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 > Turin, Como, Lugarno, Maggiore ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Moncalieri and Distant Alps, from the Castello Reale 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Moncalieri and Distant Alps, from the Castello Reale’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 22 Recto:
Moncalieri and Distant Alps, from the Castello Reale 1819
D14186
Turner Bequest CLXXIV 21
Pencil on white wove paper, 111 x 186 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘284’ top right and ‘21’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXIV 21’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This sketch is one of a series of views depicting the town of Moncalieri, approximately five miles south of Turin. This page contains part of a panoramic view looking south and west from the Castello Reale, a residence of the ruling House of Savoy which stands on the high ground to the north of the town. Turner’s viewpoint is a high terrace near the south-west tower of the castle and visible on this side of the vista is the landscape surrounding Moncalieri, including the River Po and the smaller Sangone stream.1 Dominating the background are the distant Alps, including the distinctive pyramid peak of Monte Viso. The composition is continued on folio 21 (D14184; Turner Bequest CLXXIV 20). Turner peeled back the first sheet in order to continue the drawing on this underlying page.
For a list of further views of Moncalieri see folio 17 (D14176; Turner Bequest CLXXIV 16).

Nicola Moorby
December 2012

1
Today this area is heavily industrialised.

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Moncalieri and Distant Alps, from the Castello Reale 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2012, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, August 2013, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-moncalieri-and-distant-alps-from-the-castello-reale-r1142709, accessed 18 April 2024.