J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

As identified by the Turner scholars Cecilia Powell and Roland Courtot, the upper section of this page features two distant views of Montefiascone in the Viterbo province of Lazio.1 Both vistas were executed with the sketchbook turned vertically, and feature the domed profile of the cathedral, known as the Basilica of Santa Margherita. As noted by Courtot, Turner likely executed these views from the Via Cassia to the south, the lower view offering a more distant version of the upper view.2 For a full list of Turner’s views of Montefiascone in the present sketchbook, see under folio 1 recto (D21765).

The third view from the top is a rough outline of a hilly landscape, the location unidentified. The summit shown at the bottom of the page has been identified by both Powell and Courtot as Monte Soratte to the north of Rome; for further commentary on this subject and a list of relevant views in the sketchbook, see under folio 27 verso (D21815).