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

As noted by the Turner scholars Cecilia Powell and Roland Courtot, the subject of this rapid study is the Rocca dei Borgia in Nepi.1 Also known variously as the Castello Borgia or Forte dei Borgia, this fortified castle is part of a larger complex on the western side of the town. Constructed in the late fifteenth century by the architect Antonio Sangallo the elder, it was owned by Rodrigo Borgia, later Pope Alessandro VI, and subsequently occupied by his daughter, Lucrezia Borgia.2 Turner’s vantage point for this study is facing north-east, depicting the ravine in the foreground and the topography of the volcanic tuff on which the town is built. In the distance, to the right, is the belltower of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. A more schematic version of this view appears on folio 22 recto (D21807) opposite.

This is one of twenty-one works depicting Nepi in the present sketchbook; for further commentary on Turner’s second visit to the town in 1828, together with a list of relevant works, see under folio 12 verso (D21788).