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

As Cecilia Powell first identified, the subject of this sketch is the Castel del Nuovo, a large fortress also known as the Maschio Angioino, which stands beside the quayside near the main port in Naples.1 Dating from the thirteenth century, the castle is characterised by five cylindrical towers. The tower on the far left-hand side is the Torre di San Giorgio, whilst to the right is the Arco di Trionfo (Triumphal Arch), a highly ornate white marble gateway of two superimposed arches which links the Torre di Guardia (right) and the Torre di Mezzo (left) on the western façade of the building. Built in the middle of the fifteenth century for Alfonso V of Aragon, it is covered with bas-reliefs by various Renaissance artists. Turner has made a detailed study of the decoration accompanied by written notes on the details of the successive tiers. A sketch of the interior of the gateway can be seen on folio 64 verso (D15683; Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 62a), whilst further views of the Castel Nuovo can be found on folios 59–59 verso, 65, 69 verso (D15670–D15671, D15684, D15693; Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 57–57a, 63, 67a).