Joseph Mallord William Turner

The Gardens of the Villa d’Este, Tivoli, from the Organ Fountain

1819

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In Tate Britain

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Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of: Tivoli to Rome Sketchbook
Medium: Graphite on paper
Dimensions: Support: 112 × 186 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference: D14994
Turner Bequest CLXXIX 37

Catalogue entry

This sketch depicts part of the sixteenth-century Villa d’Este, in Tivoli. The view looks south across the gardens towards the casino from the Organ Fountain, a hydraulic water feature which was designed to push air through a series of pipes to emit sound. The tall circular structure behind the fountain is the apse of the Church of San Pietro alla Carità. In the top right-hand corner is a smaller sketch of another detail of the gardens.

For a full discussion of Turner’s sketches of the Villa d’Este see folio 5 verso (D14942).

Nicola Moorby
January 2010

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