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 View of the Via Appia Approaching Terracina 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘View of the Via Appia Approaching Terracina’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 16 Recto:
View of the Via Appia Approaching Terracina 1819
D15585
Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 16
Pencil on white wove paper, 122 x 197 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘Red’ beside tree on left
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in blue ink ‘281’ bottom right and ‘16’ top right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXIV 16’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The sharp, receding perspective of the tree-lined road in this sketch indicates that it is a view of a particularly straight section of the Via Appia known as ‘La Fettuccia’ (‘The Ribbon’), which runs for thirty miles through the Pontine marshes and formed part of Turner’s journey south between Rome and Naples. Visible on the left-hand side of the road is the steep cliff known as the Rupe di Leano from the approach towards Terracina, whilst on the right is the distinctive promontory of Monte Circeo. For a contemporary description of the landscape see folio 15 (D15583).

Nicola Moorby
April 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘View of the Via Appia Approaching Terracina 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-view-of-the-via-appia-approaching-terracina-r1138047, accessed 16 April 2024.