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 > Albano, Nemi, Rome Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Porta Pinciana, Rome; and a Sketch of a Villa 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Porta Pinciana, Rome; and a Sketch of a Villa’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 70 Recto:
The Porta Pinciana, Rome; and a Sketch of a Villa 1819
D15429
Turner Bequest CLXXXII 69
Pencil on white wove paper with red chalk, 113 x 189 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘69’ top right and ‘301’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXII 69’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The main sketch on this page depicts the southern (inner) façade of the Porta Pinciana, a gate in the Aurelian Walls to the south of the gardens of the Villa Borghese. Unusually Turner has supplemented his pencil drawing with touches of red chalk. Further use of chalk can also be found on folio 45 verso (D15381).
There is an additional view on this page, drawn with the sketchbook held vertically along the top edge. The subject, which appears to be a palace or villa, is currently identified although a further sketch inscribed ‘Ville Este’ appears on folio 71 (D15431; Turner Bequest CLXXXII 72).

Nicola Moorby
May 2008

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘The Porta Pinciana, Rome; and a Sketch of a Villa 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2008, 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-the-porta-pinciana-rome-and-a-sketch-of-a-villa-r1132724, accessed 26 April 2024.