part of the substructures of Emperor Septimius Severus, whilst in the distance can be seen, from left to right: the Church of Santa Balbina surrounded by trees on the Little Aventine hill; the Pyramid of Cestius and the Porta San Paolo; and on the far right, the Church of Sant’Anselmo all’Aventino. The composition continues on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 17 (D16419; Turner Bequest CXC 17). Related views can be found in the Albano, Nemi, Rome sketchbook (see Tate D15392–D15393 and D15440–D15441; Turner Bequest CLXXXII 50a–1 and 74a–5). The panorama is also similar to that in a drawing by James Hakewill, Rome, Ruins of the Palace of the Caesars on the Palatine Hill, later published in a series called Eight Views of Rome, 1823 (British School at Rome).1