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

Turner’s route after Ancona and Loreto turned south-west towards Rome. The road between Recanati and the town of Macerata wound directly past the remains of the ancient Roman settlement of Helvia Recina, near the banks of the River Potenza. Destroyed by the Visigoths in the fifth or sixth centuries the area today is comprised of a ruined water tank, some tombs, a stretch of paved road and the remains of a curved amphitheatre. Turner’s sketch in the top left-hand corner of the page depicts the crumbling arches of the theatre which he has labelled ‘Resinia’. The outline of the hilltop town of Macerata appears in the far distance. Meanwhile, on the right can be seen the same medieval tower which appears on folios 9 verso (D14670) and folio 18 (D14687), probably the Torre del Mulino in present-day Villa Potenza (labelled ‘Potensia’ to the right). The tower also forms the subject of the sketch in the top right-hand corner. Further sketches of Helvia Recina can be found on folio 18 (D14687).

The swiftly drawn landscape at the bottom of the page is not conclusively identified but appears to show the valley of the River Potenza from the ascent of the road towards Macerata.