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 > Italian Guide Book Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Notes by Turner from Eustace's 'A Classical Tour Through Italy' c.1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Notes by Turner from Eustace's 'A Classical Tour Through Italy'’ c.1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 12 Verso:
Notes by Turner from Eustace’s ‘A Classical Tour Through Italy’ circa 1819
D13954
Turner Bequest CLXXII 12 a
Inscribed by the artist in black ink (see main catalogue entry) on white wove paper, 155 x 99 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page is one of several sides of extensive notes made by Turner from A Classical Tour Through Italy by Revd John Chetwode Eustace. The source was first identified by Cecilia Powell, who also transcribed Turner’s notes in full in the Appendix of her 1984 PhD thesis, ‘Turner on Classic Ground: His Visits to Central and Southern Italy and Related Paintings and Drawings’.1 The inscription is repeated here with only minor variations from her text:
valley of Fondi Ausonians, anciently Via Appia | Lacus Fundanus or Amyclanus Fondi | unwholesome air about Mt Cæcubus and Torra | Castle of Itri and Mausoleum Gaieta | and promontory Mola di Gaieta | Prochyta and Mausoleum ^ Tower of Or Orlando^ Munatius Plancus ^ Plancus^ | (Formia) Cicero Formian villa the remains | by each side of the road from Mt Castellone | Fortress of Gaieta tomb of Cicero a kind | of Obelisk of two stories – about 3 Miles from | Liris (Garigliano) an aqueduct 100 archs | yet remain Ruins of Minturnae near the | ferry over the Liris Marcius hid himself in these | Marches. Tower to guard the passage Campagna | and Latinum Plain of Sessa St Agatha | Defiles of Mt Massicus. Francolisi. View | of Campagnia the Appenines the point | of Ischia in the centre Vesuvius Falernus | ager tract famous for wine Falarian wine | Capua. | Naples Gran Bretagna from | Posilipo Castel del Uovo Cape Sorentinum | Island of Caprea from Portici to Misenum | 16 Miles. Bay of Naples Strada Toledo 1 Mile, | long the Cathedral (Apollo ruined temples) St Apostoli | rises on that of Mercury St Maria Maggiore temple | of Diana St Januarius St Paul scite of Caster | and Pollux. St Felipo Neri two rows of ancient
These notes relate to various passages from volume II of Eustace’s text and condense parts of the author’s account of the journey between Rome and Naples.2 Many of the sights listed here form subjects in Turner’s sketchbooks, such as Itri, Gaeta, Capri, and Naples with its bay and the Castel del’Ovo, see Gandolfo to Naples sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest CLXXIV), Naples, Paestum, Rome sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest CLXXXVI) and Naples, Rome C. Studies sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest CLXXXVII).
For a general discussion of Turner’s notes from Eustace see the introduction to the sketchbook.

Nicola Moorby
July 2008

1
Powell 1984, p.394.
2
John Chetwode Eustace, A Classical Tour Through Italy, London 1815, 3rd edition, vol.II, pp.307–36.

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Notes by Turner from Eustace’s ‘A Classical Tour Through Italy’ c.1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2008, 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-notes-by-turner-from-eustaces-a-classical-tour-through-italy-r1138775, accessed 25 April 2024.