Joseph Mallord William Turner

Six Sketches of the Amalfi Coast from the Sea, Including Maiori, Minori and Amalfi, and a Distant View of Capri

1819

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

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Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Pompeii, Amalfi, &c., Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 113 x 189 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D15844
Turner Bequest CLXXXV 57 a

Catalogue entry

Turner travelled by boat between Salerno and Sorrento, sketching the rugged coastal landscape from the sea. This page contains several sketches relating to that journey. The uppermost view, for example, depicts the stretch of coastline on the approach to Amalfi and the artist has annotated the drawing with the names of the towns visible along the shoreline including Maiori, Minori and Amalfi itself. The scene in the bottom left-hand corner meanwhile depicts a distant view looking west with the Sorrentine peninsula and the island of Capri. Also on the page are three studies of one or more of the sixteenth-century watch-towers (known as the Torri Saracena or Saracen Towers) which formed a defensive chain in this part of southern Italy.
Further sketches documenting the sea journey from Salerno to Sorrento can be found on folios 47 verso–67 (D15824–D15861).

Nicola Moorby
October 2010

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