Joseph Mallord William Turner

Sketches from the Ascent of Vesuvius, Including a Distant View of Sorrento and 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: Gandolfo to Naples Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions: Support: 122 × 197 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D15643
Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 43 a

Catalogue entry

As Cecilia Powell first identified, Turner made a series of sketches of Naples and the surrounding landscape as seen from the ascent to the summit of Vesuvius, see folio 46 verso (D15645; Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 44a).1 The sketches on this page are associated with that expedition. The upper vista depicts the view looking south/south-east from the lower slopes of the mountain towards the Sorrentine peninsula and the island of Capri. The lower study represents part of the view looking in the opposite direction across the Bay of Naples, and is continued on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 46 (D15644; Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 44).

Nicola Moorby
May 2010

Powell 1984, p.424.

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