Joseph Mallord William Turner Studies of Sculptural Fragments from the Vatican Museums, Including a Statue of a Danae and a Statue Group of a Nymph and Satyr 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 46 Recto:
Studies of Sculptural Fragments from the Vatican Museums, Including a Statue of a Danae and a Statue Group of a Nymph and Satyr 1819
D15192
Turner Bequest CLXXX 45
Turner Bequest CLXXX 45
Pencil on white wove paper, 161 x 101 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil (see main catalogue entry)
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘45’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXX 45’ bottom right
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘45’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXX 45’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
References
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.I, p.533, as ‘Various figures and groups – Nos. “79, XXI”, “696, XXII”, and “673”. The latter a Nymph and Satyr; three views.’.
1984
Cecilia Powell, ‘Turner on Classic Ground: His Visits to Central and Southern Italy and Related Paintings and Drawings’, unpublished Ph.D thesis, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London 1984, pp.116, 131, 418, 476 note 8, reproduced pl.58, as ‘(a) and (b) Two views of a statue of a seated woman (A, II, pl.57, 393), (d)-(f) Three sketches of a statue group of a nymph and satyr (RS, pl.725, 1739)’.
1987
Cecilia Powell, Turner in the South: Rome, Naples, Florence, New Haven and London 1987, pp.[43], 51 note 6, 52, reproduced pl.50, as ‘Sketches in the Vatican Museums, including two views of a seated female statue and three views of a seated nymph and satyr’.
During his 1819 stay in Rome, one of Turner’s most extensive sketching campaigns was the large number of pencil studies made from the sculpture collections of the Vatican Museums (for a general discussion, see the introduction to the sketchbook). This page contains sketches of objects found in the Museo Pio-Clementino. The studies are numbered from top left to bottom right:
a.
Cecilia Powell has identified the subject of two sketches in the top left-hand corner as a statue of a seated woman.1 The statue, which is now believed to represent Danae, can be found in the Galleria delle Statue (Gallery of Statues, formerly also known as the Gallery of Cleopatra).2 Turner has annotated the drawing with the number ‘79 XXI’.
b.
The sketch in the top right-hand corner depicts a fragment of a relief with a seated nymph from the Galleria delle Statue.3 The drawing is annotated with the number ‘696 XXII’.
c.
Powell has identified the three sketches at the bottom of the page as depicting variant views of a statue of a nymph and satyr.4 The drawings are annotated with the number ‘673’.
Cecilia Powell has identified the subject of two sketches in the top left-hand corner as a statue of a seated woman.1 The statue, which is now believed to represent Danae, can be found in the Galleria delle Statue (Gallery of Statues, formerly also known as the Gallery of Cleopatra).2 Turner has annotated the drawing with the number ‘79 XXI’.
b.
The sketch in the top right-hand corner depicts a fragment of a relief with a seated nymph from the Galleria delle Statue.3 The drawing is annotated with the number ‘696 XXII’.
c.
Powell has identified the three sketches at the bottom of the page as depicting variant views of a statue of a nymph and satyr.4 The drawings are annotated with the number ‘673’.
Turner’s annotations presumably relate to exhibit numbers displayed on the individual works. However, they do not appear to correspond to any known lists published within contemporary guide books or catalogues of the Vatican collections.
Nicola Moorby
November 2009
Powell 1984, p.418; see Walther Amelung, Die Sculpturen des Vaticanischen Museums, Berlin 1903–8, vol.II, ‘4. Galleria delle Statue’, no.393, pp.584–8, reproduced pl.57.
Giandomenico Spinola, Il Museo Pio-Clementino, vol.II, Vatican City 1999, no.GS 44, p.38, reproduced fig.6.
See Amelung 1908, vol.II, ‘4. Galleria delle Statue II.’, no.394a, pp.591–2, reproduced pl.52 and Spinola 1999, vo.II, no.GS 43, p.37, reproduced fig.6.
How to cite
Nicola Moorby, ‘Studies of Sculptural Fragments from the Vatican Museums, Including a Statue of a Danae and a Statue Group of a Nymph and Satyr 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2009, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www