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 > Gandolfo to Naples Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Terracina, from the Temple of Jupiter Anxur 1819

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Terracina, from the Temple of Jupiter Anxur’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 20 Verso:
Terracina, from the Temple of Jupiter Anxur 1819
D15594
Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 20 a
Pencil on white wove paper, 122 x 197 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘Pal Thedoric’ bottom left
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Approximately sixty miles south-east of Rome the Via Appia meets the Tyrrhenian coast at Terracina. Turner seems to have found time aside from his journey to Naples in order to enjoy the panoramic view from the heights of Monte Sant’Angelo above the town. His inscription in the bottom left-hand corner of this sketch indicates that his viewpoint was the ruined substructures of the Tempio di Giove Anxur (Temple of Jupiter Anxur), sometimes erroneously known as the Palace of Theodoric. The prospect looks west across Terracina towards the medieval Rocca Traversa (also known as the Castle of Frangipane) with the bay stretching out into the sea beyond. Silhouetted on the right of the distant horizon is Monte Leano, and on the left, the distinctive promontory of Monte Circeo. Related sketches can be found on folios 20, 21–21 verso and 23 (D15593, D15595–D15596 and D15599; Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 20, 20b, 20c and 22).

Nicola Moorby
April 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Terracina, from the Temple of Jupiter Anxur 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 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-terracina-from-the-temple-of-jupiter-anxur-r1138056, accessed 02 August 2025.