Joseph Mallord William Turner

After the town of Itri, the Via Appia rejoins the Tyrrhenian coast at Formia, which until the late nineteenth century was known as Mola di Gaeta. This sketch depicts a view looking south from Formia to the distant headland of the Bay of Gaeta. The arched structures in the central foreground represent the Porto Caposele, the remains of an ancient Roman port, which stand near the Villa Rubina, popularly known as the Villa of Cicero. A related vista can be seen on folio 28 verso (D15610; Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 27a).

The far left-hand side of the page contains a small part of the landscape view from the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 27 verso (D15608; Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 26a).