Joseph Mallord William Turner

A large number of studies from the Naples: Rome C. Studies sketchbook represent variant views of the Roman Campagna, the area of countryside encircling the outskirts of the Eternal City (Tate D16122–D16139; Turner Bequest CLXXXVII 34–51). The main focus of this sketch is the Ponte Salario, a bridge which carried the Via Salaria (Salt Road) from the north of the city across the River Aniene or Anio (also known as the Teverone), close to where it joins the Tiber. To the right of the bridge is a watch-tower known as the Torre Salaria, or the Tomb of Mario, described by Ashby as ‘a large tomb of tufa concrete ... with a chamber in the form of Greek cross and a medieval tower above’.1 The bridge was destroyed in 1867 by Papal and French troops defending Rome against Giuseppe Garibaldi but the tower still survives today.2 Turner’s viewpoint appears to be from the east, looking downstream. The area of high ground beyond is the Monte Antenne, now occupied by the Villa Ada park. In the bottom right-hand corner, the artist has included a small figure lounging beside the banks of the river.

By the nineteenth century, exploration of the city’s environs had become as much part of the Roman experience as its architecture and monuments. Turner’s forays into the Campagna followed a long artistic tradition established during the seventeenth century by Claude Lorrain (circa 1600–1682) and Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665). The two French masters had famously made a number of sketching trips along the banks of the Tiber north of the city; indeed the countryside between the Porta del Popolo and the Ponte Molle had popularly become known as the ‘Promenade de Poussin’. The Ponte Salario was one of a number of landmarks which had become an established motif through the repertory of the ‘vedute’ tradition.3 Turner made detailed pencil studies of the structure on D41514; verso of Turner Bequest CLXXXVII 33, and D41482; verso of Turner Bequest CLXXXVII 34. Further general views include folio 38 (D16126) and D16122 (CLXXXVII 34), and see also the Small Roman C. Studies sketchbook (Tate D16459; CXC 45).