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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner Tivoli, seen from the Valley 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 48 Recto:
Tivoli, seen from the Valley 1819
D15016
Turner Bequest CLXXIX 48
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 186 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil within sketch ‘Yello’ centre left, ‘Yellow Rock’ centre right, and ‘Light [...]’ centre right-hand edge
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in blue ink ‘48’ bottom left, inverted
Stamped in black ‘CLXXIX 48’ top left, inverted
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page contains part of a panoramic view drawn from the floor of the river valley to the north of Tivoli, at a point beneath the convent of San Antonio. The drawing continues on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 47 verso (D15015), but visible on this side is the spur of land at the northern tip of the town where part of the river flowed from an underground passage and emerged in cascades down the slopes. The so-called Temples of Vesta and the Sibyl are just out of sight round the corner on the left-hand side of the composition. Turner has used rough hatching and shading to describe the steep craggy slopes, lush vegetation and cascades of falling water. Similar views can be seen on folios 48–52 verso and 55 (D15016–D40926 and D15027), and in the Tivoli sketchbook (Tate D15467; Turner Bequest CLXXXIII 1).

Nicola Moorby
February 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Tivoli, seen from the Valley 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-tivoli-seen-from-the-valley-r1137648, accessed 28 March 2024.