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 > Tivoli Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner View of the Valley of the River Aniene, Tivoli 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘View of the Valley of the River Aniene, Tivoli’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 79 Recto:
View of the Valley of the River Aniene, Tivoli 1819
D15551
Turner Bequest CLXXXIII 79
Pencil and grey watercolour wash on white wove paper, 200 x 253 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘[?T...] | Villa [?Catullus]’ top left
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in faded red ink ‘79’ bottom left, descending left-hand edge, and by an unknown hand in pencil ‘79’ bottom left, descending left-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXIII 79’ bottom left, descending left-hand edge
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The rough nature of this drawing makes the details of the subject difficult to identify. However, it appears to represent a sketch of the medieval watch-tower overlooking the valley and the cascatelli, or lesser cascades of the River Aniene, to the north of Tivoli. Turner’s viewpoint, visible in the left-hand foreground is currently unidentified, although it may be the ruined convent of Sant’Angelo in the hills to the north-east of the town, also known as the supposed location of the Villa of Catullus.1 Like many drawings within this sketchbook, the composition has been executed over a washed grey background and Turner has created highlights by rubbing or lifting out the wash to reveal the white paper beneath.
1
G.H. Hallam, ‘Horace’s Villa at Tivoli’, in The Journal of Roman Studies, vol.4, 1914, p.126.
Verso:
Blank

Nicola Moorby
February 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘View of the Valley of the River Aniene, Tivoli 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 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-view-of-the-valley-of-the-river-aniene-tivoli-r1137827, accessed 05 April 2026.