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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > First Italian Tour 1819-20 > Tivoli to Rome Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Antique Sculpture within a Garden at Tivoli 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Antique Sculpture within a Garden at Tivoli’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 61 Verso:
Antique Sculpture within a Garden at Tivoli 1819
D15041
Turner Bequest CLXXIX 61 a
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 186 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘mist’ upper right of sketch, within mountains
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This sketch appears to depict a number of pieces of antique sculpture and statues within a garden, possibly belonging to a private villa or house. The specific location is currently unidentified but visible in the background beyond the perimeter is a view of Tivoli, with the curving course of the River Aniene and the so-called Temple of Vesta at the north-eastern tip of the town. Further studies of sculptural fragments can be found on folios 61 and 62–62 verso (D15041 and D15042–D15043) and are almost certainly related to the same location. The source of the collection is unidentified but Turner was fascinated by classical statuary and made numerous studies during his 1819 tour of Italy. The most extensive series can be found within the Vatican Fragments sketchbook (see Tate; Turner Bequest CLXXX).

Nicola Moorby
February 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Antique Sculpture within a Garden at Tivoli 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-antique-sculpture-within-a-garden-at-tivoli-r1137675, accessed 13 August 2025.